Chase Briscoe jumped ahead of defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings after scoring a huge win at Pocono Raceway on Sunday.
The win in The Great American Getaway 400 also confirmed Briscoe’s spot in the 2025 Playoffs. It was his first win since joining Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) this season and marked his third career Cup victory.
The New Playoffs Picture After Chase Briscoe’s Brilliant Win at Pocono
Briscoe took the lead in the final stage and held off his teammate Denny Hamlin to win the race, despite a risky pit strategy. His team couldn’t get a full tank of fuel into the No. 19 Toyota Camry, forcing Briscoe to save fuel while defending the lead.
He led 72 of the 160 laps and pulled off a near-perfect balance of pace and fuel saving. “It was a lot,” Briscoe said about the pressure in the final stint. “I wasn’t driving hard. It’s not like I was on the ragged edge. It was so hard to have a guy chasing you, right, probably the guy that’s the greatest of all time here. Trying to save fuel and everything else.”
The victory made Briscoe the 11th different winner in 2025, locking him into the 16-driver Playoffs field. A post by TobyChristie.com on X confirmed Briscoe’s playoff status, noting that he became the latest driver to clinch a spot in the postseason.
BRISCOE BREAKS THROUGH FOR POCONO WIN
With his victory Sunday at Pocono, Chase Briscoe becomes the 11th driver to lock their spot into the #NASCARPlayoffs.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/JHCYhc35CQ
— TobyChristie.com (@TobyChristieCom) June 23, 2025
The updated Playoff standings show Briscoe now in 7th place, one spot ahead of Logano, who sits in 8th. Both drivers now have one race win this year. The other 9 confirmed winners are Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, and Shane van Gisbergen.
That leaves five spots in the Playoffs still open for non-winners to claim on points. Chase Elliott currently holds the best position above the cut line at +160, followed by Tyler Reddick (+107), Chris Buescher (+38), Bubba Wallace (+29), and Alex Bowman (+20).
Bowman, however, is in a vulnerable spot, with Ryan Preece just 20 points behind him below the cutline. Further down, A.J. Allmendinger (-59), Erik Jones (-62), and Kyle Busch (-63) are also in the hunt but will likely need a win to get in.
With 9 races left in the regular season, the race to make the Playoffs continues to tighten.
Denny Hamlin Was Shocked After Chase Briscoe Pulled Off the Unthinkable at Pocono
Hamlin couldn’t believe what his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe, managed to do at Pocono. In the closing laps of Sunday’s race, Hamlin was chasing Briscoe down but didn’t think he had a real shot at the win, not because he couldn’t catch him, but because he expected Briscoe to run out of fuel.
Briscoe had the chance to pit during the final run but chose not to. Instead, he kept saving fuel and holding the lead. Hamlin radioed Briscoe’s crew during the run to ask how short Briscoe was on fuel. The answer: three to four laps, normally too big of a gap to make up at a track like Pocono.
That all changed when a late caution came out. It allowed Briscoe to save a little more fuel and, more importantly, made it harder for Hamlin to pass him. Briscoe was able to trap Hamlin in dirty air and control the final laps from the front.
After the race, Hamlin spoke about the finish on his Actions Detrimental podcast and expressed both shock and praise for what Briscoe accomplished.
“I asked them how short he (Briscoe) was,” Hamlin said. “They said 3 to 4 laps or something like that. I was like, ‘Woah, he’s not getting that.’ And then the caution came, and I was like ‘S**t, this is gonna get him three-quarters of the way there.’ They did everything they had to do. He executed perfectly.”
Be honest—did you think Briscoe would make it to the checkered flag?
This week’s Actions Detrimental with @dennyhamlin — out now!
Spotify: https://t.co/BS1LCOay9B
Apple: https://t.co/PCpocvcpEN
YouTube: https://t.co/2RWDZvpqI9 pic.twitter.com/M5R2NuhxJu— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) June 23, 2025
Next up, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Echopark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, for the Quaker State 400. The 260-lap race is scheduled for Saturday night, June 28, at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT Sports.
