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- Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin will be chasing his third consecutive victory of the season at Pocono Raceway.
- 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick entrenched as a Cup Series championship favorite.
- First-time winners Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar continue strong campaigns.
- Three-time series champion Joey Logano paces a group of notables needing some mid-season momentum.
Photo: Michael Jaworecki/Myracenews
LONG POND, Pa. (June 8, 2026) – As the NASCAR Cup Series season approaches the midpoint, several drivers find themselves in enviable positions while others need to string together strong performances with the postseason looming.
Beginning this season, NASCAR has reverted to its Chase championship format and a “win and you’re in” no longer means an automatic berth into the 16-driver field. A victory is helpful, but the qualifiers are strictly based on the points standings.
Beginning Sunday with The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISIT PA at Pocono Raceway (3 p.m. ET, TV: Amazon Prime, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM), the NASCAR Cup Series field will have 11 races to sort out which 16 will qualify to have an opportunity at contending for the championship.
Here’s a look at the “Tricky 5” storylines heading into The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISIT PA:
- Denny Hamlin, currently the hottest driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, will look to turn up the heat even more on championship leader Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing and the rest of the field as the Joe Gibbs Racing star arrives at a track where he has enjoyed immense success.
Hamlin is coming off consecutive victories from the pole at Nashville and Michigan, with the latter win allowing him to close to 51 points of Reddick. He has finished third or better in four of his last five races and also added in a non-points victory in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
“The Tricky Triangle” has been one of his best tracks statistically in his storied career. Hamlin’s track-record seven career victories rank as his highest total of any speedway. He also is tied for the most career poles (5), ranks second for laps led (890) and third for top-five (17) and top-10 finishes (24).
And it’s not all “ancient” history. Hamlin has finished second or better in his last three visits and six of his last nine, including victories in 2019, ’20 and ’23. He also has started eighth or better in his last four appearances, including poles in 2022 and last season.
- Tyler Reddick’s spectacular season hit a speed bump with a 35th-place finish this past Sunday at Michigan, but the 23XI Racing driver continues to position himself as a NASCAR Cup Series championship favorite.
Reddick owns a series-high five victories, including the crown jewel Daytona 500, in 15 starts and also ranks first for top-five finishes (9), top-10 finishes (11) and pole positions (5). Prior to his first DNF (Did Not Finish) of the season at Michigan, he was on a solid run with finishes of sixth or better in four of his last five and six of the last eight, highlighted by a victory at Kansas.
Reddick will look to quickly rebound at Pocono Raceway, where he has posted top-10 finishes in four of his last five visits, including runner-up finishes in 2022 and ’23.
- Two of NASCAR’s brightest young stars, Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar, earned their first NASCAR Cup Series victories within three weeks of each other and continue to establish themselves as legitimate championship contenders.
Gibbs broke through first for his inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory on April 12 at Bristol Motor Speedway, edging Ryan Blaney in overtime by a scant 0.055 of a second. The maiden victory came in the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s 131st start.
Hocevar’s maiden win wasn’t much easier on April 26 at Talladega Superspeedway, where he fought off Chris Buescher by 0.114 of a second. It took the Spire Motorsports driver 91 starts to secure his first.
Gibbs, looking for his second post-season appearance, is in a comfortable position of fifth in the standings, just 12 points behind fourth-place Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports. He has posted nine top-10 finishes, including six of those among the top five, in 15 starts.
At Pocono, Gibbs is a previous pole winner (2024) and had a best finish of fifth in 2023.
Hocevar is seventh in the standings, 25 behind sixth-place Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports and 42 behind Gibbs. He has seven top-10 finishes and collected his fourth top-five finish at Michigan. The fifth-place finish was his best performance since his victory at Talladega.
Hocevar has made just two starts at Pocono, qualifying a best of third last season and recording his best finish of 17th in 2024.
- Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano of Team Penske leads a notable group of perennial playoff contenders currently outside the top 16 in points.
Logano finds himself in 17th, just three points behind 16th-place teammate Austin Cindric, but has managed just a pair of top-five finishes through 15 starts. He has missed the playoffs just once (2017) in the last 13 seasons.
Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, a playoff qualifier three of the last four seasons, has just two top-10 finishes this season and sits in 24th.
Farther back and with cause for concern is Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman, who has earned a postseason berth seven of the last eight seasons, is 32nd after missing four races due to vertigo. He has just two top-10 finishes – consecutive third-place performances at Talladega and Texas – on the season.
Pocono Raceway may not bring much solace to the trio in need of a strong result. Chastain has not recorded a top-10 finish in 10 career starts. Logano, a former winner with 11 top-10 finishes in 30 career starts, has outside the top 15 in three of his last four visits. The exception was a solid fifth-place effort in 2024. Bowman, the 2021 race winner, has cracked the top 10 once – a third in 2024 – in his last four starts.
- RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory that came at Pocono Raceway in a weather-shortened race on Aug. 1, 2016.
Buescher, driving for Front Row Motorsports, stayed out on track during a caution on Lap 127 while the leaders pitted, banking that the approaching weather would put him in a position to win. The gamble paid off as the race was red flagged after 138 of the scheduled 160 laps due to severe fog. Buescher would become the first rookie to win a Cup Series race since 2014 and earned his first playoff appearance.
The 33-year-old Texan returns to Pocono with plenty of momentum, sitting in a strong position to secure just his second postseason berth after that rookie season. Buescher, who also qualified for the 2023 playoffs, is eighth in the standings on the strength of seven top-10 finishes, including a season-best second at Talladega. He is coming off a ninth-place finish at Michigan.
Buescher enjoyed a strong Pocono performance last season, qualifying second and finishing fourth.
For tickets or additional information about The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISIT PA weekend, please visitwww.poconoraceway.com.
