06/14/26 03:49:00
Printable Page
06/14 15:47 CDT Denny Hamlin wins the NASCAR Cup race at Pocono for his third
straight victory
Denny Hamlin wins the NASCAR Cup race at Pocono for his third straight victory
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) --- Denny Hamlin, adamant he still plans to retire at the
end of next season, won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway for his
third consecutive victory and passed the late Kyle Busch for sole possession of
ninth place on the all-time wins list.
Hamlin, who at 45 is the oldest full-time driver in the Cup Series, last week
won his 63rd race in NASCAR's top series to tie his former Joe Gibbs Racing
teammate on the all-time wins list. His eighth career victory at Pocono pushed
him ahead of Busch for sole possession of ninth place.
His recent success --- it is his fourth win of the season, not including the
non-points All-Star race --- has renewed talk that Hamlin should reconsider
retirement when his current deal with Joe Gibbs expires at the end of 2027. He
so far has put a stop to such talk despite performing at the highest level of
his long career.
The Sunday win comes nearly 20 years to the date after his first career
victory, which came at Pocono on June 11, 2006. He swept the races at the
Pennsylvania track that year.
Despite 64 career victories, it marked the first time in his career that Hamlin
has won three consecutive races.
The feat tied Richard Petty, who did it in 1966 and 1967, Bobby Allison in 1971
and Darrell Waltrip in 1981. Petty, Allison and Waltrip are all in the NASCAR
Hall of Fame.
Tyler Reddick, who drives for the 23XI Racing team owned by Hamlin and Michael
Jordan, finished second as Toyota took the top two spots. Hamlin is now 19
points behind Reddick in the Cup Series standings.
When he tied Busch for all-time wins last week, Hamlin celebrated with a
special tribute to Busch. On Sunday, he collected the checkered flag and
skipped any tributes to Busch, who died unexpectedly of sepsis at age 41 last
month.
Toyota drivers have won 10 of 16 races this season, and JGR has accounted for
five of them.
William Byron finished third in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports followed
by John Hunter Nemechek in fourth in a Toyota for Legacy Motor Club.
Kyle Larson was fifth for Hendrick and Erik Jones was sixth for Legacy as
Toyota drivers took four of the top six spots.
Up next
NASCAR makes its inaugural visit to San Diego with a first-of-its-kind street
race at Naval Base Coronado. The NASCAR San Diego weekend marks the first
NASCAR event ever contested on an active military base, with races Friday,
Saturday and Sunday.
San Diego will host just the second street course in NASCAR's modern era. The
Chicago street course hosted two national series each of the past three
seasons. The race weekend will coincide with the 250th anniversary of the U.S.
Navy.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
|
