Chase Elliott is still waiting for his first Cup Series win of the season, but the NASCAR star claimed $2,000 after earning pole for the Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway.

Elliott is making an extra appearance for Hendrick Motorsports by competing in both the Xfinity and Cup races, after finishing third at Mexico City last week. Elliott is currently fourth in the Cup Series standings and well-placed ahead of the NASCAR Playoffs despite feeling pressured to claim a race win.

The 2020 champion has a strong chance to make a statement in the Xfinity Series in his second involvement of the season. Victory could boost Elliott’s chances ahead of Sunday’s race after he admitted that being consistent is no longer good enough.

Elliott has finished inside the top 20 in each of the opening 16 races of 2025, with four finishes inside the top 5 and eight inside the top 10. Elliott has led for just 95 laps this season and is now battling a 43-race winless streak, but he’s eager to change that starting at Pocono this weekend.

“The consistency, it’s good, but this deal really rewards winning,” Elliott said. “It’s not where I want to be, no doubt. I think that for us, there’s been some high spots.

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“And to be honest, there’s been weeks where we’ve run well or maybe had a good finish — or even there’s been a couple weeks where we haven’t necessarily had a good finish — and I can go home and be like, ‘Man, we were in the mix. We had good pace today.’

“And those are the weeks that (you want). You want to just feel like you’re in the ball game as it pertains to pace and doing the right things and getting up in there and giving yourself a shot. Those days, I can go home and have something to be proud of.

“It’s the days and weekends where we’re just not even relevant that I think are really the most frustrating to me. And we’ve had more of those than I want to have and that we want to have as a team.

“So I think it’s been good. It’s not satisfactory to myself or to our team, but there’s still a lot of racing left in the season.” Elliott is delighted with the efforts of his team this season, even if the collective hasn’t been rewarded with a win so far.

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“I think our team has done a really good job taking some of those days where we were not having a good day and digging in, and finding a way to just get something halfway decent out of it,” Elliott added. “Sometimes that can be a really hard thing to do, and I am really proud of them for that.

“Because it’s easy to throw in the towel on those days, just lose it and be done and go try again next week. But we as a whole, we don’t know any better and we just keep trying, keep pushing, and make the most out of whatever the day has brought us.”

Elliott’s last win came on April 14, 2024, at Texas Motor Speedway, and he has 19 victories through his Cup Series career. Elliott also came second in his only other Xfinity Series race this year, as Brandon Jones beat him to the line at Darlington.

NASCAR starting positions for Pocono Raceway

Tomorrow, the NASCAR Cup Series will take the green flag in Long Pond, PA. Now, the field rolls to the 2.5-mile triangle of Pocono Raceway for a round of practice and qualifying.

View the Pocono starting lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series below.

Pocono Menu
Truck: Prac/Qual | Race
Xfinity: Prac/Qual | Race
Cup: Prac/Qual | Race

Pocono TV Schedule

NASCAR Qualifying Report

Cody Ware backs it hard into the wall during practice. The No. 51 will not take part in qualifying.

Josh Berry also will not qualify. The diffuser of the car knocked off the pavement and the team is now going to replace the entire rear clip as the diffuser bracket is bent.

Bubba Wallace is struggling to fire his car. The crew is attempting to give him a push start but the car won’t start. Wallace will not take part in qualifying.

William Byron spins on his qualifying lap. He slams the inside wall. The team will probably unload a backup.

Chase Elliott was on track as Byron hit the wall. He was called to the pit lane and NASCAR will give him an extra set of tires as he makes another qualifying run.

Denny Hamlin will start from the pole position. He turned a laptime at 52.144 seconds.

Pocono Raceway
Starting Lineup
June 22, 2025
NASCAR Cup Series

Pos | Driver | Best Time

1. Denny Hamlin
52.144

2. Chris Buescher
52.227

3. Carson Hocevar
52.379

4. John Hunter Nemechek
52.390

5. Cole Custer
52.436

6. Chase Briscoe
52.444

7. Ty Gibbs
52.464

8. Tyler Reddick
52.500

9. Christopher Bell
52.525

10. Daniel Suarez
52.631

11. Erik Jones
52.632

12. Joey Logano
52.673

13. Ryan Preece
52.727

14. Brad Keselowski
52.781

15. Zane Smith
52.803

16. Austin Dillon
52.811

17. Noah Gragson
52.813

18. Chase Elliott
52.820

19. Austin Cindric
52.836

20. Ryan Blaney
52.837

21. Ross Chastain
52.861

22. Justin Haley
52.927

23. Shane van Gisbergen
52.962

24. Kyle Larson
52.966

25. Alex Bowman
52.978

26. Kyle Busch
53.095

27. Ty Dillon
53.107

28. Michael McDowell
53.140

29. Riley Herbst
53.159

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
53.661

31. William Byron
57.645

32. Todd Gilliland
59.181

33. AJ Allmendinger
64.077

34. Bubba Wallace
No Time

35. Josh Berry
No Time

36. Cody Ware
No Time

37. Brennan Poole
No Time

Pocono Raceway
Practice Results
June 21, 2025
NASCAR Cup Series

Pos | Driver | Best Time

1. William Byron
52.706

2. Bubba Wallace
52.931

3. Chase Elliott
52.977

4. Tyler Reddick
53.014

5. Chris Buescher
53.045

6. Michael McDowell
53.071

7. Austin Cindric
53.104

8. Ryan Blaney
53.123

9. Alex Bowman
53.229

10. Brad Keselowski
53.258

11. Ross Chastain
53.266

12. Ty Gibbs
53.290

13. Christopher Bell
53.299

14. Cole Custer
53.319

15. Chase Briscoe
53.324

16. AJ Allmendinger
53.340

17. Kyle Larson
53.366

18. Ryan Preece
53.382

19. Daniel Suarez
53.411

20. Kyle Busch
53.455

21. Erik Jones
53.471

22. Carson Hocevar
53.471

23. Justin Haley
53.513

24. Noah Gragson
53.514

25. John Hunter Nemechek
53.553

26. Shane van Gisbergen
53.555

27. Denny Hamlin
53.562

28. Joey Logano
53.569

29. Riley Herbst
53.571

30. Todd Gilliland
53.595

31. Austin Dillon
53.631

32. Zane Smith
53.659

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
53.891

34. Cody Ware
54.015

35. Ty Dillon
54.086

36. Josh Berry
54.453

37. Brennan Poole
55.036

Links

Pocono Raceway | NASCAR

It was only a matter of time before Carson Hocevar crossed a line and got punished for his unruliness. The Spire Motorsports driver made an offensive statement about Mexico City ahead of the race weekend there and drew a fine of $50,000. A week later, he explained at the Pocono Raceway what led him to make such insensitive remarks.

Shortly after arriving in Mexico, the youngster had begun a livestream on Twitch and called the city a “s—hole.” He had gone on to list various concerns about the hotel he was staying in and the area surrounding it. The comments did not come to light till after Sunday’s race was completed and the bags were packed.

Just as it began surfacing in the real world, Hocevar issued an apology on social media. He said that he was embarrassed by his comments and that they weren’t his first-hand opinion to begin with. He claimed that he’d hastily drawn the wrong image of the city after hearing the opinions of other parties. In Pocono, he doubled down on this reasoning.

“The issue wasn’t for the team having their kind of frustrations, that I’m giving my opinion and putting it out there. It’s just the fact that, you know, my opinion wasn’t my opinion. It was just based on everything else, you know, that I’ve heard or seen, right? I didn’t go do my own homework and voice my own opinion,” Hocevar said.

The mistake he made was that he didn’t give the city a chance. He mentioned that he ought to have walked around town and spoken to people before making such a severe judgment. Things are in the past now, and there’s nothing that can be done to change them. Hopefully, the driver will catch himself by the collar to prevent a harder fall going ahead.

The $50,000 fine was inevitable after NASCAR threatened that it might take stricter action against him if Spire Motorsports didn’t do something about him. The money will be split among three organizations that serve Mexican communities — the Mexican Red Cross, United Way Mexico, and a nonprofit that combats childhood malnutrition.

Hocevar, meanwhile, will undergo cultural sensitivity training to properly understand why what he said won’t be accepted now or in the future. Judging from his skill and talent behind the wheel, it can be assured that he is going to stay on the Cup Series field for a long time to come. It can only be a positive that he learns this lesson early on in his career.

In his return to the seat of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota, Denny Hamlin will lead the field to the green flag at Pocono Raceway.

Hamlin captured the pole Saturday with a lap of 172.599mph (52.144s). A seven-time winner at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin missed the most recent event because of the birth of his first son and third child with fiancée Jordan Fish. It is his fifth pole at Pocono.

“We typically can step up from practice; we make good adjustments,” Hamlin said of earning the pole after being 27th in practice. “I never really panic too much, and obviously, because I was a little more rested than the field right there, I was able to go a little [faster].”

Chris Buescher qualified second and will join Hamlin on the front row. Buescher’s fast lap was 172.325mph.

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar qualified third at 171.825mph and John Hunter Nemechek fourth at 171.789mph. Cole Custer completed the top five at 171.638mph.

Chase Briscoe ended up sixth at 171.612mph, Ty Gibbs seventh at 171.546mph, Tyler Reddick eighth at 171.429mph, Christopher Bell ninth at 171.347mph and Daniel Suarez 10th at 171.002mph.

It was an eventful qualifying session to set the field of 37.

William Byron crashed during his lap and will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race. Byron had been fastest in practice and in the best 10 consecutive lap averages.

Todd Gilliland hit the wall with the right rear of his Ford during his qualifying lap. He qualified 32nd.

Bubba Wallace was one of four drivers who did not make a lap. Wallace’s car would not fire on pit road and he could not get on track.

Josh Berry and Cody Ware did not make qualifying laps after issues in practice. Berry’s team is still working to repair the diffuser and replace the rear clip of his car. Ware crashed during practice, and his car is also being repaired.

Brennan Poole was not allowed to make a qualifying lap per NASCAR. Poole’s car failed inspection three times Saturday morning.

NEXT: The Great American Getaway 400 at 2 p.m. Sunday.

RESULTS

700 races, seven Cup Series championships, and 83 Victory Lane visits in 22 years. Jimmie Johnson’s journey with Hendrick Motorsports is the type of legend that little children go to sleep hearing with a wondrous glint in their eyes. But it ought not to be forgotten that his tale would not have become what it is if not for a loyal friend, companion, and crew chief in Chad Knaus.

When Johnson signed with Rick Hendrick’s organization, he was poised to be their fourth driver. He mentioned in a recent conversation with Before The Lights that the No. 48 team was already filled with the energy of young talent and ambition before he made it in. And once he walked through the doors, that energy only went up through the roof.

Johnson said, “Whatever energy or vibe was there, we created it. There was so much ownership in it, and man, we did so much in a short period of time.” He continued to explain that a core group of people had surrounded him throughout his career, and the continual relationship he had with them is the biggest reason for his success.

The most important of them all is Knaus. Knaus and Johnson worked together as driver and crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports. They won five consecutive championships from 2006 to 2010, and two more after that. Johnson looked back at their time together and could only be grateful to the man for everything he’d done.

“But there’s one man that really led the team for all that (time we were together),” he said, referring to Knaus. “17 of my 19 full-time years, and he’s like a — I guess I have two younger brothers — he’s like a fourth or third brother to me.” Despite their success together and Johnson’s tryst with continuity, he couldn’t end his career with Knaus as his crew chief.

He added, “Unfortunately, we got to a point where we spent more time fighting, and our team owner had to say, ‘Alright. Enough of you guys. I’m going to have to separate you.’ I wish we could have made it those final two years together before I moved on to IndyCar. But people and consistency have been the bottom line for my success.”

The pain of separation was healed when they were both inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame together as a part of the Class of 2024. It was the perfect culmination of their long and storied partnership in the Cup Series. They remain close friends to this day.