Chase Briscoe aces throttle control for NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon in The Great American Getaway 400.
Chase Briscoe has earned a NASCAR Cup Series season-best four pole positions and led laps in eight races in his first season driving the famous No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and finally – finally – on Sunday afternoon that hard work translated into his first trophy, edging his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin in The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA.com at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
Chase Briscoe Victory at Pocono
It came down to the suspenseful very final laps, Briscoe having to save as much fuel as possible while maintaining the lead the last 34 laps with Pocono’s all-time winningest driver Hamlin and a two-time Pocono winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney directly in his rearview mirror, pushing him lap after lap.
But Briscoe did it – perfectly executing throttle control to maintain the lead and not run his Toyota Camry out of gas – ultimately beating Hamlin across the line by 0.682-second to formally punch his win-and-in 2025 Playoff ticket. The 30-year-old Indiana-native led a race best 72 of the 160 laps on the day and even had enough fuel for the well-deserved victory celebration.
“There was a lot [of pressure],” a smiling Briscoe conceded. “It was kind of weird. I wasn’t driving hard so it’s not like I was on the ragged edge, but it was just so hard having a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here, to be trying to save fuel and everything else.
“Just an amazing day for our race team,” he continued, “Really the first race we’ve executed all year long.”
Pocono’s All Time Best – Denny Hamlin
Hamlin, a three-time winner this year who is returning to competition after missing last week’s Mexico City race to be home in North Carolina for the birth of his son, showed why he is a seven-time Pocono winner, the track’s all-time best. His runner-up finish marks the tenth time he’s finished first or second at the unique 2.5-mile three-turn Pocono oval. He won in 2023 and now has finished second in the two races since.
“It was definitely going to be difficult,” said Hamlin, who started on pole position, won the opening stage and led 32 laps. “The team did a great job and we were next best in line of our strategy, it just didn’t work out.”
“We’re really strong and not showing up with any weaknesses right now, really proud of the effort we put forth,” he continued. “Just love to get more wins but still overall a good solid day for us, now we move on to the next series of races.”
Ryan Blaney from the Back to the Front
Blaney, who earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono in 2017 and answered with a win last year, also had a great strategic day pay off with his third-place finish – especially impressive considering he started from the back of the grid after making adjustments on his car following qualifying. And. … his rally came in a problematic cool-suit that forced him to run more than 100 laps without the device working correctly on the steamy hot summer afternoon.
The Great American Getaway 400 Results
RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher, who like Blaney earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Pocono (2016), started his No. 17 Ford on the outside of the front row and was among the day’s nine leaders – ultimately finishing fourth. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was fifth with back-to-back top-five finishes for the first time this year.
Briscoe’s victory – the third of his career – makes him the 11th driver to earn a position in the 16-driver Playoff field – the sixth different in just the last eight weeks.
“To finally deliver a win is such an awesome feeling. … such a big weight off my shoulders,” Briscoe said. “I’ve been telling my wife the last few weeks, I have to win and so to come here and do, it is a great day.”
Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek finished sixth, followed by Hendrick Motorsport’s Kyle Larson, RFK’s Ryan Preece and RFK owner-driver Brad Keselowski. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric rounded out the top ten.
The NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings
Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron started from the rear of the field after a qualifying accident, moved forward at one point, but ultimately took a 27th-place finish. He still leads the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings by 54 points over his teammate Larson.
With nine races remaining to set the Playoff field, Hendrick’s Alex Bowman sits in that 16th-place position, 20-points up on Preece for that final points-only transfer position.
Up Next
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400. The race starts at 7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio – the In Season Bracket Challenge Round 1 race of the $1 million to-win five-race series.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano is the defending race winner. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell won at Atlanta this February.