Chase Briscoe saves enough fuel, earns impressive NASCAR Cup win at Pocono

It was nervous times atop the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing pit box as Chase Briscoe worked diligently to save enough fuel while leading the NASCAR Cup race at Pocono. He had left his box before the team was done filling up his Toyota Camry, leaving Briscoe to sweat as he tried to both save enough fuel and hold off teammate Denny Hamlin.

But it all worked out in the end, with Briscoe winning the race and teammate Hamlin finishing close behind. Briscoe ended up leading 72 of 160 laps, and was well aware of who was behind him.

“It was a lot,” said Briscoe when asked about the pressure. “It was kind of weird. I wasn’t driving hard. It’s not like I was on the ragged edge. It was so hard to have a guy chasing you, right, probably the guy that’s the greatest of all time here. Trying to save fuel and everything else.

“Thank you to all you race fans. It’s sold out every single time we come here. Unbelievable racing in front of a sold-out crowd. Amazing day for our race team. Really the first race we’ve kind of executed truthfully all year long … Joe Gibbs Racing took a big chance on me. Like, I wasn’t everybody’s first choice I think. Yeah, but for me to be able to get here and finally deliver a win is just an awesome feeling.”

Behind the JGR duo, Ryan Blaney finished third, Chris Buescher fourth, and Chase Elliott fifth. John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, and Austin Cindric filled out the remainder of the top ten.

The run to the finish

After the first two stages featured several incidents, including multiple brake failures, things got a bit cleaner for the final 60 lap run to the finish. By this point in the race, two of the 23XI Racing drivers crashed out with brake failures, while Tyler Reddick went behind the wall in attempt to fix the issue and avoid a similar fate.

Briscoe started the final stage out front as everyone raced towards the final fuel window. Once there, Briscoe was one of the first to dive to pit road with 40 laps to go. Most of field followed suit, but there were a handful of drivers who gambled and chose to push the run long.

Among those running long was Brad Keselowski, who appeared to be fast all day but never could catch a break. He was leading earlier in the race, but made a shocking mistake as he dove to the pits before pit road was open. But later in the day, he found himself out front again when misfortune found him once more.

Shane van Gisbergen, who won last weekend in Mexico City, went for a spin, triggering the final caution of the race with 35 laps to. Keselowski lost all of his track position as a result while Briscoe cycled back to the front.

But things weren’t all positive for Briscoe. He did not wait on fuel during his stop, leaving the box right as the jack dropped, forcing him to go full fuel-save for the final 30-lap run.

His JGR teammate was right behind him, but Hamlin could never quite get to him. Struggling to do anything in dirty air, this allowed Briscoe to save plenty of fuel and make it to the checkered flag.

Pocono ended up being Briscoe’s third career win and his first since joining JGR ahead of the 2025 season. Briscoe is now the 11th different winner this year, taking victory in the final NASCAR on Prime Video broadcast before the Cup Series shifts over to TNT Sports.

Photos from Pocono – Race