The NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono saw Ryan Blaney come out on top, and he has now won two races in the last five weeks. As for the rest of the top 10, the top seven finishers were all winners throughout the 2024 season.
The regular season is winding down, which means drivers who are on the bubble need to make a big move soon to make the playoffs. Lucky for one driver, he’s inching closer to a postseason spot after a strong finish at Pocono. Here’s a look at three drivers up and three drivers down after Pocono, according to NASCAR.
NASCAR Drivers up after Pocono
Bubba Wallace is one of the three divers who are up along with Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones. He had a tough week as he was fined $50,000 for hitting Alex Bowman during the cooldown lap of the Chicago Street Race. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Wallace worked his way to a P10 finish at Pocono and got closer to reaching the final playoff spot.
Hamlin is already playoff-bound since he has won three races this season. But the last five weeks have been frustrating for Hamlin as he has missed out on finishing in the top 10 during that span. That changed on Sunday when he finished second behind Blaney. The hope for Hamlin is he can carry that momentum into the end of the regular season and the playoffs.
Jones recorded a P14 finish, which is not what he wanted. But after finishing 29th in the Chicago Street race and 34th at Nashville, Jones’ performance on Sunday could lead to some big things moving forward.
Drivers down after Sunday’s race
Ty Gibbs is one of the drivers who are down this week along with Todd Gilliland and Ross Chastain. After winning pole for the Pocono race, Gibbs slipped from the lead during the first stage and could never recover. Ultimately he finished 27th and missed out on being the 13th different driver to win a Cup Series race this year.
Gilliand came into Pocono on a nine-race top-20 streak. But his day ended early when he cut a tire down the frontstretch in the final stage and finished 34th.
Chastain had a rough day at Pocono, suffering a DNF due to hitting the wall in Turn 1. He has yet to win a race this year and only has a 27-point lead for the final playoff spot.
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