Who Will Summit Victory Lane’s Peak at Pocono?

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Stratta’s Six: Who Will See a Honeymoon High at Pocono Raceway?

Three wildly different corners and ample chance for winning strategies will define Sunday’s 400-mile affair at Pocono Raceway. The Tricky Triangle’s all-time master chases personal history, with 37 others trying to end his reign. Here are a few who hope to get up and away with a magical Pocono trip in the Great American Getaway 400.

Denny Hamlin

Pocono Raceway’s all-time winningest man, Denny Hamlin shows no signs of slowing down. Riding last-to-first wins for two-straight weeks, Hamlin appears in peak form heading to one of his favorite tracks. Hamlin earned his first two Cup wins as a rookie at Pocono all the way back in 2006, and looks to remain perfect here two decades later.

“Most of my memories come from rewatching the highlights,” Hamlin said of his maiden victory. “There are moments I do remember coming through the field. I remember the shock of when I went into the tunnel turn and spun out, blew that left rear. Back then, I’m kind of ignorant to know, well, what does that do to the car? I just kept driving it to its same capability. Truthfully back then when you had that kind of damage, it was actually a decent thing, for performance. It allowed me to really just be fast. I just remember, the biggest thing I remember is coming back through the pack so quickly that everyone would just pull over when I got near them, thinking about how different the racing is today. Like it certainly would have been impossible today. It was such a great day and certainly felt like it was a big confidence boost. Then we went back there, back then, we went back to that track like five, six weeks later or something like that and were able to dominate. It just gave me a ton of confidence every time I go into Pocono just because of that moment.”

“It would be hard, but there’s no better opportunity than I’ve had at any point in my career to win Pocono. You’re going to one of my best tracks. Cars are obviously fast. Me and my team have it going right now. We know what we need every week. Our communication is great. They know exactly to what level to fix things when I ask for it. So now’s as good an opportunity as ever.”

“Yeah, I mean, this is the tracks that we need to win races and make hay at. We’re going to go into San Diego and Sonoma, and it’s like, give me 15th, I won’t run the race. Just award that now, I won’t go. I think that’s just the reality. I’m just far too old to spend a lot of time working on that to get better at this point in my career. It’s better if I just focus my resources on winning at the tracks that I am strong at and just understand that those four to five races we are just going to be average, but if we can make it up, by winning tracks like this, on a regular occasion, it’s still a good path to a championship.”

Any way you slice it, Hamlin’s Pocono stats are unreal and the 11 is a deserved favorite for Sunday. The last 11 Pocono races have only seen the 11 worse than 10th twice, and one of those was 2022’s infamous winning disqualification. Next Gen stats get even crazier for Hamlin; aside from 2022 he’s not been worse than second with laps led in each race. Hamlin has never earned a hat trick of victories in his storied Cup career; this new milestone could easily be hit on Sunday.

Kyle Larson

From Pocono’s most decorated man to Kyle Larson, the Hendrick Motorsports star aims for his first Triangle triumph. Larson has been painfully close to multiple Pennsylvania victories, but has struck out in 18 starts with two runner-ups. Despite never winning here before, Larson likes his chances for Sunday after showing improved recent speed.

“The last few weeks, we’ve narrowed in on a package that we’re becoming more comfortable with,” Larson said. “And we’ve been more competitive. There’s still work to do, but everyone at Hendrick Motorsports is working hard to continue improving. I have complete trust and confidence in this team that we’ll figure it out.”

Rallying late to fourth at Michigan, this marked Larson’s second top-five in three weeks. The No. 5 Chevrolet has laps in all of these starts, seeming to have turned a corner with the new Camaro body. Speed, balance, and execution will all be big factors to a Keystone State victory; team 5 has confidence in all three of these areas.

Ryan Blaney

Twice a Pocono winner over the past decade, Ryan Blaney’s pair of Pocono victories came in two very different ways. 2017 saw Blaney beat two titans of the time for his maiden Cup win. Two years ago, meanwhile, saw the Penske driver be the dominant force in Ford’s most recent win here. Backing that run up with a solid third-place effort here last year, Blaney is confident of another strong showing. Blaney also recently reflected on his breakthrough triumph here nine years ago with NASCAR’s most historic team.

“I feel like the Fords have been in a position to win that race a few more times than that over the years,” Blaney said. “It just hasn’t really worked out. We were fortunate to win there a couple years ago. So, yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think it is a strong suit for us, but that race is tough. There is a lot of pit strategy involved in it. You know, it’s a place where you can pit and not go a lap down so it’s interesting in how you play that out. I feel like our cars have been competing there, the Fords have. Nut sometimes it just doesn’t really work out for us.”

“It was a wild race in 2017 with the Wood Brothers,” Blaney said. “I had a great car all day. I lost communication with my team early in that race, probably a third of the way through. Fortunately, I could hear them but they couldn’t hear me, so communication-wise I knew when to pit, which was good and we really just had a system of if I was tight, hand on the roof, and if I was too loose, hand on the door and they would make adjustments to that. We had a good pit stop at the end of the race to get out and be the first guys on tires. I was able to get by Kyle Busch with 10 or 11 laps to go and then I had to hold Kevin (Harvick) off. It was more stressful trying to hold Kevin off than trying to get the lead because now you’re in the lead trying to win your first Cup race and all you can think about is just don’t make a mistake and don’t give it away, so that was a stressful 10 laps or so to hold Kevin off, but he raced me really clean. The other thing that was the most fun about that day is it wasn’t just my first Cup win, it was a lot of my team’s first Cup win too, so being able to share that moment with them and celebrate, to be able to win for the Wood Brothers was something I always wanted to achieve and to have your poster up on the wall in Stuart (Va.) was something pretty neat. That was number 99 for the Wood Brothers. I wish we could have got 100, but that came a few years later. Still, that was a fun day and an even better night.”

Still firmly entrenched at third in points, Blaney’s amid his most consistent stretch this season. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford has recorded five-straight finishes of 11th or better. Blaney’s Phoenix victory from March remains Ford’s only checkered flag of 2026. A second victory in this year’s first half would only further cement Blaney in Chase contender conversations and be another bright spot for the blue oval brigade.

Chase Briscoe

2025’s Pocono race kickstarted Chase Briscoe’s second half run that ended on a championship doorstep. While heavily saving fuel, driver No. 19 held teammate Denny Hamlin at bay for his maiden win of the year. The Joe Gibbs Racing newcomer was best in show 12 months ago, leading a race-high 72 laps en route to this triumph.

After another sluggish start to this season, Briscoe has found his groove in recent weeks. Three of Briscoe’s last four races have ended with top-10s, including 10th-place in Michigan. Briscoe has already beaten the seemingly unstoppable Pocono master once. He could easily keep the keys to Keystone State victory lane within the walls of JGR

Chase Elliott

Chevrolet’s most consistent man through 15 weeks, Chase Elliott looks to take the checkers first at Pocono. The record book does give Elliott 2022’s Tricky Triangle win, but that was after Hamlin and Kyle Busch were both disqualified. Still gunning for a top Chase berth, Elliott has high hopes ahead for Pocono.

“Pocono is a track I really enjoy going to,” Elliott said. “I feel like there are a lot of things that translate from Michigan to Pocono. We had a lot of speed in Michigan and were able to lead some laps, so that makes me hopeful as we head into this weekend. We’ve had some decent runs at Pocono over the course of my career, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can put together.”  

Before being taken out in the vicious lap 148 crash, Elliott was racing for a top-three spot at Michigan after winning a stage. The No. 9 has top-10s in all four Pocono Next Gen races. This shows steady signs of improvement with every trip around the triangle. Fifth last season is a strong foundation for this Hendrick team to build off of. Engine No. 9 hopes to chase down win number three on the year.

Erik Jones

Punching above .500 for Pocono top-10s is a new quiet contender for 2026 – Erik Jones. The Legacy Motor Club No. 43 has become a more common sight at the front of the field. This strength was capped off by an impressive runner-up result in Michigan last week. That equals Jones’ best career Pocono finish, as he comes into Sunday with four-straight top-15s here.

Jones is admittedly a long shot winning pick, but Toyotas have been the manufacturer to beat all season. Right now is the most stable and consistent Legacy Motor Club has been since their rebranding two years ago. Now 18th in points, Jones is within shouting distance of a Chase spot. That Jones Boy could turn many heads with another breakout run around The Tricky Triangle.

Pocono has been nothing short of a Toyota-owned track in recent memory. This manufacturer owns two of four Next Gen wins here and five of the last nine trophies. To say Toyotas are overwhelming favorites for The Great American Getaway 400 would be an understatement given their 2026 speed and execution. Plenty of other contenders will keep the Toyota fleet honest, though, all chasing their own victory. The Pennsylvania green flag will fly Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Pocono typically has a trick or two for the competition, it will be fun to see who adapts and has the right winning strategy.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo credits to Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images