Date: July 23, 2023
Event: HighPoint.com 400 (Round 21 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Format: 160 laps, broken into three stages (30 laps/65 laps/65 laps)
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports
SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 4th, Finished 4th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 27th, Finished 12th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 29th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
● Ryan Preece (Started 34th, Finished 31st / Running, completed 159 of 160 laps)
SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (8th with 601 points, 110 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (25th with 352 points, 359 out of first)
● Ryan Preece (27th with 341 points, 370 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (31st with 257 points, 454 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Harvick earned his sixth top-five and ninth top-10 of the season. It was his 16th top-five and 23rd top-10 in 44 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
● Harvick’s 16 top-fives and 23 top-10s at Pocono are the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Denny Hamlin is next best with 15 top-fives and 22 top-10s.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-five. He finished fourth last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
● Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only four finishes outside of the top-10 at Pocono – a span of 18 races.
● Almirola earned his fifth top-15 of the season and his seventh top-15 in 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
● This was Almirola’s eighth straight finish of 16th or better at Pocono.
Race Notes:
● Hamlin won the HighPoint.com 400 to score his milestone 50th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his seventh at Pocono. Tyler Reddick crossed the finish line second as the race ended under caution.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 44 laps.
● Thirty of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Martin Truex Jr., remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 30-point advantage over second-place William Byron.
Sound Bites:
“I would’ve rather won, but I think we just have to keep ourselves in the mix, keep doing what we’re doing, and you just never know how these things are going to play out. We needed the front in clean air and we never really got that. Our car just struggled in traffic on that first lap of the restarts to get going with the front tires, but it was a strange race. I didn’t ever think that that strategy would play out like it did, running where we were and then have it cycle all through. You’ve just got to keep going every lap. They know what they’re doing up there and let it play out.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Peach Ford Mustang
“Today was a tough day, but I’m glad we were able to finish on the lead lap. We’ve had success at Pocono with HighPoint.com and I really wanted to get them a good finish in their race. We still have a lot of work to do on the No. 14 team, but I have all the confidence in these guys and I know we’ll figure it out.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out 400 on Sunday, July 30 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
