Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe held off teammate Denny Hamlin in an impressive fuel-saving display to win at Pocono Raceway. Not to mention, two-time Pocono winner Ryan Blaney was close behind in third after struggling to find track position and dealing with a malfunctioning cool-suit for the majority of the race.
The win also moves Briscoe into the playoff field and shrinks the bubble by another spot after Shane van Gisbergen's win in Mexico City the week prior. Behind the trio of Briscoe, Hamlin and Blaney at the front were RFK Racing's Chris Buescher and Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott.
Updated Cup Series standings after The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway
Driver Standings | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|
1. William Byron | 623 | 0 |
2. Kyle Larson | 569 | -54 |
3. Denny Hamlin | 545 | -78 |
4. Christopher Bell | 544 | -79 |
5. Chase Elliott | 543 | -80 |
6. Ryan Blaney | 503 | -120 |
7. Tyler Reddick | 490 | -133 |
8. Ross Chastain | 454 | -169 |
9. Chase Briscoe | 450 | -173 |
10. Joey Logano | 436 | -187 |
Although Byron could not overcome a qualifying crash and pad his points lead, he still holds a 54-point advantage over teammate Kyle Larson. With a stage win and runner-up finish, Hamlin moves ahead of Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell to third. Ryan Blaney's solid third-place finish was enough to vault him ahead of Tyler Reddick, who finished 32nd after experiencing brake rotor issues. Briscoe rises to ninth after his first win of the season.
Notable drivers outside the top-10 in the overall standings include Bubba Wallace (12th), Talladega winner Austin Cindric (15th), Las Vegas winner Josh Berry (16th), Kyle Busch (19th), Carson Hocevar (20th), Ty Gibbs (23rd), Brad Keselowski (30th) and van Gisbergen (31st).
Keep in mind, a win will most likely guarantee a driver a playoff berth with 16 spots up for grabs. After Pocono, Larson, Hamlin, Bell, Byron, Blaney, Joey Logano, Cindric, Briscoe, Berry, van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain are the season's 11 winners,
That leaves only five spots up for grabs with nine regular-season races remaining. Elliott (+160) and Reddick (+107) are in the best position of the non-winners. Chris Buescher (+38) and Wallace (+29) are 14th and 15th, respectively, while Alex Bowman currently holds down the 16th and final spot (+20) over Ryan Preece.
One thing to keep in mind is the importance of both regular-season points standings and playoff standings. While drivers with wins vault to the top of the points standings and guarantee themselves a playoff spot, assuming there are no more than 16 winners, the overall points are equally important.
The regular-season champion by season's end will earn an additional 15 playoff points, second place will get 10 and drivers third-to-10th in points will receive points in descending order down to one point for 10th