Pocono Raceway Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer claimed his first win of the 2024 season Saturday beating his closest championship challenger Justin Allgaier to the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 checkered flag and giving Ford its first series win of the year. Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang took the lead from Allgaier on a re-start with nine laps remaining and then held off the JR Motorsports Chevy by .670-second to secure his 14th career victory in a thrilling finishRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Defending Pocono race winner Denny Hamlin conceded Saturday that securing NASCAR records do indeed matter to him and his legacy. The 43-old veteran holds an active driver’ series best mark of seven wins at Pocono Raceway – including his career first victories in the NASCAR Cup Series – a sweep of the 2006 season. Hamlin currently has 54 wins – one shy of NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace’s 55-victory total and second only to Kyle Busch’s mark of 63 wins among active drivers. “Where I’veRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs earned his second career NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Position Saturday claiming the top starting spot for Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 21-year old Gibbs will line up first in the No. 54 JGR Toyota, equaling his best previous series qualifying effort at Charlotte Motor Speedway this May. His lap of 170.039 mph around the 2.5-mile Pocono oval was .118-seconds faster than WilliamRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Long Pond, PA – Corey Heim earned his series’ best fifth victory of the season in Friday evening’s rain-interrupted CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The 21-year old swept both stages and led 55 of the 70 laps to add to his trophy total. But, he had to battle competitors and climate for this win. The Georgian’s No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota led Grant Enfinger’s Chevrolet across the finish line by .867-second to take his 10th career victory – quickly re-establishing himself asRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Denny Hamlin prevailed in a tight door-to-door bump-and-go pass on Kyle Larson with seven laps remaining to claim a historic all-time best seventh NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway – the win in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 also marking Hamlin’s 50th career trophy and second of the 2023 season.  The race ended under caution for a last lap incident elsewhere on track, and the Pocono crowd voiced its displeasure, booing loudly as Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led the field to pit road atRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Austin Hill survived an early race pit road speeding penalty, gambled on fuel strategy and prevailed in an incredible wheel-to-wheel run to the checkered flag in overtime to claim his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway on Saturday.  As important as the victory for the 29-year old Georgia-native his good day combined with an uncharacteristic disappointing day for his closest rivals in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings gave him aRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron earned his series best fourth pole position of the year Saturday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Byron’s time of 57.746 (170.235 mph) in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was .122-second quicker than his championship rival Martin Truex Jr. in Busch Light Pole Qualifying at the unique three-turn, 2.5-mile Pocono track and places the current two title leadersRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In what was both a thrilling and historic afternoon at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Kyle Busch earned a hard-fought win in Saturday’s CRC Brakleen 150 with a last lap pass for his Kyle Busch Motorsports team’s milestone 100th series victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Busch made a daring move low on series championship leader Corey Heim in Turn 2 “The Tunnel Turn” of the iconic 2.5-mile track, got around cleanly and motored off to a .604-second win in the No. 51 KBM Chevrolet toRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott smiled and bristled a bit when asked if he returns to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway this week feeling like the reigning track champion after being declared last year’s Pocono race winner after the drivers who finished ahead of him on track – apparent winner Denny Hamlin and runner-up Kyle Busch – were disqualified following post-race inspection. “He actually gave me the trophy, but he kept the flag – his little girl was kind of married to the flag and itRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Six to go. The countdown to the end of the regular season for the NASCAR Cup Series continues as the Tricky Triangle comes calling for Sunday’s running of the HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway. With only three turns, instead of the four turns at all other ovals on the circuit, Pocono is definitely one of the most unique tracks on the schedule. The three turns all have differing banking with Turn 1 and its 14-degree banking modeled after the now-defunct Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 and itsRead More