Hamlin Takes Third-Straight Cup Win, Bell's Gutsy Day Runs Out Of Fuel

Denny Hamlin just continues to make it look easy. It's not easy, but after taking his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win in Sunday's The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, it seems that the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota can do no wrong.

Hamlin made the race-winning pass for the lead on Christopher Bell, who was driving this race with a fractured left wrist, with five laps remaining in the event, and would go on to hold off Tyler Reddick, and William Byron over the closing laps for the win.

This victory, Hamlin's fourth of the season and 64th of his career, marks the first time that the 45-year-old driver has ever amassed three consecutive victories. Making the achievement more special was that Hamlin checked the box at Pocono, the track that he secured his first career win at in 2006.

“No doubt,” Hamlin said when asked if taking his third consecutive win at Pocono made the achievement more special. “First win here, just so special here. I just — Pocono has mastered the fan experience. From the crowd in the stands to the infield, here. Nick and his whole team have just done an amazing job.”

With his win on Sunday, Hamlin now has eight career triumphs at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5-mile triangular track known affectionately as "The Tricky Triangle."

After celebrating his victory in front of a sold-out crowd in the stands, Hamlin saluted to capacity crowd as he climbed from his No. 11 Toyota. While the fans typically boo Hamlin, on Sunday, they even seemed to be able to put aside their despise of Hamlin to celebrate the greatness that the veteran racer has shown over the last three weekends.

They cheered.

“Thank you, thank you. That really means a lot, seriously,” Hamlin told the crowd over the P.A. sound system at the track. “Thank you.”

Another perk of the three-race winning streak for Hamlin is that he has severely depleted Tyler Reddick's NASCAR Cup Series regular season point lead. With 10 races remaining until "The Chase" begins, Hamlin trails Reddick by just 19 points, an unfathomable number after Reddick started the season with three consecutive victories, and five wins in the opening nine races of the campaign.

Reddick, who finished outside the top-15 for the first time on the season with a 35th-place DNF last week at Michigan, knew he was going to face an uphill battle this weekend at Pocono. While he rallied to finish second, the driver was frustrated that he was unable to notch any Stage Points, which allowed Hamlin to slice into his lead.

“Yeah, it’s a bummer. If [Hamlin] wasn’t the winner, you could consider this a good day, but 35 points just aren’t enough right now,” Reddick said after the race.

Due to the subpar finish at Michigan, Reddick was relegated to an early qualifying draw, which led to a dismal 16th-place qualifying effort. That put him behind the eight-ball, and he spent all race trying to get to the front. He got there, but not before he lost a lot of points to Hamlin.

Byron would cross the finish line in the third position, which is his best finish since a third-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fifth race of the season. Byron will look to build momentum with his first top-five finish in his last nine starts.

John Hunter Nemechek impressed by leading a race-high 42 laps on an alternate pit strategy in Sunday's The Great American Getaway 400, and he would close out the solid outing with a fourth-place finish.

Kyle Larson would come home in the fifth position, while Erik Jones, Nemechek's LEGACY MOTOR CLUB teammate, capped off a solid afternoon for the LMC team with a sixth-place result.

Bell, who was attempting to win a week removed from a brutally hard crash at Michigan International Speedway, would see his strategic fuel play not pan out, as he would run out of fuel coming off the final Turn with two laps to go.

After stopping on pit road to get enough fuel to finish the race, Bell would be credited with a 26th-place result.

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