Chase Briscoe gutted his way to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2025 season in The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 22, following a late fuel-mileage battle with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.
The reigning Southern 500 champion from Mitchell, Indiana, led twice for a race-high 72 of 160 scheduled laps at Pocono. He started in sixth place and navigated his way through a series of pit strategies and seven caution periods, including stage break periods.
After finishing in fourth place in the first stage period and winning the second stage period, Briscoe led the field at the start of the final stage period with 60 laps remaining. Then, while executing his final green flag pit stop with approximately 40 laps remaining, Briscoe made an error. He left his pit stall too early, which drew concerns.
But he motored ahead with the lead for the final restart with 30 laps remaining. Briscoe had enough horsepower and fuel to fend off Hamlin. He achieved his first Cup Series victory of the 2025 season and his first driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
On-track qualifying at Pocono determined the starting lineup on Saturday, June 21. Denny Hamlin secured his first Cup pole of the 2025 season with a lap at 172.599 mph in 52.144 seconds. Joining Hamlin on the front row was Chris Buescher with a qualifying lap at 172.325 mph in 52.227 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Ty Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Cody Ware dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries.
Brennan Poole also dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple pre-race inspection failures to his No. 44 NY Racing Chevrolet entry. As a result of Poole’s inspection failures, his car chief, Mark Labretone, was ejected from the event. Poole was also assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road after taking the green flag.
When the green flag at Pocono waved and the event commenced, Denny Hamlin, who opted to start on the outside lane. He was in front of Toyota teammates John Hunter Nemechek and Chase Briscoe. Hamlin launched ahead of Chris Buescher through the frontstretch. Carson Hocevar made a three-wide move to overtake Buescher, Briscoe, and Nemechek. He tried to get to Hamlin’s left-rear quarter panel in the first turn, but Hamlin motored ahead through the first turn.
As the field jostled for early spots and fanned out to multiple lanes from the Long Pond Straightaway (in between Turns 1 and 2), the Tunnel Turn (a left-hand curve turn in Turn 2) and a straightaway from Turns 2 to 3 before making a left-curved turn through Big Bend prior to the frontstretch, Hamlin proceeded to lead the first lap over Buescher and Hocevar.
Over the next four laps, Hamlin maintained a steady advantage, as high as four-tenths of a second over Buescher. Hocevar maintained within reach and under a second of the two leaders in third place. Another lap later, Buescher attempted to make a move beneath Hamlin entering the first turn. But Hamlin maintained the top spot through the Long Pond straightaway that started from the exit of the first turn to the entrance of the second turn.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Hamlin continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Buescher. Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe followed suit in the top five, respectively. Cole Custer occupied sixth place ahead of Daniel Suarez, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, and John Hunter Nemechek, rounding out the top 10. Brad Keselowski, Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, William Byron, and Ryan Preece occupied the top-20 spots, respectively, in front of Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Justin Haley, and rookie Riley Herbst.
Ten laps later, Hamlin extended his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Buescher despite Buescher’s earlier attempt to reel in to Hamlin’s rear bumper. Behind Reddick, who overtook Hocevar for third place two laps earlier, trailed the lead by four seconds. Meanwhile, Hocevar, who got sideways entering the frontstretch but managed to keep his car racing straight despite making light right-rear contact against the outside wall. He fended off Briscoe for fourth place as the latter two trailed the leader by five seconds.
On Lap 25, pit strategies ensued as Daniel Suarez pitted under green from 21st place. Two laps later, more drivers, including Hocevar, Keselowski, Custer, Ty Gibbs, and Bell, pitted their respective entries just before pit road became inaccessible due to the upcoming conclusion of the first stage period. By then, Hamlin, who was among many in the field who had yet to pit, retained the lead.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Hamlin cruised to his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. The veteran managed to lead every lap through the first stage period. Buescher settled in second ahead of Reddick, Briscoe, and Erik Jones. Zane Smith, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Alex Bowman scored in the top 10, respectively.
Stage 2
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted their respective entries while the rest, which included Michael McDowell, Keselowski, Hocevar, Gibbs, Custer, Nemechek, Bell, and Suarez, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited pit road first ahead of Hamlin while Erik Jones, Elliott, and Logano followed suit. Soon after, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit under caution. This allowed Keselowski to cycle to the lead.
The second stage period started on Lap 35 as Keselowski and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Keselowski received a push from Hocevar to muscle ahead of Gibbs. He then led from the exit of the frontstretch through the Long Pong Straightaway. The field fanned out and jumbled up through the Tunnel Turn before they navigated back to the frontstretch unscathed.
Keselowski led the following lap over Hocevar, Gibbs, Nemechek, and Custer. Hamlin, who restarted in eighth place on his four fresh tires, was up to sixth place. Hamlin then proceeded to gain two additional spots and move up to fourth place by the Lap 40 mark. Keselowski retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Hocevar.
On Lap 41, the caution returned. Riley Herbst, while racing in the top 30, blew a right-front tire exiting the frontstretch and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1. The incident was due to a broken right-front hub. It resulted in Herbst sustaining terminal right-side damage to his No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE entry.
During the caution period, more mixed pit strategies within the field ensued. Multiple names including Buescher, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Shane van Gisbergen, Todd Gilliland, Cody Ware, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson and Ty Dillon pitted their respective entries. Meanwhile, the rest, led by Hamli, remained on the track.
The event restarted under green on Lap 48. Keselowski fended off Hocevar to retain the lead through the first turn and the Long Pong Straightaway. Teammates Hamlin and Gibbs battled for third place in front of William Byron. Byron capitalized on both Hamlin and Gibbs going up the track in Turn 3 by assuming third place. Nemechek tried to get himself mixed in between Hamlin and Gibbs. Amid the battles within the field, Keselowski led at the Lap 50 mark while Hocevar trailed by half a second.
On Lap 54, the caution flew when Wallace, racing in 27th place, blew a right-front tire entering the Long Pond Straightaway. He went dead-straight into the outside wall. The incident was due to a broken brake rotor on the No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE entry. It eliminated Wallace from further competition, capping off a frustrating weekend for Wallace. A day earlier, Wallace was unable to post a qualifying lap due to his car having issues igniting during Saturday’s qualifying session. As a result, he was forced to start at the rear of the field.
During the caution period, Keselowski mistakenly surrendered the lead to pit when pit road was closed to the field. Amid the miscommunication, Keselowski had his car serviced while Hocevar cycled to the lead. When pit road became accessible, a majority of the field led by Hocevar pitted their respective entries. The rest, led by Logano, remained on the track. Those who also remained on the track included Cindric, Berry, Bowman, Briscoe, Stenhouse, Haley, Buescher, and McDowell. Hamlin, who was among those who pitted, exited pit road first ahead of Blaney and Ross Chastain.
The start of the next restart on Lap 60 featured the field fanning out through the frontstretch. Logano fended off teammate Cindric to maintain the lead through the first turn, the Long Pond Straightaway, and the Tunnel Turn. Bowman and Stenhouse would also overtake Cindric to move into the top-three spots while Logano proceeded to lead the following lap. As Logano led, Hamlin, who restarted in 11th place, was mired in 10th place. Hocevar, who restarted 19th, was up to sixth place.
At the Lap 65 mark, Bowman, who overtook Logano for the lead two laps earlier, led by eight-tenths of a second over Logano. Stenhouse, Hocevar, and Cindric followed suit in the top five, respectively. The remaining top-10 spots were occupied by Buescher, Berry, Hamlin, Haley, and Briscoe, respectively. Bowman extended his lead to more than a second by Lap 70.
Just past the Lap 70 mark, Michael McDowell, racing in 26th place, blew a right-front tire. The incident was due to a blown brake rotor entering the frontstretch. Despite McDowell’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions. McDowell was able to limp his damaged No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet entry below the track for a full lap. He then steered his car behind the wall. As the event proceeded, some, including Berry and Briscoe, made strategic pit stops under green. Bowman continued to lead just past the Lap 75 mark.
The caution would then be thrown on Lap 78 due to debris on the frontstretch, remnants of McDowell’s incident on the frontstretch. During the caution period, multiple names led by Bowman pitted for service while the rest led by Stenhouse and Hocevar remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green at the halfway mark on Lap 80, Stenhouse, who led and shared the front row with Hocevar, received no drafting help from the outside lane. This allowed Hocevar to rocket ahead with a push from Briscoe through the frontstretch and the first turn before Briscoe drew alongside and overtook Hocevar for the lead through the Long Pond Straightaway. Briscoe would proceed to lead the following lap over Stenhouse and Hocevar while Byron navigated his way up to fourth place in front of Berry and Keselowski.
Then on Lap 82, the caution returned when Kyle Busch, who was battling Zane Smith for 24th place, got loose while rubbing fenders alongside Smith through the Tunnel Turn. Busch’s spin triggered a multi-car wreck that involved Bell, Ty Dillon, and van Gisbergen, who were all racing in the mid-pack region.
During the caution period, Reddick took his No. 45 The Beast Toyota Camry XSE entry to the garage due to a braking issue. It mirrored similar issues that eliminated his teammates, Wallace and Herbst, from contention. Compared to his teammates, Reddick lost a single lap in the process and was able to return to competition. Back on the track, select names that included Hocevar and Austin Dillon pitted their respective Chevrolets. The rest, led by Briscoe, remained on the track.
With the event restarting with eight laps remaining in the second stage period, Briscoe and Stenhouse battled for the lead in front of a stacked field. With multiple names barely making contact with the outside wall entering the frontstretch but keeping their respective entries racing straight and under green flag conditions, Briscoe maintained the lead over Berry and Stenhouse during the next lap while Byron and Keselowski were battling inside the top-five mark.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Briscoe captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Berry followed suit in second while Elliott, Byron, Buescher, Hamlin, Cindric, Blaney, Larson, and Hocevar were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Erik Jones and Keselowski, both of whom strategically pitted under green with three laps remaining in the second stage period, were mired back in 29th and 30th, respectively.
Under the stage break, and with mixed pit strategies ensued. Some, including Byron, Stenhouse, and Daniel Suarez, pitted their respective entries while the rest, led by Brisco, remained on the track.
With 60 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Briscoe and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, Briscoe fended off Berry to lead through the frontstretch and the first turn while Buescher navigated his way into the runner-up spot. As the field roared through the Long Pong Straightaway, Hamlin overtook Berry for third place, and he pursued Buescher for the runner-up spot while Briscoe led the following lap. By then, Chase Elliott also marched his way into fourth place over Berry while Blaney, Larson, Cindric, Chastai,n and Ryan Preece were jostling in the top 10.
With less than 50 laps remaining, Briscoe maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Buescher while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than a second. As Briscoe continued to lead with 42 laps remaining, select names, including Berry, Cindric, and Bowman, pitted their respective entries under green before the leader, Briscoe, Larson, Preece, Hocevar, and Byron, all of whom pitted with 41 laps remaining. More names that included Hamlin, Elliott, Logano, Chastain, Gragson, Custer, Stenhouse, and Custer would pit with 40 laps remaining before Buescher, who assumed the lead when Briscoe pitted, pitted with 39 laps remaining.
By the time Buescher completed his pit service and returned to the track, both Briscoe and Hamlin had cycled ahead of Buescher. Meanwhile, Blaney, who was among 12 competitors who had yet to pit, was leading with 38 laps remaining while Keselowski, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, and Suarez were scored in the top five.
Blaney would then surrender the lead to pit with 36 laps remaining, along with Nemechek, Suarez, Bell, and Gibbs, before the caution flew due to van Gisbergen spinning in the first turn. At the moment of caution, Keselowski, who was among a select few who had yet to pit, was scored the leader ahead of Haley and Busch. During the caution period, some led by Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.
The start of the next restart, with 30 laps remaining, featured teammates Briscoe and Hamlin briefly dueling. Briscoe then received a push from Elliott on the outside lane to launch ahead entering the first turn. As Briscoe led, Hamlin was drawn in a side-by-side battle with Blaney through Long Pond Straightaway. Buescher, Elliott, and Larson battled in front of Nemechek for fourth place. With a series of battles within the field ensuing, Briscoe cycled back to the frontstretch and led the following lap over Hamlin.
Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Briscoe, who was reported to not have enough fuel to reach the event’s scheduled distance after he mistakenly left his pit box too soon during his latest green flag pit service, was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin. Blaney, Elliott, and Buescher trailed by as far back as two seconds in the top-five mark. Despite his fuel-shortage issue, Briscoe continued to multitask, conserving his fuel tank through every straightaway and turn while also maintaining the lead by half a second over Hamlin.
With 20 laps remaining, Briscoe’s lead stood at four-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Third-place Blaney was only two-tenths of a second behind Hamlin. Five laps later, Briscoe stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Blaney trailed the lead by more than a second. Elliott and Buescher trailed in the top-five mark by two seconds while sixth-place Nemechek was six seconds behind the lead.
As the event reached its final 10-lap distance, Briscoe continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Blaney trailed by a second in third place while Elliott and Buescher trailed by three seconds in the top five. Hamlin then started to try to reel in Briscoe, who led him by half a second with five laps remaining.
Chase Briscoe Wins
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Briscoe, who maintained a reasonable advantage over Hamlin while continuing to conserve fuel, remained in the lead by seven-tenths of a second. Amid concerns that his engine would sputter on low fuel, Briscoe managed to maintain both enough horsepower and fuel in his low tank while also fending off Hamlin for a final cycle around the Tricky Triangle before he cruised back to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2025 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Briscoe notched his third career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first at Pocono, his first since winning the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September 2024, and his first driving the No. 19 Toyota entry for Joe Gibbs Racing. The victory was also the seventh of the 2025 season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate.
As a bonus, Briscoe, who came into Pocono 39 points above the cutline to make the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs, solidified his spot in this year’s postseason battle to the series’ championship by becoming the 11th winner through the first 17 scheduled events of the 2025 season.
“[The pressure] was a lot,” Briscoe said on the frontstretch on Prime Video. “It was kind of weird. I wasn’t driving hard, so it’s not like I was on the ragged edge. It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s probably the greatest of all time here. To be trying to save fuel and everything else. An amazing day for our race team.
This is really the first race we’ve executed, truthfully, all year long. To get Johnny Morris [and] Bass Pro Shops in Victory Lane, to get Toyota in Victory Lane. Joe Gibbs Racing, they took a big chance on me. I wasn’t everybody’s first choice, I think, but for me to be able to get here and finally deliver a win is just an awesome feeling.”
Denny Hamlin, who was pursuing an eighth Pocono victory, settled in second place as he fell short of a victory by six-tenths of a second. Amid the disappointment, Hamlin, who did not participate in last weekend’s Mexico City event due to the birth of his third child, was also pleased with the on-track performances and speed exhibited by his No. 11 team.
“The key moment with [Briscoe] and like three or four others pitted and then, that caution [with 36 laps remaining] came out and it leaped them in front of us,” Hamlin said. “At that point, we knew it was going to be really hard to pass those guys. The team did a great job. Next best in line there of our strategy. Just didn’t work out.”
Ryan Blaney, the reigning two-time Pocono winner, came home in third place while Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott finished in the top five. John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, and Austin Cindric completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 31 laps. In addition, 30 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 17th event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 54 points over teammate Kyle Larson, 78 over Denny Hamlin, 79 over Christopher Bell, and 80 over Chase Elliott.
Results:
1. Chase Briscoe, 72 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Denny Hamlin, 32 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Ryan Blaney, three laps led
4. Chris Buescher, two laps led
5. Chase Elliott
6. John Hunter Nemechek
7. Kyle Larson
8. Ryan Preece
9. Brad Keselowski, 27 laps led
10. Austin Cindric
11. Alex Bowman, 15 laps led
12. Josh Berry
13. Erik Jones
14. Ty Gibbs
15. Daniel Suarez
16. Joey Logano, five laps led
17. Christopher Bell
18. Carson Hocevar, two laps led
19. Justin Haley
20. Kyle Busch
21. AJ Allmendinger
22. Cole Custer
23. Noah Gragson
24. Austin Dillon
25. Zane Smith
26. Ross Chastain
27. William Byron
28. Todd Gilliland
29. Cody Ware
30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps led
31. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down
32. Tyler Reddick, one lap down
33. Ty Dillon, 20 laps down
34. Brennan Poole – OUT, Drivetrain
35. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident
36. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident
37. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is the series’ return to the newly named EchoPark Speedway (renamed from Atlanta Motor Speedway) for the Quaker State 400 and the first of five In-Season Tournament events. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 28, and air at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.
