NASCAR Pocono Wrap: Blaney Wins, Hamlin Ends Slump with Strong Finish

• Pocono’s runner-up finish was Denny Hamlin’s first since June 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

• Kyle Busch commented very little on a seven-car incident at Pocono, saying, “That’s just racing these days. It’s what happens.”

• With Ross Chastain exiting the Great American Getaway 400 after 53 laps, the Trackhouse Racing driver now finds himself in a fight with Bubba Wallace for the last playoff position.

Denny Hamlin hadn’t recorded a top-10 finish in five races, but he snapped that slump in Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, finishing second to winner Ryan Blaney by 1.312 seconds.

Hamlin’s slump began in early June at Sonoma when he finished last in the 38-car field due to an engine failure in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He followed that dismal day with 24th-place finishes at Iowa and New Hampshire, 12th at Nashville and 30th at Chicago. Pocono’s runner-up finish was Hamlin’s first since June 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

“We were terrible for a month-and-a-half or so in our finishes, not in our performance,” Hamlin said. “Feels good to have at least a solid day leaving here. I only care about winning, but still, this kind of rebound is something that at least makes you feel a little better.”

Hamlin possesses seven Pocono victories, and he had hoped the 2.5-mile, triangle-shaped track would provide him with the good finish his team desperately needed. He led once for 31 laps in the 160-lap race. However, his team decided to win Stage 2 that ended on lap 95 while Blaney pitted before the end of the second Stage. T

he two teams’ different decisions resulted in Blaney starting third for the final 60 laps while Hamlin was mired in 16th.

With four caution periods covering 18 of the final 44 laps, Hamlin noted there weren’t enough green-flag laps at the end for him to catch Blaney.

For the restart following the eighth and final caution flag on lap 138, Hamlin was third behind Blaney and Alex Bowman, respectively. Hamlin passed Bowman for second with seven laps remaining, but at that time his deficit to Blaney was 2.174 seconds. It was evident that Blaney had been managing the margin because with five laps to go he led Hamlin by 2.248 seconds.

“(You) never lose a race, just always run out of time, right?” Hamlin said after the event. “Track position is such a big thing. When the 12 (Blaney) jumped on that Stage that we won, that put them in front of us. Certainly, was going to be hard to pass. Really hard for me to even try to get close to reeling him in.”

LaJoie, Busch Trigger 7-Car Crash

A racing confrontation between Kyle Busch and Corey LaJoie on Lap 121 triggered a seven-car wreck in turn one on the restart following the fifth caution period.

Busch blocked LaJoie, who then clipped Busch on the left rear as they entered turn one. Busch spun to the inside of the track, then came back across the speedway and into the middle of the field, collecting Ricky Stenhouse Jr., A.J. Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton and Austin Cindric.

Busch commented very little on the incident saying, “That’s just racing these days. It’s what happens.”

After the crash during the yellow flag, LaJoie’s crew chief Ryan Sparks told his driver in a radio communication, “You let him have it the first time. The second time he got what he deserved. All good.”

Stenhouse said he saw Busch at the “last second.”

“I went as high as I could without getting too far up into the gray,” Stenhouse said. “I tried to throttle up to get by him, and he still just clipped me kind of in the left rear.”

Bowman Not Satisfied With Finish

One week after Alex Bowman snapped an 80-race winless streak, the Hendrick Motorsports driver finished third to winner Ryan Blaney in Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, but he wasn’t happy with his second straight top-five.

“Hard to be satisfied when you restart on the front row, last restart, and can’t get the job done,” Bowman said after recording his sixth top-five finish this season.

“We struggled with traffic quite a bit. Probably made most of our adjustments based on traffic, then just got too free there at the end when we had some clean air. Just built the right-rear tire up too much, couldn’t get Ryan (Blaney). Once I abused the right-rear tire for so long, it made Denny’s (Hamlin) job pretty easy to get around me.”

Looking at the Playoff Bubble

With Ross Chastain exiting the Great American Getaway 400 after 53 laps, the Trackhouse Racing driver now finds himself in a fight with Bubba Wallace for the last playoff position with five races remaining in the regular season.

There have been 12 different winners this year, meaning only four playoff positions are available via points. Chastain is 27 points above the cutline due to his 36h-place finish in Sunday’s 37-car field at Pocono, while Bubba Wallace’s 10^th-place finish left him 27 points below the cutline. Wallace described the day as a “nice rebound.”

“Usually, it’s the opposite,” Wallace said. “We start really good and end up fading and giving up a lot of track position.

“Here, we were able to call a good strategy and hang on. We just didn’t have the car. The six (Brad Keselowski) drove it down into (turn) one and I was going to race the heck out of him, and I realized I was going to crash, and he was going to keep going. It’s pretty eye-opening of how far we’re off. Going to have a good debrief tomorrow (Monday).”

Due to the two-week break for the Olympics, the NASCAR Cup regular season won’t end at Daytona this year. Instead, it will conclude Labor Day weekend at Darlington. The playoffs begin the following week at Atlanta.

The Xfinity Series regular season doesn’t end until Sept. 20 at Bristol.

Xfinity Points Picture

Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer led the point standings entering Saturday’s Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway, but he wasn’t guaranteed a playoff berth until he won that race.

Of those drivers eligible for the playoffs, Shane Van Gisbergen leads in victories with three. Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Sam Mayer possess two victories each, while Custer, Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love each own one win.

With seven races remaining in the regular season, five playoff positions remain available via points. Those are currently owned by A.J. Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith. Ryan Sieg is 22 points below the cutline.

The playoffs begin Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway.

Truck Series Playoff Picture

In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, only two races remain in the regular season -- Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond. The 10-truck playoff field begins vying for that series championship Aug. 25 at Milwaukee.

Only four drivers have won this season, so that leaves six playoff positions available via points. Corey Heim, who won Friday’s CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono Raceway, leads in victories this season with five. Christian Eckes, who leads the driver standings, has won three races. Nick Sanchez possesses two victories and Rajah Caruth has recorded one. Currently, those in the playoffs via points are Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Ben Rhodes and Daniel Dye. However, Dye has only a one-point advantage while Tanner Gray is one point out of the playoff field. Stewart Friesen owns a four-point deficit.