LONG POND — There is very little Denny Hamlin has not accomplished in his stellar career. Winning three races in a row was one of them.
Now, he can check off that box.
After victories the previous two weeks at Nashville and Michigan, Hamlin won The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA on Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. He stalked Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, who tried to stretch his fuel to the end, over the final 20 laps and finally passed him with five to go. He then drove off in his No. 11 Toyota to the checkered flag by 1.678 seconds over Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 Toyota.
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William Byron finished third in the No. 24 Chevrolet. John Hunter Nemechek had a solid day in the No. 42 Toyota and finished fourth. Kyle Larson wound up fifth in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Erik Jones in the No. 43 Toyota; Chris Buescher in the No. 17 Ford; Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Chevrolet; Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 Toyota; and Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Ford.
It is the fourth win of the season for Hamlin. The three straight victories at Nashville, Michigan and Pocono have all come from the pole — the first time that happened since Darrell Waltrip won four straight races from the pole in 1981 at Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte and Rockingham. Only two other drivers in NASCAR history won three straight races from the pole. Richard Petty did it twice in 1966 and 1967 and Bobby Allison did it in 1971.
Also, Hamlin won for the eighth time in 37 career starts at Pocono, extending his record for victories at the track. He is the first driver to win from the pole at Pocono since the late Kyle Busch did it in July 2017.
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When the green flag dropped, No. 2 starter Larson passed Hamlin for the lead on the opening lap and stayed there until Lap 25 when Hamlin pulled alongside Larson as they exited Turn 3 and passed him as they headed to the start-finish line. Hamlin went on to win Stage 1.
In Stage 2, on Lap 41, Zane Smith brought out the yellow flag when his car spun in Turn 1 and hit the inside SAFER barrier. The race went back to green on Lap 45. But just two laps later, a crash on the frontstretch involving nine cars caused another caution.
Racing resumed on Lap 53 and stayed green for the remainder of the stage to Lap 95 with Todd Gilliland winning the stage.
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