NASCAR’s common season reached one other essential level, with 10 races remaining earlier than the NASCAR Cup Collection’ 16-driver Chase subject is ready. Denny Hamlin’s bid for the Common Season Championship gained power along with his third consecutive win in one other masterful drive at Pocono Raceway, considered one of his favourite previous haunts.
A number of different noteworthy performances stood out from 400 miles across the “Difficult Triangle” within the Pennsylvania wilds, some for all the fitting causes and a few on the downturn. These drivers will purpose both to regroup or hold the strain on because the Cup Collection prepares to make a giant Sunday splash with the inaugural San Diego street-course occasion at Naval Base Coronado (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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THREE UP ⬆️
1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
Began: sixteenth
Completed: 2nd
What occurred: “It virtually labored,” Reddick stated of a long-run pit technique late in Sunday’s Nice American Getaway 400 that just about helped the 23XI driver convert for his sixth victory of the season. Reddick rebounded from his solely DNF of the 12 months within the earlier week’s race at Michigan Worldwide Speedway, however the bounce-back impact was offset by Denny Hamlin chopping additional into his lead atop the Cup Collection standings.
What’s subsequent: Reddick’s benefit — as soon as as excessive as 129 factors after final month’s race at Watkins Glen Worldwide — has now shrunk to simply 19 factors as Hamlin has turned on the jets with a midseason surge. Reddick will probably have road-racing experience on his facet because the circuit heads to San Diego and Sonoma Raceway in back-to-back weeks.
Tyler Reddick
2. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Began: ninth
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Completed: third
What occurred: Byron raved post-race concerning the stability of his No. 24 Chevy, which he stated allowed him to make strikes he hadn’t been capable of pull off in months. The corresponding confidence helped him safe the staff’s first top-five outcome since March 29 at Martinsville Speedway, offering him a one-spot bump within the Cup Collection standings.
What’s subsequent: Highway programs statistically rank close to the underside of Byron’s profession average-finish comparisons, although he has proven moments of glory on that observe sort — together with a Watkins Glen win in 2023. The debut of the San Diego road course, although, holds loads of uncertainty that Byron and the remainder of the sector might want to navigate. “Plenty of unknowns,” he stated post-race. “I’m sort of excited for it.”
William Byron smiles on pit street at Pocono Raceway
3. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Began: twenty fourth
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Completed: eighth
What occurred: Some velocity and a few technique have been the fitting mix for Chastain and his No. 1 Chevy group, which turned a sequence of pit calls right into a tire benefit close to the race’s finish. Chastain made probably the most of it, notching his first top-10 outcome on a non-drafting observe this season.
What’s subsequent: Chastain has certified among the many high 5 for each road-course occasions this 12 months, beginning off second at Circuit of The Americas and fourth at Watkins Glen. The outcomes of each races landed him exterior of the highest 25, however he’ll have an ace in teammate Shane van Gisbergen to lean on for recommendation.
Ross Chastain waves to followers throughout driver introductions at Pocono Raceway
THREE DOWN ⬇️
1. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
Began: thirty fifth
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Completed: twenty eighth
What occurred: Preece sorely wanted a optimistic end after three consecutive weeks of DNFs. After dropping to the rear firstly due to unapproved changes, Preece was sitting sixteenth within the dwelling stretch at Pocono till the gas tank in his No. 60 Ford sputtered dry on his solution to the white flag. The 35-year-old driver bemoaned the late-race communication breakdown and wanted a push from RFK teammate Chris Buescher to succeed in the checkered flag. He was scored as the primary driver one lap down.
What’s subsequent: Preece enters San Diego nonetheless trying to find his first Cup Collection top-five end on a street course. Maybe worse, when the match begins the subsequent week at Sonoma Raceway, Preece will draw road-racing star and heavy favourite Shane van Gisbergen in a first-round matchup, one thing he made gentle of in a .
Ryan Preece
2. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Began: thirty first
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Completed: thirty first
What occurred: The 4 oval races since SVG’s victory at Watkins Glen final month have been a blended bag, and Pocono introduced a second straight week of disappointment. Van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet was considered one of 9 vehicles caught up within the , and he wound up two laps down by the checkered flag.
What’s subsequent: The schedule takes a fortuitous flip with a pair of street programs within the subsequent two weeks, together with the road circuit inaugural in San Diego this weekend forward of Sonoma on June 28. Understanding how SVG made his grand Cup Collection entrance within the debut of the Chicago Road Race, the largest of turnarounds could be approaching.
Shane van Gisbergen
3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Crew Penske Ford
Began: eleventh
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Completed: thirty fourth
What occurred: Logano earned factors with a ninth-place effort in Stage 1, however a cut up in pit technique put him again within the pack and proper within the crosshairs of the identical Stage 2 crash that corralled SVG and others. Logano’s No. 22 Ford sustained right-front injury within the melee, and he wound up 4 laps down because the final driver nonetheless operating on the end.
What’s subsequent: Logano had assembled two high 10s within the final three weeks, however Sunday’s Pocono run thwarted that rhythm. “Only a matter of fallacious place, fallacious time for us at present,” Logano stated. “We have been beginning to construct some good momentum over the previous couple of weeks with some first rate runs, so we have to get again in that rhythm once more.”
Joey Logano masses into his No. 22 Ford on pit street at Pocono Raceway
