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NASCAR Monday Mash-Up: Chase Briscoe figures out tricky fuel issue at Pocono

JHby: Jonathan Howard06/23/25Jondean25
Chase Briscoe win Pocono NASCAR
Taj Falconer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A relatively calm weekend at Pocono this past weekend in NASCAR, but there were still many things to recap and talk about today. Races in the Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series gave fans another tripleheader weekend. All three races were very meaningful to the drivers who won them.

The weekend began with carryover from Mexico City. Many NASCAR fans, drivers, and media members thought there would be a dust-up with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carson Hocevar. Of course, all eyes were on Denny Hamlin after skipping the road course in Mexico following the birth of his son days before the race.

In many ways, the Cup race was predictable but that doesn’t change the storylines that played out during the race. The playoff bubble continues to shrink, and there are more wildcard races ahead. Let’s go over Pocono one more time before going to Atlanta Motor Speedway EchoPark Speedway.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. cooled off about Carson Hocevar

Everyone wanted to know if Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was going to clobber Carson Hocevar. But coming into the weekend, Stenhouse admitted that he had cooled off some and calmed down.

NASCAR fans clearly didn’t want that. But we saw these two and the recent rivalry play out on the track in a different way. Stenhouse was given plenty of space by Hocevar as the two raced in the top-five for position. A little extra respect on the track is the least the 77 could do for the 47.

Layne Riggs capitalizes on wild Truck Series finish

In the Truck Series, Layne Riggs won the pole. However, Corey Heim dominated the first half of the race. That was until he suffered a flat right rear just before a late restart. Then, Hocevar jumped the restart on the ensuing green flag, and he was black flagged from the lead.

All of a sudden, Riggs had a race fall into his lap, and a truck that loved the clean air. He went on to run the fastest lap of the race and win the whole thing. First win of the season for Riggs, and another win that slips away from Heim in an otherwise historically dominant season.

Corey Heim finds a ‘new way’ to lose

Of course, Heim wasn’t happy after the race. He loses another race he was clearly the best truck on the day. This is the fifth time he has led the most laps in a race this season and not won the race.

With four wins, it’s hard to complain, but bad luck has kept Heim from five wins. Electrical issues, being straight up wrecked, a flukey flat tire, fuel – in Heim’s words, they found a “new way” to lose. Again. You have to think that his luck will flip back over the other way soon enough.

Kyle Busch questions Dale Jr. as crew chief for Connor Zilisch

Kyle Busch being Kyle Busch said something relatively innocent and had to explain himself afterward. When asked about Dale Jr. crew chiefing for Connor Zilisch for the Pocono Xfinity race, Busch dismissed it a bit as “publicity.”

He later clarified his point wasn’t to diminish Earnhardt. Busch was talking about the ways teams have been able to let suspended crew chiefs involved by having them stay at the shop and run data and information back to the track from there. Still, Rowdy caught some heat.

Dale Jr. guides Zilisch to win NASCAR Xfinity race at Pocono

It really didn’t help Busch’s case when Dale Jr. and Zilisch went on to win the dang race on Saturday. First-time crew chief gets a win, and Zilisch picked up his first “oval” win.

This was a big deal for Zilisch. Justin Allgaier and Chase Elliott kind of washed up into each other on a late restart. From there, the 18-year-old took control of the race, held onto it, and brought the win home to JR Motorsports.

Carson Hocevar saves himself from early spin

Denny Hamlin was on the pole for Sunday’s race, his fifth time doing so. Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar was just a row back when the race went green after a lengthy rain delay.

In what Dale Jr. called the “save of the year,” Hocevar miraculously kept himself from going around early in the race. He fell back a number of spots, but has a pretty sick highlight to add to the 2025 season.

NASCAR crew member hit with flying tire

A scary moment on pit road. Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger were making pit stops at the same time, just one box apart. SVG was in the box ahead of Allmendinger.

As the 16 pulled into the box, he hit a tire from a crew member’s hand and it went flying into the rear tire change on the 88 crew. JP Kealey finished his stop and held on to finish the race after taking a huge hit from a sticker tire.

Brad Keselowski goes down closed pit road

In a rare blunder, Brad Keselowski went down pit road before it was open early in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. He earned himself a penalty for that mistake and had to go to the rear of the field.

Amazing, Keselowski bounced back from the mistake. His fuel strategy was playing out great. Then, he decided to pit one lap later than crew chief Jeremy Bullins said to. Well, a caution came out and it took Keselowski out of contention for the win.

Chase Briscoe stretches fuel to beat Denny Hamlin

This race came down to Chase Briscoe, who thought he was nine laps short on fuel, and seven-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin. Briscoe somehow held on to win his first race of the NASCAR season and first with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Hamlin won a fuel-saving race at Michigan. This time he finished P2 with a pole award, stage win, and fastest lap. Not too bad. Briscoe gets a huge win for his season and potentially, his career.