Hamlin Becomes Pocono Raceway All-Time Wins Leader

Photo Credit to Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR

Denny Hamlin Takes Seventh Career Pocono Win, Most All-Time

*Note, this was written before the post-race disqualification of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. For updated race results, please go here.

LONG POND, Pa. – After hitting the wall on lap one, spinning in Stage 2, and wrecking Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin wins a very eventful race at Pocono. Not only is this Hamlin’s third win of the year, this separates him as the winningest driver in Pocono Raceway history. Hamlin has conquered the Tricky Triangle seven times now, breaking a tie with Jeff Gordon.

While Hamlin started on pole, he had a handful on the opening lap. The FedEx 11 went wide in turn one, scrubbing the outside wall slightly and giving up the lead to Kyle Busch. Busch suffered a similar fate on the first restart, ceding the lead to Kyle Larson. Larson would win Stage 1, his third Stage win of 2022.

Once Kyle Busch retook the lead, the 18 looked unbeatable up front. Busch regained the top spot on lap 49, only losing the lead on a green flag pit strategy. Busch would cycle back to the point to win Stage 2.

Stage 2 would initially see a few quick cautions for single car incidents. One of these issues occurred when Denny Hamlin looped his car in turn two. However, Hamlin did not hit anything and continued onward.

Busch appeared to be well on his way to a dominant second win of 2022, until the final pit stop. By staying out one extra lap, Ross Chastain leapfrogged Busch on track, putting the 1 ahead of the 18. Chastain was in position to steal the Pocono win, until a caution came out with just 24 to go.

Ryan Blaney spinning put this race’s finishing order on its head. Denny Hamlin was in second but short on fuel before the yellow; that was no longer be an issue. On the restart, Hamlin raced Chastain incredibly wide through turn one, sending the 1 car into the outside wall. This crash also collected innocent bystanders Kevin Harvick and Christopher Bell.

On the next restart, Hamlin easily cleared Busch in turn one, and drove off to the victory. Hamlin is now tied with Chase Elliott at a series-leading three wins in 2022. Is Hamlin asserting himself at the right time as a serious title threat?

In addition, Pocono marks career win number 49 for Hamlin, tying Tony Stewart for 15th most all-time. This also marks win number 199 for Joe Gibbs Racing, as Hamlin is now the all-time Pocono master with seven wins.

“What’d you expect me to do?” Hamlin responded when asked on how he raced Chastain. “We got position on him, and he just ran out of racetrack. We’re just going to keep racing hard until we get the respect back from these guys. It’s not just that, we’ve been wrecked four times, twice while leading, in the last 10 months and I’m at the end of it.”

“I’ve been blessed to be with a great race team my entire career and that’s carried me a long way. But today was definitely a team thing. This guy right here, Chris Gabehart (crew chief), just made some great strategy calls to make up the positions that I lost when I spun out. Wow, just a great team effort.”

Behind Hamlin and Busch, top finishers included Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., and Bubba Wallace. Elliott now holds a 100-point lead for the regular season championship. In his Cup Series debut substituting for Kurt Busch, Ty Gibbs also finished 18th.

With just five regular season races left, the Playoff battle did not change much at Pocono. Hamlin picked up a few pivotal bonus points, but the cut line battle remains almost the same with Blaney and Truex as the last two drivers in.

The push to the Playoffs continues next Sunday from the Indianapolis Road Course. The Verizon 200 at the Brickyard is the fourth road course race of the year, with the past three all giving new winners. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, the IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Some late drama here last year saw AJ Allmendinger come in clutch. Who can capitalize Sunday and kiss the bricks?

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images for NASCAR