Chase Elliott won a NASCAR Cup race at Pocono in 2022, but it came in the most bizarre fashion.

Long after the race had ended and the track’s grandstands had cleared, the apparent race winner, Denny Hamlin, and the apparent runner-up, Kyle Busch, were disqualified when their cars didn’t pass inspection.

Elliott, who had finished third, found out about his “victory” after he got back home in Georgia.

Matt Barndt found out about Elliott’s win while getting ready to get on a plane at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. He was stunned, but happy.

Barndt, a Lower Saucon Township native and Saucon Valley High School graduate, has one wish this weekend as he returns to familiar turf at Pocono Raceway as Elliott’s car chief.

“This time I want us to win because we were the first ones across the finish line,” Barndt said. “I don’t want to win it any other way. And I want to get a celebration in Victory Lane. That didn’t happen the last time.”

Barndt, a 2009 Saucon grad, has been working with Elliott since Elliott joined Hendrick Motorsports on a full-time basis in 2016. Barndt previously worked with NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, a staple of Hendrick’s dominant racing team.

“Basically, everyone who worked on Jeff”s team went on Chase’s team,” Barndt said.

Bardnt has formed a strong bond with Elliott, who is 29 and five years younger than Barndt.

“His experience far exceeds his years because he grew up in a racing family,” Barndt said. “He’s a great person to work with, and we communicate quite well. We both grew up around race tracks.”

Of course, Barndt must also work with crew chief Alan Gustafson, who has been working with Elliott since 2016 and entered this season as the longest-running driver-crew chief pairing in the Cup Series. Barndt and Gustafson also have a great rapport.

During an interview available on the Hendrick Motorsports website, Barndt said he was fortunate that Gustafson saw something in him when he was ready to graduate from college.

“You transitioned from design engineer to race engineer to car chief in a really short period of time, and you’re still really young.” Gustafson said. “And now you have a really difficult job.”

Barndt said that NASCAR’s newest car, now in its third season, makes it difficult for any team to gain an advantage. That’s one reason why Hendrick, which used to be considered the Yankees of NASCAR because of its all-star lineup and dominance in the Cup series, no longer dominates.

But Barndt said Hendrick remains a great place to work. He started working there on an internship while a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, which is located right smack dab in the home base for NASCAR and its teams.

Barndt earned a degree in mechanical engineering, but his heart was in racing, which is something he started at the age of 5.

“I started in quarter-midgets, then did mini-cups, asphalt late-models, and after starting at local tracks, I went to national events around the country,” he said. “My sister was racing, too. We were a racing family. The dream was always to make it to this level of the sport, but it happened in a different capacity. That competitive drive and desire to win when I was a kid is still there. But now I’m not on the track, but you still want to find an edge. I still want to win.”

Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, is a seven-time winner of NASCAR’s Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award as voted on by the fans. His father, Bill, won the same award 16 times.

There are a lot of people who hope Elliott can end a drought and win a Cup points race for the first time since April 2024 at Texas.

While he hasn’t won a race, he has a streak of 16 top-20 finishes going for him.

“I go into every race thinking we can win,” Barndt said. “And I feel the same way about this race. We’ve been running well. We would love to get one at Pocono.”

Win or lose, Barndt, who flew to Pennsylvania late Friday afternoon from Charlotte, said it’s tough to find time to go home and visit with family.

“We now put on two-day shows in NASCAR, and things aren’t spread out like they used to be when you’d get to town on Thursday night,” he said. “From the time we get there, we’ll be going to work and try to figure out what we need to do to be successful.”

Kurt Busch named grand marshal

Kurt Busch made his way into Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway three times and won on the Cup circuit 34 times.

He’s on his way into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January.

But he will make a pitstop at Pocono Raceway on Sunday to serve as grand marshal of The Great American Getaway 400, the marquee event of NASCAR’s three-race weekend at Pocono.

Governor Josh Shapiro will serve as the honorary starter and wave the green flag for the 2 p.m. race being live-streamed by Amazon Prime.

“We’re honored to celebrate Kurt’s Hall of Fame career with our fans,” Pocono Raceway President Ben May said. “Pocono Raceway is proud to be a small part of that illustrious career with Kurt being a three-time race winner and two-time polesitter.

Busch, 46, won at Pocono in 2005, ’07, and ’16. He also won the pole in 2005 and ’11. He totaled 21 top-10 finishes, including 14 in the top five, in 41 career starts in Monroe County.

In 23 years on the circuit, Busch won the series title in 2004 and the 2017 Daytona 500. He also won at least four times in each of the three NASCAR national series — Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck.

In addition to being named grand marshal, Busch will be honored by Pocono with “TY KURT” painted on the start/finish line, and the Mattioli Foundation will donate $10,000 to Vet Tix in his honor.

Pocono Raceway schedule

Saturday 

8 a.m. — Gates, Fan Fair & Paddock Open

10 a.m. — NASCAR Xfinity Series practice

11:05 a.m. — NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying

12:35 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series practice

1:45 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

3:30 p.m.  —  Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series Race (100 Laps / 250 Miles)

Sunday

8 a.m. — Gates, Fan Fair & Paddock Open

2 p.m. —  The Great American Getaway 400 NASCAR Cup Series Race (160 Laps / 400 Miles)

Originally Published: June 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM EDT

Friday

At Pocono Raceway

Long Pond, Pa.

Lap length: 2.50 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Layne Riggs, Ford, 80 laps, 58 points.

2. (5) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 80, 41.

3. (2) Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 80, 48.

4. (9) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 80, 0.

5. (19) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 80, 32.

6. (12) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, 80, 40.

7. (15) Chandler Smith, Ford, 80, 33.

8. (13) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 80, 34.

9. (16) Ty Majeski, Ford, 80, 28.

10. (8) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 80, 27.

11. (6) Giovanni Ruggiero, Toyota, 80, 26.

12. (17) Luke Baldwin, Ford, 80, 25.

13. (4) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 80, 0.

14. (24) Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 80, 23.

15. (10) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 80, 22.

16. (7) Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 80, 30.

17. (14) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 80, 20.

18. (34) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 80, 23.

19. (27) Frankie Muniz, Ford, 80, 18.

20. (21) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 80, 17.

21. (23) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 80, 16.

22. (29) Toni Breidinger, Toyota, 80, 15.

23. (3) Corey Heim, Toyota, 80, 24.

24. (28) Tyler Tomassi, Ford, 80, 0.

25. (26) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 80, 12.

26. (18) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 78, 17.

27. (20) Matt Crafton, Ford, 78, 10.

28. (11) Jake Garcia, Ford, 76, 22.

29. (35) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, dvp, 48, 8.

30. (33) Clayton Green, Ford, accident, 47, 7.

31. (22) Conner Jones, Chevrolet, accident, 47, 6.

32. (30) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, clutch, 33, 0.

33. (25) Cody Dennison, Ford, accident, 18, 4.

34. (31) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, tooslow, 10, 3.

35. (32) Bryan Dauzat, Chevrolet, tooslow, 9, 2.

___

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.176 mph.

Time of Race: 1 hour, 43 minutes, 18 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 3.640 seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 24 laps.

Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders: L.Riggs 0; C.Heim 1-17; L.Riggs 18-22; S.Friesen 23-26; C.Heim 27-43; R.Caruth 44-46; C.Heim 47-60; L.Riggs 61-80

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Heim, 3 times for 48 laps; L.Riggs, 2 times for 25 laps; S.Friesen, 1 time for 4 laps; R.Caruth, 1 time for 3 laps.

Wins: C.Heim, 4; C.Smith, 2; D.Hemric, 1; L.Riggs, 1; T.Ankrum, 1; S.Friesen, 1; R.Caruth, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. C.Heim, 629; 2. C.Smith, 505; 3. D.Hemric, 486; 4. L.Riggs, 482; 5. G.Enfinger, 461; 6. K.Honeycutt, 456; 7. T.Ankrum, 441; 8. T.Majeski, 421; 9. J.Garcia, 411; 10. S.Friesen, 381; 11. R.Caruth, 363; 12. G.Ruggiero, 363; 13. B.Rhodes, 361; 14. T.Gray, 338; 15. M.Crafton, 291; 16. C.Mosack, 287.

___

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

The NASCAR Cup Series is in Pennsylvania this weekend for The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. As drivers prepare to face NASCAR’s “Tricky Triangle,” we’re getting race insights from our motorsports experts, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi.

They’ll fill us in on NASCAR’s future in San Diego, the roiling feud between Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and of course, favorites and long shots for Sunday’s race.

Take it away, guys!

How to watch NASCAR at Pocono

• Race: The Great American Getaway 400
• Track: Pocono Raceway — Long Pond, Pa.
  
• Time: Sunday, June 22, 2 p.m. ET
• Watch: Prime Video

NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono Raceway Q&A, predictions

Jordan reported that NASCAR is nearing a deal for a Cup Series street course race in San Diego. Will this replace Chicago, or will it be an additional street race? What are your thoughts on the increasing street course races in the NASCAR schedule? How does it shift strategy among teams?

Jeff: Personally, I think there’s only room for one street course race per year in NASCAR. A street course needs to be highlighted in its own way, and it could quickly become less special if there are multiple per season. It’s sort of like the NHL’s Winter Classic when it was diluted with the Stadium Series; there’s a careful balance when it comes to these special events. NASCAR is not traditionally a road racing series (it only had two road course races per season for decades) and certainly wasn’t a circuit with street races until a couple of years ago, with the addition of Chicago. Fans are already weary of too many non-ovals anyway, but it’s certainly an opportunity for teams like Trackhouse Racing, who can hire a road course ace to launch them into the playoffs.

Jordan: While NASCAR’s original three-year contract with the city of Chicago is up at the end of the year, the possibility is there that NASCAR could return next year by exercising the option it holds. But to Jeff’s point, having two street courses on the schedule could potentially take away some of the novelty, which is part of the appeal of doing this. Plus, there is the cost to consider when staging two such races. It certainly isn’t cheap. Looking at it from the team perspective, it’s a further indication that the schedule going forward, consisting of five to six road/street courses and six drafting tracks, will continue to feature a good mix of various tracks.

Whew, Carson Hocevar really can’t keep himself out of trouble, can he? (Though it seems he’s good at apologies!) What do you think will happen with him and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.? Is it really just a coincidence that Stenhouse was the one Hocevar had a run-in with? Is that just bad luck or intentional? Could this boost performance for either of them? Is this a powder keg about to blow?

Jeff: Yeah, Stenhouse is not going to let this one go. Unfortunately for Hocevar, that was the worst possible person he could have collided with, and it shows bad judgment on his part, because it was completely unnecessary. Hocevar was a lap down at the time, and he shouldn’t have even let himself get close enough to Stenhouse for them to have contact; Hocevar wasn’t racing for anything but cleaned Stenhouse out. Whoops. So now Stenhouse is going to have to enact some sort of revenge, or he’ll come across as not being a man of his word, which is antithetical to his personal code. In other words, Hocevar either needs to watch his back or his rear-view mirror.

Jordan: Word of advice for Carson Hocevar: If you see Ricky Stenhouse Jr. this weekend and he’s wearing his shorts with the camo design, quickly walk in the other direction.

I believe this is the final race to determine seeding for the in-season challenge. What should we know about this process, and what are the stakes at Pocono for that tournament? Do the drivers care? Is this on the teams’ minds?

Jeff: This has been such a silly way to seed the in-season tournament. Instead of just taking the point standings and going 1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, etc., NASCAR has been seeding the top 32 drivers over a three-week stretch based on their best finish. So the No. 1 seed right now is Denny Hamlin, who won at Michigan and then didn’t even race last week at Mexico City. Meanwhile, Joey Logano is the No. 27 seed — so would it be an “upset” if he knocked off a No. 6 seed in Round 1? Of course not, and he’ll probably be heavily favored. So, again, doing it this way is a miss and will only confuse bettors. As for whether the teams care, the answer is no — not until next week, anyway. Once we start seeing the matchups and they start getting asked about it, then it could be on their minds more.

Jordan: In addition to what Jeff said about the seeding, keep in mind that the opening tournament race is at Atlanta, a track with a well-deserved reputation for generating chaos where multi-car accidents are commonplace. There’s a good chance the bracket will see some notables knocked out early, with a good number of “Cinderellas” moving forward. Additionally, the fact that the Chicago Street Course follows Atlanta only creates additional opportunities for upsets to happen. It will be very interesting to see what this bracket looks like after a couple of races.

Who is your favorite to win this weekend and why? Who has been dominant here in the past?

Jeff: Denny Hamlin is Pocono’s all-time wins leader — yes, all-time, not just among active drivers — with seven victories. That’s almost too easy, and he’s a heavy favorite after going win-win-second in the three Next Gen races there. Oh, what’s that you say? You’re not seeing a win for Hamlin in 2022? That’s because he got disqualified for a very minor infraction (still illegal, but minor) after winning that year. For betting purposes, you need to view it as a win. But again, that seems like a pretty obvious pick, so if you’re looking for slightly better value? Perhaps go with William Byron, who is Pocono’s all-time leader in average finish despite never actually winning there. He has +800 odds.

Jordan: That William Byron doesn’t have another win or two or three this season is surprising, considering how dominant he’s been at times. He’s due, overdue, to finally get that second victory, and Pocono represents a great place to do it. He’s finished in the top 10 in over 50 percent of his starts here, and this is one of those tracks where the best teams in a given season tend to shine. Also, don’t be surprised if Kyle Larson puts a tough few weeks behind him by putting a classic No. 5-team stomping on the field where he sweeps the stages, leads a ton of laps and rolls to the win.

Who is a long shot you like here?

Jeff: Pocono is the type of race where we could see an upset if fuel mileage plays out the right way. But that doesn’t help you much, because there are a lot of people to choose from in that regard. A better play might be to see if you can parlay a couple of plus-money top-10 picks together. Like, is it a stretch to think AJ Allmendinger (+10000 to win) and Michael McDowell (+20000) could both be in the top 10? Not at all. So maybe play around with that and see if you can come up with a combination that might work. After all, it would have been a great strategy last week when John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer landed surprising top-10s in Mexico City.

Jordan: Legacy Motor Speedway has shown considerably more speed in its cars recently, and if this speed is again present on Sunday, Erik Jones at +8000 makes for a great sleeper pick. Among active drivers, he has the fifth-most top-five finishes and seventh-best average finish, and with Pocono being a track known for long green-flag runs, the opportunity could be there for LMC to gamble with a Hail Mary strategy to score an upset win.

Race winner odds for The Great American Getaway 400

Betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Photo of Denny Hamlin: Chris Graythen / Getty Images) 

It was this week, 25 years ago, when Pocono was the stage for one of NASCAR’s rare occurrences of that age.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return to Pocono Raceway for its longest race on the 2.5-mile track since 2019.

Saturday’s race is scheduled for 100 laps (250 miles) at Pocono, whose past five Xfinity Series races were scheduled for 90 laps.

The Xfinity Series’ 2016-19 races at Pocono were scheduled for 100 laps. Cole Custer won the June 1, 2019 race that was extended to 103 laps by a late caution flag.

Custer also won the Xfinity race at Pocono last year but won’t return to defend after moving back up to the Cup Series this season. Austin Hill (who won at the 2.5-mile track in 2023) is the only past Xfinity winner at Pocono in the field.

Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Pocono Raceway

(All times Eastern)

START: The command to start engines will be given at 3:29 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:40 p.m.

PRERACE: The Xfinity garage will open at 8:30 a.m. … Practice is at 10 a.m. … Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 11:05 a.m. … Driver introductions are at 3 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (250 miles) on the 2.5-mile track.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 25. Stage 2 ends at Lap 50.

ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 38 cars entered at Pocono Raceway.

TV/RADIO: CW will broadcast the race starting at 3 p.m. … Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have radio coverage.

FORECAST: WeatherUnderground — A mixture of sunshine and clouds with a high of 82 degrees and winds from the west at 5 to 10 mph. It’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 13% chance of rain for the start of the Xfinty Series race.

LAST TIME: Cole Custer led the final nine laps to beat Justin Allgaier by 0.670 seconds on July 13, 2024.