Story By: SAM MAHONEY / TOYOTA RACING – LONG POND, PA – At one of his most successful tracks, where he holds the track record with seven career wins, Denny Hamlin drove his No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE to a second-place finish Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway in the Great American Getaway 400.
Hamlin started the day in fourth position and was upfront throughout the 160-lap race around the “Tricky Triangle,” finishing second in Stage 1, winning Stage 2 and leading a total of 31 laps. Though there was a bevy of late-race cautions that jumbled up the field, Hamlin was unable to catch the leader by the checkered flag, finishing just 1.3 seconds back. Sunday’s result is Hamlin’s eighth top-five of the season.
Joining Hamlin inside the top-10 were Camry XSE teammates Tyler Reddick (6th), Martin Truex Jr. (8th) and Bubba Wallace (10th). Truex led 14 laps on the day and won Stage 1, with Hamlin and Reddick right behind him. Ty Gibbs started the day from pole position and led 21 laps in the early going but had his day end early with mechanical issues.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next Sunday, July 21, for the return of the Brickyard 400. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Pocono Raceway
Race 21 of 36 – 160 Laps, 400 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ryan Blaney*
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, Alex Bowman*
4th, William Byron*
5th, Joey Logano
6th, TYLER REDDICK
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
10th, BUBBA WALLACE
12th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
14th, ERIK JONES
27th, TY GIBBS
28th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Great day and fast car, but did it feel like you just ran out of laps there at the end?
“Yeah, always. You never lose one, just run out of laps or you run out of time, right? No, hats off to this whole Mavis Tires and Brakes team. Dave (Sorbaro), the CEO and 100 associates were here today, so we were proud to host them. Would’ve loved to give them a victory, but second is close and at least, it’s good to get back on track. We’ve had some slides over the last month-and-a-half.”
How much strategy goes into this race and what made the difference there?
“It was when the 12 (Ryan Blaney) jumped the stage and we stayed out there to win the stage. That was the moment he was able to jump us and from that point on, not enough laps to reel him back in.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Walk us through your race today.
“Yeah, most of the day was (pause.) Stage 1 and Stage 3 were decent for us. Stage 2 was a bit of a struggle. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have any good restarts in the middle portion there and gave up on some points. But all in all, it was a solid day and we closed the gap to the points lead. And obviously, Denny (Hamlin) closed in on us a little bit. Overall, solid day and great points day.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
How was your day today?
“It’s about points, so we didn’t capitalize on points, but the 1 (Ross Chastain) had a bad day, the 54 (Ty Gibbs) had a bad day. It was a nice rebound. Usually, it’s the opposite. We start really good and end up fading and giving up a lot track position. Here, we were able to call a good strategy and hang on. We just didn’t have the car. The 6 (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. All in all, I was trying to have fun the first stages, that’s what I said I was going to do. Was trying my butt off and here we are.”