NASCAR Review: Winners & Losers From The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway

The NASCAR Cup Series has ticked off one of the six final races of the 2024 regular season this weekend at Pocono Raceway. ‘The Tricky Triangle’ saw drivers slowly amp up their aggression levels out on track to a maximum as teams scrambled to get into the postseason in five races’ time.

This year’s running of The Great American Getaway 400 saw defending champion Ryan Blaney log his second win of the year at the triangular intermediate-style track. The Team Penske driver was seen holding off Denny Hamlin during the final stage of the race on Sunday.

The 160-lap-long event saw extended periods of green flag running dotted with caution flags as drivers fell to the challenges of the Pennsylvania track, which has been known to be a tough place to master on the calendar. While the hopes of making the Playoffs seemed to slip further away for some drivers, others solidified their bids to qualify for the postseason.

Here are the biggest gainers and losers from the event.

Winner: Alex Bowman

The Hendrick Motorsports driver was left wanting more after finishing in P3 at Pocono. After Bowman’s breakthrough victory in Chicago last weekend, the #48 Chevrolet driver seemed full of confidence with a revitalized hunger for consistent results going forward.

Loser: Ty Gibbs

Despite having started the race on the front row after qualifying on pole on Saturday, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver fell back during the race. His outing was eventually cut short when the #54 Toyota Camry’s engine let go, spewing smoke and a mixture of oil and water out of its exhaust pipes.

Winner: Denny Hamlin

Historically the most dominant driver at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin managed to get back to finding his form with a P2 finish this Sunday. After a string of finishes outside the top 10, the #11 JGR crew banked on a safe strategy of racing for playoff points during the second stage not electing to pit as the green-white-checkered flag dropped.

Loser: Ross Chastain

The #1 Chevrolet Camaro fielded by Justin Marks was stricken with bad luck as Chastain was seen spinning off into the outside wall of the track during the early stages of the event.

Subsequent damage to his car’s rear bodywork and front right wheel meant he retired from contention. This in turn cut down his points margin to Bubba Wallace sitting outside the Playoffs bubble to 27 down from 53.

Winner: Bubba Wallace

The 23XI Racing driver bounced back from a penalty he was issued after his post-race antics with Bowman by logging a top-10 finish this Sunday. With Chastain retiring from the race, there is a glimmer of hope for Wallace to be able to make it into the playoffs on points. However, the only sure-shot way to qualify remains by winning an event.

Loser: Kyle Busch

Busch’s day ended during a late restart at Pocono when the Richard Childress Racing driver defended from a hard-charging Corey LaJoie. The Spire Motorsports driver seemed hesitant to lift after Busch blocked him, which in turn resulted in the #8 Chevrolet driver spinning out and taking out several other cars along with it.