Denny Hamlin wins the NASCAR Cup
race at Pocono for his third straight victory
[June 15, 2026]
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — With every Denny Hamlin victory,
speculation about his future grows and talks of retirement are
questioned.
He signed a two-year extension with Joe Gibbs Racing that runs
through 2027 and he insists it will be his last season. At 45, he's
the oldest full-time Cup Series driver in the field, but he can't
stop winning.
Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday
for his third consecutive victory and passed the late Kyle Busch for
sole possession of ninth place on the all-time wins list.
Hamlin 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.
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 deal with Gibbs
expires.
“I think for Denny, he wants to leave on top, right? He doesn’t want
to leave where it was one year too long,” said JGR co-owner Heather
Gibbs. "At this rate, what he’s producing out there, it’s not
something you would not consider. We want the best drivers in our
cars. Our teams work to put the best cars on track.
"If it works out and he’s still producing and he wants to, it’s a
huge commitment for him, he’s got his own team that he kind of wants
to run. It’s hard when you dangle checkered flags in front of him,
too. He so far has put a stop to such talk despite performing at the
highest level of his long career."
Hamlin, who wasn't even sure he wanted to return to honor this
two-year extension after losing the championship in last November's
season finale and then the December death of his father in a house
fire, understands he's performing at a high level.
But as far as continuing past 2027? It's not yet on his radar
despite how strong he's been on the track.
“I would certainly say it’s the best we’ve been,” Hamlin said. “We
come to the racetrack every week knowing we got a great shot to win.
The team’s doing an amazing job giving me exactly what I need in the
car every single week. That’s why we’re winning.”
Sunday's win comes nearly 20 years to the date after his first
career victory, which was at Pocono on June 11, 2006. He swept the
races at the Pennsylvania track that year.
Hamlin said Pocono has become “like a second home for me.”
“First win here, so special here. Pocono has mastered the fan
experience from the crowd in the stands to the infield here,” Hamlin
said. “Just so happy for this whole Joe Gibbs Racing team. The pit
crew is flawless right now. We got it all going."
Despite 64 career victories, this marks 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.
He also took a jab at NASCAR, noting that it was technically his
ninth victory at Pocono, but he was stripped of the victory in 2022
when NASCAR said he and Busch's car's failed post-race inspection.
“They aren't getting that checkered flag back,” Hamlin said.
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.
[to top of second column] |
Denny Hamlin celebrates his win during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race
at Pocono Raceway, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Long Pond, Pa. (AP
Photo/Derik Hamilton)
“Everyone is racing hard for track position. Some
of it’s just bad luck, I guess, where you catch cars,” Reddick said.
“It’s a bummer. I mean, if the 11 wasn’t the winner, you could
consider this a good day. I know we finished second. Scoring the
points we did just didn’t get the job done.”
When Hamlin 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.
“I think this is probably the first time in four months that I’ve
been able to drive the car this way, just be able to make moves and
have the balance stay with me," Byron said.
Byron was followed by John Hunter Nemechek in fourth in a Toyota for
Legacy Motor Club. Nemechek led 42 laps Sunday — double what he's
led the last two years.
Kyle Larson was fifth for Hendrick and Erik Jones was sixth for
Legacy as Toyota drivers took four of the top six spots.
Bell fights through pain
Christopher Bell, driving with a broken wrist after a horrific wreck
last weekend at Michigan that registered as the hardest hit in the
era of NASCAR's new car, led 18 late laps based on strategy but
faded to a 26th-place finish.
“Certainly we were mired back in the 20s and so I think it was an
amazing gamble,” Bell said. “The situation is so hard because you
don't know if you're racing for the win, if you're racing to finish
the race, and so I don't stop shifting until about 10 to go.
Certainly adverse conditions, like whenever people make quick moves
on restarts and get put three-wide or the car gets loose, things
like that are very difficult.”
Bell expected his injured arm will be a hindrance the next two weeks
as NASCAR races the street course in San Diego and the road course
in Sonoma, California — two tracks where shifting is heavily used.
No rain
NASCAR moved the start of the race up two hours to avoid expected
rain in the Pocono Mountain region that could alter the completion
of the 400-mile race. By doing so, all inclement weather was avoided
and the race was run without interruption.
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.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
