NASCAR
Denny Hamlin Takes Three-peat Win at Pocono, Victory Four of 2026
LONG POND, Pa. – To say Denny Hamlin’s Sunday showing at Pocono Raceway was historic would be selling it short. For the third-straight week, Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Toyota was class of the field from the pole. Hamlin had never earned a perfect hat trick of victories until now. Already The Tricky Triangle’s winningest man, Hamlin only further cements his own record with an eighth Keystone State triumph. Lastly, he breaks a tie held for a week with Kyle Busch for ninth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. Also making up major ground in the regular season championship fight, Hamlin appears as strong as ever right now.
Despite Hamlin starting on pole, he would not lead lap one. This early gap instead went to Kyle Larson, but Hamlin made a late pass for the Stage 1 win. Short pitting Stage 2 sacrificed that win for Hamlin, with Todd Gilliland taking those bonus points.
Hamlin soon overcame older tires ahead of him to retake the lead on a restart with 50 to go. A new challenger emerged over the final run, however. Christopher Bell opted to save fuel from pitting under this final caution, holding the lead as late as five laps to go. Hamlin’s speed was too much to hold back, though, with the 11 tracking down and passing the 20. Bell ultimately ran out of fuel coming to the white flag, while Hamlin drove off to another dominant win.
“[My] First win [was] here, so special here,” Hamlin said. “Pocono has mastered the fan experience from the crowd in the stands to the infield here, Nick [Igdalsky, track president] and his whole team has done an amazing job. I have to say, awesome for the King’s Hawaiian car. Finally the King’s Hawaiian curse is over. They thought my head was getting a little big, so they made me wear this suit this week to put me back to where I need to be. Just so happy for this whole Joe Gibbs Racing team. The pit crew is flawless right now. We got it all going.”
“Thank you,” Hamlin told the fans who were cheering and booing him. “That really means a lot, seriously. Thank you so much for that. It’s like a second home for me.”
“I would certainly say it’s the best we’ve been. We come to the racetrack every week knowing we got a great shot to win. The team’s doing an amazing job giving me exactly what I need in the car every single week. That’s why we’re winning.”
Fittingly finishing second behind Hamlin was Tyler Reddick, who now only leads the championship standings by 19 points. William Byron, John Hunter Nemechek, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five. The rest of Pocono’s top-10 were: Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, and Ryan Blaney.
Hamlin’s winning streak will probably end at three with next week’s great unknown. NASCAR will take over Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, California for the Anduril 250. The 3.4-mile Qualcomm Circuit is a huge mystery for most of the field. The California green flag will fly Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Shane van Gisbergen may be an overwhelming favorite, but anything can happen in an inaugural race on a wildly new track.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credits to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
