Despite skipping Mexico City for the birth of his son, Denny Hamlin came ready to put on a show at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. He started it all off by putting his No. 11 Toyota on the pole, and certainly looked like he had the car to score his eighth win at the Tricky Triangle. Despite the speed strategy had his teammate more in mind. That’s right, Chase Briscoe in the No. 19 Toyota was able to save fuel despite not being on pit road long during his final stop. He did so, and Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, or Chase Elliott had nothing to say, as Briscoe scored his first win for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Chase Briscoe Breaks Through at Pocono, Saving Enough Fuel to Best Denny Hamlin
It’s no secret that Pocono has been perfect for Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, for that matter. That was once again the trend for the 2025 running of the Great American Getaway 400. Last year’s winner, Ryan Blaney, had to charge from the back not only from the initial start, but he had to do it again later in the race following a speeding penalty on pit road.
While Blaney and Elliott had to make charges from further back in the field, Hamlin and Buescher were the class of the field for much of the day. The pair duked it out for the first stage, as Buescher tried like heck to pass Denny. Despite getting close on several occasions, he couldn’t get by the No. 11 as Hamlin cruised to the stage one win.
Chase Briscoe was able to put his No. 19 into the hunt all race, as well as scoring points in stage one. As did three Hendrick cars, Elliott, William Byron, and Alex Bowman, all of which started deep in the field.
Break Failures Plague 23XI Racing
Elsewhere on the Toyota side, some very ugly wrecks befell two of the three 23XI Racing cars. Riley Herbst got knocked out of the race on Lap 42 just after the second stage got started. It wasn’t clear on his incident as his car looked more like it had a tire failure, but he crashed hard in Turn One. The issues or the team got scary on Lap 54, as Bubba Wallace went for a massive ride into the wall, with the car heading at full speed into the outside wall.
Trouble for @BubbaWallace brings the yellow back out on Lap 54. pic.twitter.com/LwsafoGzMn
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 22, 2025
The Broadcast later clarified, a brake rotor exploded on the No. 23 car. Two issues for 23XI certainly had the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick concerned. That ultimately led to his team bringing him down the pit lane to address worries about their brakes as well. It all but knocked him out of contention as well.
Briscoe’s Patience Pays Off
Briscoe was having a good day in Pocono, and it all paid off for the driver of the No. 19. He found himself in the race lead during the closing laps of stage two. Pocono is always a crew chief and strategy race, and that was starting to show for Briscoe’s crew chief, James Small. They made the right pit calls to get ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin.
Briscoe has had speed all season, backed up by his four poles on the season. Including three in a row less than a month ago. That speed and great fuel conservation was the name of the game when it came to the end of this race. A late caution with less than 40 laps to go made it interesting as the Mexico City winner, Shane van Gisbergen, spun out in the middle of the final pit stops. It put Brad Keselowski in a massive hole, as he had the lead at the time of the caution, and hadn’t pitted yet. He had a car worthy of competing for the win, but some mistakes during the race cost him.
So Briscoe once again found himself sitting in the perfect spot as the leader for what would be the final restart. The only issue was did he get enough fuel in his car. His crew chief made quite a bold statement over the radio during that caution. Small more or less used a little profanity to describe the fuel situation or Chase and the No. 19 car.
That’s Pocono for ya, it’s always a pit call or fuel mileage race. Despite all kinds of pressure from Hamlin. Briscoe not only saved enough gas, but he also whipped everyone behind him, without any stress. Briscoe led the final 34 laps to score the third win of his Cup career.
Plenty of fuel left for a burnout. 😏 pic.twitter.com/WZFq3fM5UP
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 22, 2025
What Fuel Shortage?
It was once again one of those moments where the Gen-7 car proved it’s still a mess. No offense, great drive by Chase Briscoe. He never even had to worry about not making it on fuel. Despite the broadcast trying to make drama. No offense, but it’s getting a little old. Even with him saving fuel, no one could catch him. That just doesn’t add up in my opinion.
It just felt like a little bit of a let down especially for all the other drivers that finished in the top five. I mean, if you’re gonna manufacture drama, at least make it believable. On to EchoPark Speedway.
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Main Photo: Meg Oliphant, Getty Images
Recording Date: 6/22/2025
