By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Race to the Cup Playoffs reaches the final stretch with 10 to go

After a thrilling inaugural event in Mexico City last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns stateside with Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 at the historic Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Wabash Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.com at Pocono Raceway on July 14, 2024 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen punched his 2025 Playoff spot with a dominating victory on the Mexico City road course last weekend, the 10th driver to earn a bid by virtue of a win. There are 10 regular season races remaining now to set the 16-driver Playoff field.

Back on the grid this week is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who was awarded a championship waiver after missing the Mexico race to be home for the birth of his son. The driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota is the winningest driver in Pocono Raceway history. Hamlin earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono in 2006 and his seven wins are the most for the perennial championship contender at any single track on the schedule.

To that end, Hamlin is the only repeat winner in the last eight Pocono races – hoisting a trophy three times in that stretch. His JGR team has won a series best six of the last 10 Pocono races.

As with Hamlin, defending race winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney earned his career first victory at Pocono – in 2017.

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who finished 14th at Mexico City, said this summer race line-up, in particular, is enjoyable because of the varying tracks. From inaugural Mexico City road course race, to the 2.5-mile three-turn Pocono track to the Chicago street race and Sonoma, Calif. road course in just the next month.

“It’s a fun part of the schedule where you’re going to very different places each week, and I think teams really enjoy that – at least I enjoy it because it really switches it up and keeps it fresh,” said Blaney, who claimed his first win of the season three weeks ago at the 1.33-mile Nashville oval.

“It can also be frustrating if you’re not very good at those places. You could have a stretch of some bad weeks. Hopefully, we’re not on that boat, but I like this part of the schedule. There’s a lot of different things going on this summer.”

There are eight former Pocono winners in the field. And three of the last five race winners are still looking for their first trophy of the 2025 season – Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman (2021), Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (2022) and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott (2023).

Elliott – who was declared the 2023 race winner when first and second place drivers Hamlin and Busch were disqualified following post-race inspection – leads all drivers in points earned at Pocono in the Next Gen car era.

His teammate, NASCAR Cup Series’ championship leader William Byron boasts the best average finish (9.36) at the track. Defending race winner, Blaney joins four-time Pocono winner Busch as the only other multi-time Pocono winners.

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champ Elliott is coming off his best finish (third place at Mexico City) of the season – his second top-10 in the last six races. Bowman turned in a stellar fourth-place showing in Mexico City.

Busch was involved in an early race accident and finished last in the 37-car field in Mexico. The two-time series champion has only a single top-10 – eighth at Michigan – in the last eight races. But. … he is a four-time winner at Pocono – a win tally second only to Hamlin’s among this weekend’s field of drivers. From 2016-21 he had nine top-10s in 10 races, including four wins and a runner-up finish. He hasn’t had a top-10, however since his win in 2020.

This is the last of three races to set the seeding for the In Season Tournament that will start with the June 28 night race at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway.

Practice followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying starts at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday (Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain started from pole position last year.

Pocono Raceway offers a unique challenge for the Xfinity Series

After an exciting international foray to Mexico, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to oval action with Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

As triumphant a day as it was for NASCAR Cup Series regular and hometown favorite Daniel Suarez to claim the trophy in Mexico City, it was a tough luck day for NASCAR Xfinity Series championship leader Justin Allgaier, who had trouble early in the race and finished 34th – the second finish of 30th or worst in the last four races for the season’s three-time winner.

He still leads the championship by 54 points over Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill. And there’s certainly reason to be optimistic as the series returns stateside this week. Allgaier has top-10 finishes in four of the last five races at the 2.5-mile Pocono track and was runner-up last summer.

On the flip side, his closest title rival, Hill put together a solid day in what was a chaotic Mexico race at times – finishing third for his sixth consecutive top-10 and 11th in the 15 races this season. And Hill is the only fulltime Xfinity Series driver to have won previously at Pocono, celebrating in Victory Lane in 2023. He has top-10 finishes in three of the four Pocono races he’s competed in.

Three young drivers, 22-year old Sam Mayer, 20-year old Jesse Love and 18-year old rookie Connor Zilisch round out the top-five in the championship standings. Mayer, who drives the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford, is still looking for his first victory of the year but has seven top-five finishes. He’s strong at Pocono too with  top-10 results in his last three starts.

Love and Zilisch – who have both already clinched Playoff berths with victories this season – are still relatively new to the Pocono track. The RCR driver Love finished 22nd in his only start last year.

Zilisch is one of eight drivers making their first start at the Tricky Triangle; in fact it’s Zilisch’s first visit ever to the famed track. His JR Motorsports team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed this week, he will serve as crew chief for Zilisch, as the team’s fulltime crew chief is suspended a week for a rules infraction. The team has earned top-five finishes in the three races leading into the weekend.

Three drivers tied or earned their best career finish last week in Mexico City – Taylor Gray (second – tied career best), Christian Eckes (fourth) and William Sawalich).

There have been eight different winners in nine Xfinity Series races at Pocono – former series champ Cole Custer is the only two-time winner. Seven of the past eight winners – with the exception of Hill – are now fulltime NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

Chase Elliott (No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy) will be making his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season.

Practice followed by Kennametal Pole Qualifying starts at 10 a.m. Saturday (The CW App). Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed started on pole position in 2024.

Five pivotal races left in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular season

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns from a week off for Friday night’s MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

It’s been a busy summer for the teams, which raced six consecutive weekends between May 2 and June 7 – a string of races that featured five different winners and two first-time winners on the season (Rajah Caruth and Stewart Friesen).

The series championship leader, TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim is the defending Pocono race winner. And there’s absolutely no reason he won’t be the favorite this weekend. Heim led a dominating 55 of the 70 laps last year, including the final 34 and beat Grant Enfinger to the line by nearly a second.

Chandler Smith is the only other full-time driver with a previous Pocono victory – taking the trophy in 2022.

With only five races remaining to set the 10-driver Playoff field, There are six drivers eligible based on wins. Enfinger, Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, and reigning series champion Ty Majeski currently hold the four positions based on points-only. Majeski is only four points up on Jake Garcia, however, in 11thplace. Two-time series champion Ben Rhodes is 55 points behind Garcia.

There are 12 drivers making their first Pocono start. The last six Pocono races have been won by six different drivers – half of them by full-time Truck Series competitors.

Practice is Friday at 12:35 p.m. ET followed immediately by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 1:40 p.m. ET. – both sessions available on FS2. Christian Eckes, now an Xfinity Series rookie, started from pole position in this race last year.