Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
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.
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 .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.”
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 10th 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.”
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.
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-10.
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.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (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.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Sunday, June 22, 2025
(6) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 160.
(1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 160.
(20) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 160.
(2) Chris Buescher, Ford, 160.
(18) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 160.
(4) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 160.
(24) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 160.
(13) Ryan Preece, Ford, 160.
(14) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160.
(19) Austin Cindric, Ford, 160.
(25) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 160.
(35) Josh Berry, Ford, 160.
(11) Erik Jones, Toyota, 160.
(7) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 160.
(10) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 160.
(12) Joey Logano, Ford, 160.
(9) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 160.
(3) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 160.
(22) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 160.
(26) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 160.
(33) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 160.
(5) Cole Custer, Ford, 160.
(17) Noah Gragson, Ford, 160.
(16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 160.
(15) Zane Smith, Ford, 160.
(21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 160.
(31) William Byron, Chevrolet, 160.
(32) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 160.
(36) Cody Ware, Ford, 160.
(30) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 160.
(23) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 159.
(8) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 159.
(27) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 140.
(37) Brennan Poole(i), Chevrolet, Drivetrain, 111.
(28) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, Accident, 73.
(34) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 54.
(29) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, Accident, 41.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.199 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 4 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory: .682 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 11 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin 1-32;B. Keselowski 33-56;C. Hocevar 57;J. Logano 58-62;A. Bowman 63-77;R. Stenhouse Jr. 78-79;C. Hocevar 80;C. Briscoe 81-118;C. Buescher 119-120;R. Blaney 121-123;B. Keselowski 124-126;C. Briscoe 127-160.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Chase Briscoe 2 times for 72 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 32 laps; Brad Keselowski 2 times for 27 laps; Alex Bowman 1 time for 15 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 5 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 3 laps; Chris Buescher 1 time for 2 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 2 laps; Carson Hocevar 2 times for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,17,45,19,43,38,22,9,24,48
Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,21,9,24,17,11,2,12,5,77
