For the first time in a long time, NASCAR is only visiting the Pocono Raceway for one race. Otherwise, the paddock has been competing at the track at least twice a year since 1982.

Recently, NASCAR President Steve Phelps spoke about the decision to downscale things to one Pocono race. He insisted that this was not a slight against Pocono, but the sport was accommodating ambitious schedule changes.

He said, “I’m not suggesting they would come off the schedule, I’m not suggesting that all. But I think the opportunity to expose our racing to a different market is important. I think we’ll continue to look to do that moving forward with our schedule. It’s an important thing for us and, by the way, it’s successful.”

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How did the NASCAR Cup race at the Pocono Raceway play out?

When the race concluded, Denny Hamlin led a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2 from Kyle Busch. However, disaster struck when both his and Busch’s cars were disqualified on technical grounds. As a result, a delighted Chase Elliott snatched another Cup Series win, his fourth this season.

This actually keeps up his current hot streak of Top 2 finishes alive for yet another race. The streak began at the Nashville Superspeedway, which he won. At the next race, he finished 2nd behind Tyler Reddick at Road America. Elliott won again at Atlanta before finishing 2nd at New Hampshire and has now won at Pocono.

Meanwhile, poor old Hamlin and Kyle Busch were bitterly disappointed with their disqualifications.

In reality, Hamlin should have won at the Pocono Raceway, or it would have been Busch if Hamlin was the only guilty party. Nevertheless, what’s done is done and they can do nothing else but move on. On the bright side, both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have five more races to try and redeem themselves.

All that they have to do is grab a win and stop new race winners from entering the fray.

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