The sun set at Pocono Raceway, but the NASCAR Cup Series drivers were still pacing the 2.5-mile triangular speedway. At the end of a long NASCAR National Series triple-header day, it was Denny Hamlin who reigned supreme and took his fourth victory of the 2020 season.
Hamlin led a race-high 49 laps, and down the stretch he was able to hold off Saturday’s Pocono winner — Kevin Harvick — by just over 3-seconds.
Hamlin snagged the lead with a great pit strategy by crew chief Chris Gabehart. The No. 11 team was on a much later pit sequence than Harvick, so they were able to stay out and take less fuel and only two tires to save time on their stop.
This gave Hamlin the lead and ultimately the win.
Erik Jones came home an impressive third, Chase Elliott was fourth and Aric Almirola scored his fourth-consecutive top-five finish in fifth.
Matt DiBenedetto and William Byron ended the day in sixth and seventh.
The battle of all battles on the final lap came between Clint Bowyer and Alex Bowman for eighth. The two were running side-by-side for the spot coming off turn three. Then they made contact numerous times on their path to the finish line.
After pummeling their cars, Bowyer took the spot, while Bowman settled for ninth.
Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-10 finishers in the race.
Brad Keselowski, who won Stage 2, appeared to be heading to a solid finish, but it appeared that his No. 2 team did not get the fuel tank full enough on what they expected to be their final pit stop of the day. As a result, Keselowski needed to pit again with a handful of laps remaining.
Keselowski would finish 11th.
Post-Race Stat Pack:
