Denny Hamlin was back in victory lane on Sunday after winning Pocono Cup Series race, giving him a track record seven victories and 50 overall in his Cup career.
A year after his first-place finish was disqualified, Denny Hamlin made his way back to winning on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, giving him a circuit record seven victories and 50 in the course of his Cup career.
Hamlin also helped Toyota secure its 600th NASCAR triumph.
For the second consecutive year, Hamlin outpaced Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon in terms of the number of victories at the Pocono track. A year earlier, NASCAR disqualified Hamlin and Kyle Busch for violating the aerodynamics regulations, resulting in the loss of their 1-2 results.
As a result, Hamlin became the first Cup winner to be disqualified since Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson Speedway in North Carolina on April 17, 1960 that was overturned due to a larger fuel tank.
Tyler Reddick finished third, followed by last week’s New Hampshire winner Martin Truex Jr. The final two places in the top 5 were held by Ty Gibbs and Kevin Harvick.
Kyle Larson and Hamlin clashed as they battled over the last few laps before the three-time Daytona 500 winner, drove away on the last restart and won with the caution flag out, drawing boos from the sold-out crowd, which was the biggest at Pocono since 2010.
The No. 5 Chevrolet was sent skidding over the track as a result of contact made by Hamlin late in the race, which Larson blamed for losing him a chance to fight for the victory. Hamlin eventually fell to 21st.
In an incident involving Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon, the latter threw his helmet towards Reddick’s car. The passenger side of Dillon’s Ford crashed with the wall and as he stepped off the track, Dillon threw his helmet.
After a challenging race, Joey Logano had a challenging ride down the road. Logano, who had earlier won the opening stage, later crashed into a wall, blew four tires and came in 35th. The Team Penske driver criticized NASCAR for the uneasy trip he had in his Ford to the pits and said the tow truck caused additional damage to his car.
Richmond is the next stop for NASCAR.
