Prime’s last race of 2025 was a nail-biter in the Pennsylvania mountains.
After a wild weekend in Mexico that saw road course ace Shane van Gisbergen take the checkered flag, the NASCAR Cup Series traveled north – way north – to the mountains of Pennsylvania. The Poconos have long been renowned as a remote, romantic getaway. For race fans, it’s anything but. The unusual, triangle-shaped oval features the longest straightaway as well as some of the highest speeds seen in the Cup series.
Denny Hamlin returned to his seat after taking off a week for the birth of his son, Jameson Drew Hamlin. He clearly didn’t lose any of his edge during his week off, winning a pole ahead of Chris Buescher and Carson Hocevar. If you’ve been following along with these weekly recaps, you know that we’ve been banging both the “Carson Hocevar is a future superstar” and “RFK is getting hot again” drums all season long. It’s not just fandom, the performance backs it up.
All three RFK machines spent time in the top 10, often at the same time. Brad Keselowski led some laps, made a costly mistake on pit road, clawed his way back up, then stayed out a lap too long while leading again and missed his shot. You have to feel bad for Brad. He’s poured his heart and soul into making RFK great again and he’s just not getting the results he deserves out of his own car.
The end of the race came down to a fuel mileage battle between Denny Hamlin and teammate Chase Briscoe, who moved to JGR this year after Stewart-Haas Racing ceased operations at the end of last season. Driving the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry means big shoes to fill, and a handful of poles early in the season showed that Briscoe has the speed in his new car. This win – battling a red-hot, hard charging Hamlin – proved that he’s a mature, capable driver that’s well deserving of a quality ride.
We expect the JGR Toyotas to be fast this coming weekend, too – Atlanta has been a riot to watch in the Next Gen car since the repave, and JGR really seems to have that track figured out. Christopher Bell drove to victory lane on their first trip to Atlanta this year. Could he or one of his teammates follow up with a similarly stellar performance?
Image: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
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