Denny Hamlin explains why he didn't get more aggressive attempting to pass Chase Briscoe at Pocono

Denny Hamlin explained why he didn’t get more aggressive attempting to pass Chase Briscoe during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin said he did not have a chance of passing Briscoe, who won the race.

“I asked with 10 (laps) to go, are you confident he’s going to run out or not?” Hamlin said. “At that point, it was unfortunate I had [Ryan] Blaney so close to me. Would I have tried to just do something different, go run up in the gray on corner entry or corner-exit? Yes, but I didn’t want to lose second in case Briscoe ran out.

So I kept asking if he going to run out or not because I can make another run at him. But if I make a run at him, and he blocks it and I end up losing a lot of speed, I’m going to lose second and I’m going to feel really stupid if I lose second and he runs out on the white flag lap.”

Denny Hamlin was put in a ‘tough position’

Hamlin continued, “It kind of put me in a really tough position to where I’m sitting behind him, I’m trying to get my stuff to ready to make a run at him and I was able to do it with three to go. I made one last charge at him, but when I got within two-three tenths, I mean my car just took off.

“The aerodyamic effect of that leader versus second place with corner speeds as high as they are at Pocono, and as flat as the racetrack is too, you don’t have the banking to help load the car, you need all the air, it was impossible. He was going to have to miss corners for me to remotely get close.”

Ultimately, Denny Hamlin finished second behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe. But the 44-year-old has been on a good run, finishing in the top three in his last three starts. This year, Hamlin has won three races and earned eight top-five finishes, making him a contender for the NASCAR Cup Series title.