Chase Briscoe had enough gas to get to the end and hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Sunday, June 22, to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.
Driving in his first season for JGR, the 30-year-old Briscoe, who led 72 laps in The Great American Getaway 400, held the point most of the final stage but appeared to be short on fuel after leaving his pit box early on Lap 119.
However, the Indiana native held a consistent half-second lead over Hamlin’s No. 11, beating him by 0.682 seconds for his third career win in 161 starts and earning a postseason playoff berth.
‘Anytime you go to a new team you want to show them why they picked you – especially with Christopher (Bell) and Denny (Hamlin) winning three races already this year,’ Briscoe said after the race.
‘I can’t miss the playoffs in this car, but to finally be able to win a race and lock ourselves into the playoffs is definitely a huge relief. Just a great day for us, just super thankful for everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota who took a shot on me.’
FULL RESULTS: Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway
Following Hamlin in the seven-caution race were Ryan Blaney in third, Chris Buescher in fourth and Chase Elliott in fifth.
‘It was just so hard to pass, so we did all we could we were just next best in line,’ Hamlin said.
Returning to his No. 11 Toyota after missing last week’s race in Mexico City due to the birth of his third child, polesitter Hamlin had to wait out inclement weather and took the green flag at 4:30 p.m. ET for the 160-lap competition, the 17th race on the Cup series schedule.
With a week’s rest behind him, Hamlin was tough right away on the 2.5-mile tricky tri-oval. Fellow Row 1 starter Buescher kept within striking distance early in his No. 17 Ford, but Hamlin outdistanced Buescher easily to lead all 30 laps of Stage 1.
With some drivers short-pitting a few laps before the end, Buescher held on to second for valuable stage points. Tyler Reddick finished third, followed by Briscoe and Erik Jones.
On Lap 83, four-time Pocono winner Kyle Busch was squeezed in the tunnel turn and spun to spark the fifth caution just past the Turn 2 area. Last week’s winner Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Dillon and Christopher Bell all spun but received almost no noticeable damage.
However, winless Reddick took his No. 45 Toyota to the garage with brake problems, which also failed teammate Bubba Wallace earlier.
Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota came alive in the second stage and won the 65-lap segment, his first stage victory since 2022. Josh Berry, Elliott, William Byron and Buescher secured top-five bonus points.
With 36 laps to go, the seventh caution for van Gisbergen spinning off Turn 1 was a bad break for leader Brad Keselowski, who had earlier been penalized for entering a closed pit and had yet to pit in the late cycle of stops.