Daytona Motor Mouths: Shane van Gisbergen wins NASCAR Mexico City race
The guys break down Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR win in Mexico City, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s beef with Carson Hocevar and more before Pocono.
Denny Hamlin returns this week after missing last week’s race in Mexico City. He stayed home after the birth of his third child midweek.
He’ll be easy to find. Hamlin will lead the field to green Sunday after winning Saturday’s pole qualifying with a speed of 172.599 mph around the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Sunday’s race is the fifth and final 2025 broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video. Beginning next week at Atlanta, the next five Cup Series races will be on TNT, before moving to NBC for the remainder of the season.
The last Pocono polesitter to win on Sunday was Kyle Busch in 2017. In 11 Pocono races since then, the average starting spot of the race winner is 11th.
William Byron, currently leading the Cup Series points standings, will have to work his way through most of the field after crashing during his qualifying lap. He lost the rear-end of his No. 24 Chevy through Turn 2, slapped the outside wall with the right-rear, then slid down the track and smacked the inside retaining wall. He’ll start 31st.
Top 10 NASCAR speeds at Pocono
Denny Hamlin: 172.599
Chris Buescher: 172.325
Carson Hocevar: 171.825
John Hunter Nemechek: 171.789
Cole Custer: 171.638
Chase Briscoe: 171.612
Ty Gibbs: 171.546
Tyler Reddick: 171.429
Christopher Bell: 171.429
Daniel Suarez: 171.002
Starting lineup for Pocono
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (52.144 seconds)
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford (52.227)
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet (52.379)
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota (52.390)
- Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford (52.436)
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (52.444)
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (52.464)
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota (52.500)
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (52.525)
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (52.631)
- Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota (52.632)
- Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford (52.673)
- Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford (52.727)
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford (52.781)
- Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford (52.803)
- Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (52.811)
- Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford (52.813)
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (52.820)
- Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford (52.836)
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford (52.837)
- Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (52.861)
- Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet (52.927)
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (52.962)
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (52.966)
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (52.978)
- Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (53.095)
- Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (53.107)
- Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet (53.140)
- Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota (53.159)
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet (53.661)
- William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (57.645)
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford (59.181)
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (64.077)
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota (no time)
- Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford (no time)
- Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford (no time)
- Brennan Poole, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet (no time)
Pocono: How to Watch
Saturday: Xfinity Series, Explore Pocono 250, 3:30 p.m. (CW).
Sunday: Cup Series, The Great American Getaway 400, 2 p.m. (Prime).
IMSA sports-cars, ARCA also on TV
Saturday: ARCA at Elko (Minn.) Speedway, 9 p.m. (FS2).
Sunday: IMSA’s six-hour race at Watkins Glen, noon (NBC and Peacock).
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