Pocono's One Wild Stage After Another

^{Jun 23, 2025 | Edition #192}

👋 Dear Motorheads,

As you probably already know, NASCAR made a bold move this year—taking a major race like Pocono over to Prime. Seeing that, the Lucky Dog got inspired too.
But here’s the difference… you’re actually gonna like our idea.

Drumroll, please!

What we came up with is this special race recap edition, to catch you up on everything that happened today.

🌧️ The Weather Delay

Since everyone kept calling the track 'unpredictable' (with 5 different winners in the last 5 Pocono races), the weather kinda took that personally.

When no one expected, thunderstorms rolled into Long Pond like an uninvited guest and that was enough to stress NASCAR, as Pocono doesn’t have lights. Meaning, had the race not started for a little longer, the drivers would have been racing the sun… literally.

Thankfully, NASCAR was not messing around. Or maybe it was the Prime partnership that had them extra motivated to get the race going. But we're not complaining, as that probably gave us our favorite highlight of the weekend. Take a look at this image. It's so funny. Looking at it, we can't really tell whether NASCAR was clearing water from the track or going to war.

🕰️ Stage 1

After a delay of exactly 2 hours and 10 minutes, the green flag finally dropped at 4:30 pm. Being on pole, Hamlin wasted no time. By Turn 1, he was already in the lead while Chris Buescher tucked in right behind, and Carson Hocevar grabbed third.

6 laps down, Buescher did close the gap on Hamlin. We could see him fighting for playoff points like his season depends on it—because it does.
However, the high point for Stage 1 has to be Hocevar.

He radioed in that he was very loose in Turn 3 and ended up doing a cool slide. Watch this. The only thing that could've made this video better would probably be the Tokyo Drift theme song.

While it was a great save, it did drop him back to 4th, hanging on for dear life until he could pit.

By the end, Denny Hamlin held on to the lead. Chris Buescher stayed second, followed by Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, and Erik Jones. The top four stayed out while the rest of the top 10 dove into the pits, setting up a whole new mess of strategy for...

💥 Stage 2

If we could describe it in a word, it was chaos! And it all started with Riley Herbst's “what just happened?” moment. On Lap 42, his tire let go right as he entered Turn 1, sending him into the wall hard. Here's the crash. It was a tough break—and unfortunately, not the last tire-related issue of the stage.

Then came a wave of brake problems: Bubba Wallace’s rotor exploded into the tunnel turn, sending him straight into the wall and straight to the garage.

Not long after, Michael McDowell’s brakes called it quits, slicing a tire and sending him limping back to the pits.

While the cautions kept coming, the biggest moment came on Lap 83, when Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland got together and spun through the tunnel turn, collecting Bell, SVG, and Ty Dillon in the mess. Here's a glimpse of that demolition derby.

Nothing, however, could faze Chase Briscoe, who held strong through the mayhem and took the Stage 2 win—plus a much-needed playoff point.

🏁 The Final Stage

Towards the end, the race started to look like a suspense film disguised as a fuel-mileage race—and Chase Briscoe was the main character trying to outrun the gas gauge.

Although, it looked like things would take a turn due to the caution on Lap 125. Shane van Gisbergen spun off Turn 1 and gently kissed the wall, which absolutely wrecked the pit gamble for Keselowski. He had to come in under yellow, losing his track position.

After stops, Briscoe led again. But there was a catch—his pit stop had been quick… maybe too quick. The team told him to save fuel “big time.” Translation: breathe less, coast more, and maybe pray a little.

And doing just that, Briscoe crossed the line, claiming his first win with Joe Gibbs Racing!

📰 More Headlines From Pocono

1. Kyle Busch Plagued by Jr. Nation’s Curse as Pocono Gets the Worse of Him - Full Story

2. Brad Keselowski Shamed in Public by Carson Hocevar, Makes Grave Mistake at Pocono - Full Story

3. Bubba Wallace Wipes Out at Pocono as Eerie Curse Claims Another 23XI Driver - Full Story

💌 Feedback

Since this wasn't our usual post-race edition, we'd love to hear what you thoughts about it, and if you'd like to keep receiving it.