LONG POND, Pa. (AP) Chase Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his first win with his new race team.
Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCARs playoffs with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its first victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded and he was tabbed to replace Truex in the four-car JGR field.
Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, appeared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the final, thrilling laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toytota to snag that eighth Pocono win.
It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy thats the greatest of all time here, Briscoe said.
Briscoe, who won an Xfinity Series race at Pocono in 2020, raced to his third career Cup victory and first since Darlington in 2024.
Briscoe has been on bit of a hot streak, and had his fourth top-10 finish over the last six races, including a seventh-place finish in last weeks ballyhooed race in Mexico City.
He became the 11th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver field with nine races left until the field is set.
Hamlin finished second. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott completed the top five.
Briscoe, a third-generation dirt racer from Indiana, gave JGR its 18th Cup victory at Pocono.
To get here and finally deliver a win is just an awesome feeling, he said. To be able to get Coach in victory lane after taking a chance on me, its just so rewarding.
The race was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain and the conditions were muggy by the time the green flag dropped. Briscoe led 72 laps and won the second stage.
Briscoe wrote before the race on social media, Anybody going from Pocono to Oklahoma City after the race Sunday? The Pacers fan wasnt going to make it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Hell certainly settle for a ride to victory lane.
Ouch
There was a minor scare on pit road when AJ Allmendinger struck a tire in the carriers hand with his right front side and sent it flying into the ribs of another teams crew member in the pit ahead of him. Jonpatrik Kealey, the rear tire changer on Shane van Gisbergens race team, was knocked on all fours but finished work on van Gisbergens pit stop.
Brake time
Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Riley Herbst all had their races spoiled by brake issues.
It was a scary feeling for sure, Herbst said. I was just starting to get tight, just a bad adjustment on my part. Getting into (turn) one, the brakes just went to the floor. A brake rotor exploded and I was along for the ride.
Up next
NASCAR heads to Atlanta. Christopher Bell won the first race at the track this season in March.
___
AP auto racing:
宾夕法尼亚州朗庞德（美联社）——周日，蔡斯·布里斯科在波科诺赛道重返胜利车道。他在比赛最后阶段通过节省燃油的策略，成功抵挡住乔·吉布斯车队的队友丹尼·哈姆林的攻势，为其新东家赢得了首场胜利。
布里斯科凭借这场胜利成功锁定NASCAR季后赛的自动晋级席位，同时为19号丰田赛车带来了自2023年小马丁·特鲁克斯驾驶该车以来的首场胜利。去年赛季结束时，由于斯图尔特-哈斯车队解散，布里斯科失去了工作，随后他被选中接替特鲁克斯，加入乔·吉布斯车队（JGR）的四车阵容。
以七场胜利保持赛道纪录的哈姆林（Hamlin），在最后几圈惊心动魄的追逐中几乎就要追上布里斯科（Briscoe），但驾驶11号丰田赛车的他最终功亏一篑，未能斩获波科诺赛道的第八场胜利。
布里斯科表示：“被一个人追赶已经够难受了，更何况追赶你的还是这里史上最伟大的选手。”
布里斯科（Briscoe）曾于2020年在波科诺赢得一场Xfinity系列赛，如今他斩获了个人职业生涯第三个杯赛冠军，这也是自2024年达灵顿站以来的首胜。
布里斯科近期状态火热，在过去六场比赛中第四次跻身前十名，其中包括上周在墨西哥城那场备受瞩目的比赛中获得的第七名。
在距离最终阵容确定还剩九场比赛之际，他成为第11位成功跻身16强车手名单的选手。
哈姆林获得第二名。瑞安·布莱尼、克里斯·布舍尔和蔡斯·埃利奥特分列第三至第五名。
来自印第安纳州的第三代泥地赛车手布里斯科（Briscoe），为JGR车队赢得了其在波科诺赛道的第18个杯赛冠军。
“历经艰辛最终获胜的感觉实在太棒了，”他说道。“教练当初冒险选择了我，如今能让他登上冠军领奖台，这一切都值得。”
比赛因雨延迟了2小时10分钟，开赛时天气闷热潮湿。布里斯科（Briscoe）领跑72圈并赢得第二阶段胜利。
布里斯科在赛前于社交媒体上写道：��本周日比赛结束后，有人要从波科诺前往俄克拉荷马城吗？��这位步行者队的球迷最终未能赶上NBA总决赛第七场的比赛。
他当然会满足于驶向胜利之路。
哎哟
维修区发生了一场虚惊：AJ·阿尔门丁格（AJ Allmendinger）的赛车右前侧撞到了轮胎搬运工手中的轮胎，导致轮胎飞出击中前方另一车队维修人员的肋骨。肖恩·范吉斯伯根（Shane van Gisbergen）车队的后轮更换员乔恩帕特里克·基利（Jonpatrik Kealey）被撞得四肢着地，但仍完成了范吉斯伯根进站期间的轮胎更换工作。
刹车时间
布巴·华莱士、迈克尔·麦克道尔和莱利·赫布斯特均因刹车故障导致比赛失利。
赫布斯特表示："这确实是一种可怕的感觉。我当时刚开始感到紧张，完全是我自己调整不当。进入一号弯时，刹车突然失灵。一个刹车盘突然爆裂，我只能听天由命地随着赛车滑行。"
接下来
NASCAR赛事即将登陆亚特兰大。克里斯托弗·贝尔（Christopher Bell）在今年三月赢得了该赛道本赛季的首场胜利。
美联社赛车新闻专栏：
全部评论 （0）