Entry List : Pocono Raceway

HighPoint.com 400

Sunday, July 23rd, 2023

Pocono Raceway , Long Pond, PA

Pocono Raceway logo
  • 16
  • 14
  • 6

  • Pocono Raceway
  • HighPoint.com 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: William Byron
  • Age: 25
  • Team : No. 24 - RaptorTough.com Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
  • William Byron won the Pole Award for the HighPoint.com 400 with a lap of 52.746 seconds, 170.629 mph.
  • This is his 11th pole in 201 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his third pole and 14th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his second pole in ten races at Pocono Raceway.
  • Martin Truex Jr. (second) posted his ninth top-10 start of 2023 and his 12th in 34 races at Pocono Raceway.
  • Kyle Larson (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Pocono Raceway. It is his 13th in 21 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (11th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, July 23rd, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Denny Hamlin Wins HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway

Denny Hamlin prevailed in a tight door-to-door bump-and-go pass on Kyle Larson with seven laps remaining to claim a historic all-time best seventh NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway – the win in Sunday's HighPoint.com 400 also marking Hamlin's 50th career trophy and second of the 2023 season

The race ended under caution for a last lap incident elsewhere on track, and the Pocono crowd voiced its displeasure, booing loudly as Hamlin's No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led the field to pit road at the 2.5-mile track after the checkered flag. Hamlin, 42, maintained the action was just close-quarter racing for a win. Larson, who finished 21st after the contact, disagreed and was none too happy with his good friend and golf partner.

"Both guys wrecked themselves," Hamlin said of Larson and contact he had earlier with Larson's teammate Alex Bowman. "There was a lane. He [Larson] missed the corner first and evidently didn't have his right side tires clean and when he gassed up and got going again, you have an option in those positions to either hold it wide open and hit the fence or lift and race it out.

"Those were choices they made. I didn't hit either one of them. Didn't touch them."

"I love it, I love it," Hamlin said, acknowledging the boos.

"I thought we had the best car and the strategy worked out. Just so happy we're winning these races we should win."

Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, did not mince words after climbing out of his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Instead of a Top-5 finish – or possible victory – he recovered from the incident to cross the finish line 21st.

"First off, really proud of my team, they got us in position to race for the win," said Larson, who did earn the Stage 2 win – his third of the year. "We got spun early [in the race] and the car was never really the same after that, but we played the strategy really well to get us up there. Just unfortunate.

"I've been cost a lot of good finishes by him throughout my career, and I know he says that I race a certain way, but I don't think I've ever had to apologize to him about anything, not that I'm sure he'll say ‘I'm sorry' after this but it is what it is.

"Just move on and try to go to Richmond, where we won earlier this year.

"It is what it is. Yeah, we're friends. Yes, this makes things awkward. But he's always right. All the buddies know, Denny's always right. It is what it is. I'm not gonna let it tarnish our friendship off track. But I am pissed, and I feel like I should be pissed.

"I think at this point I have the right," Larson said of potentially racing Hamlin differently on track going forward. "Like I've said, I've never had to apologize to him about anything I've done on the racetrack. I can count four or five times where he's had to reach out to me and say, ‘sorry I've put you in a bad spot there.' So eventually, like he says, you have to start racing people a certain way to get the respect back."

Hamlin earned Toyota its 600th career win in the three NASCAR national series combined and led his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. across the finish line. Tyler Reddick, who drives for the 23XI Racing Toyota team that Hamlin is part-owner of, finished third. Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick and the remaining two JGR cars of rookie Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell rounded out the Top-6.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Harrison Burton and Hendrick's Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10. It marked the second top-10 of the season for the 22-year old Burton. And the effort from Elliott leaves him 59-points out of the 16-driver Playoff pool with five more regular season races remaining for the 2020 series champion to race for another trophy, after missing six races in 2023.

Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, the race polesitter William Byron, led the most laps (60) of the day, but finished 24th. He now trails Truex by 30 points for the regular season title.

Varying pit strategies – and in particular on the final green flag run – changed the leaderboard in the last 30-40 laps of the race. Some drivers that hadn't run top-5 all day postponed their last stop hoping for a caution flag. However, the day's strongest cars were in position to settle the trophy; some – such as Larson and Hamlin – on a two-tire pit stop and some – such as Truex and Byron – with four fresh tires.

There were 11 cautions on the day and incidents on three consecutive restarts after the Stage 1 break impacted the Playoff situations of multiple drivers

The first re-start following the Stage break not only involved the Stage 1 winner Joey Logano, but also collected Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez who went into the race a mere 1-point behind Michael McDowell for that 16th and final Playoff position. McDowell's car suffered some damage too, but he was able to drive on. Logano's No. 22 Penske Racing Ford was towed back and repaired but Suarez's No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet pit needing extensive work and ultimately drove back to the garage.

With five races remaining, Suarez dropped to 18th in the championship standings and his deficit to 16th place McDowell now stands at 23 points..

"At the end of the day it's our fault we shouldn't be back there with those guys, squirrels," a frustrated Suarez said, adding, "It was a racing incident, but we shouldn't be racing those guys. We can only control what we can control.”

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 160
  • Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 21 Minutes 4 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 119.363
  • Cautions: 11 for 44 laps
  • Lead Changes: 14
  • Green Flag Passes: 3,417 (29.5 passes per green flag lap)

  • Pocono Raceway
  • HighPoint.com 400
  • Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
  • Age: 42
  • Team : No. 11 - Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Christopher Gabehart
  • Denny Hamlin won the HighPoint.com 400, his 50th victory in 635 Cup Series races.
  • This is his second victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his seventh victory and 22nd top-10 finish in 34 races at Pocono Raceway.
  • Tyler Reddick (second) posted his third top-10 finish in six races at Pocono Raceway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Martin Truex Jr. (third) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 34 races at Pocono Raceway.
  • Ty Gibbs (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Martin Truex Jr. leads the point standings by 30 points over William Byron.
Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin
Long Pond, Pennsylvania - July 24, 2022 : (L-R) Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 CommScope Chevrolet, Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 DeWalt Toyota, Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&Ms Toyota, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, talk backstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series M&M's Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Tim NwachukwuGetty Images
DRIVER
ENTRY
DRIVER
HOMETOWN
DOB
AGE
VEHICLE
#
MAKE
SPONSOR
TEAM
TEAM
CREW CHIEF
CREW CHIEF

1
Los Gatos, CA
Dec 16, 1981
41
16
Chevrolet
Action Industries
2
Tampa, FL
Mar 14, 1984
39
10
Ford
Ford
3
Auburn Hills, MI
Feb 12, 1984
39
6
Ford
King's Hawaiian
4
Chesterfield, VA
Nov 18, 1980
42
11
Toyota
Mavis Tires & Brakes
5
Phoenix, AZ
Oct 5, 1976
46
15
Ford
Patriot Mobile
6
Middleton, CT
May 24, 1990
33
22
Ford
Verizon Frontline
7
Bakersfield, CA
Dec 8, 1975
47
4
Ford
Busch Light Peach
8
Las Vegas, NV
May 2, 1985
38
8
Chevrolet
TBA
9
Mayetta, NJ
Jun 29, 1980
43
19
Toyota
Interstate Batteries
10
Phoenix, AZ
Dec 21, 1984
38
34
Ford
Benebone
11
Lewisville, NC
Apr 27, 1990
33
3
Chevrolet
BREZTRI
12
Olive Branch, MS
Oct 2, 1987
35
47
Chevrolet
Blue Buffalo
13
Sacremento, CA
Jul 31, 1992
30
5
Chevrolet
HendrickCars.com
14
Tuscon, AZ
Apr 25, 1993
30
48
Chevrolet
Ally Best Friends
15
High Point, NC
Dec 31, 1993
29
12
Ford
Advance Auto Parts
16
Kannapolis, NC
Sep 25, 1991
31
7
Chevrolet
TBA
17
Lewisville, NC
Feb 27, 1992
31
77
Chevrolet
Gainbridge
18
Dawsonville, GA
Nov 28, 1995
27
9
Chevrolet
NAPA Auto Parts
19
Prosper, TX
Oct 29, 1992
30
17
Ford
Wyndham Rewards
20
Byron, MI
May 30, 1996
27
43
Chevrolet
U.S. AIR FORCE
21
Wauchula, FL
Nov 17, 1983
39
78
Chevrolet
B'laster
22
Berlin, CT
Oct 25, 1990
32
41
Ford
Mohawk Northeast
23
Monterrey, Mexico
Jan 7, 1992
31
99
Chevrolet
Jockey
24
Alva, FL
Dec 4, 1992
30
1
Chevrolet
Worldwide Express
25
Mobile, AL
Oct 8, 1993
29
23
Toyota
Leidos
26
Charlotte, NC
Nov 29, 1997
25
24
Chevrolet
RaptorTough.com
27
Ladera Ranch, CA
Jan 23, 1998
25
51
Ford
Jacob Companies
28
Corning, CA
Jan 11, 1996
27
45
Toyota
Jordan Brand
29
Winamac, IN
Apr 28, 1999
24
31
Chevrolet
TBA
30
Norman, OK
Dec 16, 1994
28
20
Toyota
Yahoo!
31
Columbus, OH
Sep 2, 1998
24
2
Ford
Menards\Libman
32
Mitchell, IN
Dec 15, 1994
28
14
Ford
HighPoint.com
33
Huntersville, NC
Oct 9, 2000
22
21
Ford
DEX Imaging
34
Las Vegas, NV
Jul 15, 1998
25
42
Chevrolet
Sunseeker Resort
35
Charlotte, NC
Oct 4, 2002
20
54
Toyota
He Gets us
36
Sherrills Ford, NC
May 15, 2000
23
38
Ford
Speedy Cash