HighPoint.com 400

RACE RECAP

Denny Hamlin started from the pole, won Stage 1 and beat Tyler Reddick by 1.678 seconds to win the HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway. It was Hamlin's third straight Cup Series points win, his fourth points victory of 2026, his eighth Pocono win and the 64th Cup win of his career.

The race was moved up two hours because of weather concerns, but it ran without the rain interruption NASCAR was trying to avoid. Hamlin controlled the cleanest parts of the day while Toyota filled four of the top six finishing positions.

John H. Nemechek was the fantasy swing piece, leading a race-high 42 laps and finishing fourth at a $6 FantasyJolt salary. Christopher Bell, racing with a broken wrist, led 18 late laps on strategy before fading to 26th.

The perfect FantasyJolt lineup was Hamlin, Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones and Todd Gilliland for 373.52 points on $49 salary. Gilliland's Stage 2 win made him viable even with a 19th-place finish.

BY THE NUMBERS

Lead Changes

Leaders

5/23

Cautions / Laps

DNFs

1.678

Margin of Victory

135.9

Avg MPH

2:56:36

Race Time

Stage Winners

S1Denny Hamlin

S2Todd Gilliland

Caution Breakdown

1L32–365LStage 1 ConclusionLD #62

2L42–443L#38 Incident Turn 1

3L48–525L#4, 6, 20, 21, 22, 23, 33, 88, 97 Incident Frontstretch

4L97–1015LStage 2 ConclusionLD #62

5L106–1105LDebris Turn 2LD #88

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01Denny Hamlin won from the pole by 1.678 seconds for his third consecutive Cup Series points victory.

02Hamlin's eighth Pocono win moved him to 64 career Cup victories and sole possession of ninth on NASCAR's all-time wins list.

03John H. Nemechek led a race-high 42 laps and finished fourth, becoming the slate's best salary value at $6.

04Christopher Bell led 18 late laps on strategy while racing with a broken wrist, but faded to 26th.

05The perfect FantasyJolt lineup used Hamlin, Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones and Todd Gilliland for 373.52 points.

VALUE PICKS

8.5

pts/$

John H. Nemechek$6

P4S2:P3Led:42

8.15

pts/$

Todd Gilliland$4

P19S2:P1Led:6

5.33

pts/$

Ricky Stenhouse Jr$6

P15S2:P5

5.00

pts/$

Riley Herbst$5

P16

4.80

pts/$

Austin Hill$5

P18S1:P10

BUSTS

0.3

pts/$

Brad Keselowski$10

P38

0.82

pts/$

Joey Logano$11

P34S1:P9

1.20

pts/$

Christopher Bell$14

P26Led:18

1.82

pts/$

Bubba Wallace$11

P21

2.08

pts/$

Carson Hocevar$12

P20S2:P7

PERFECT LINEUP

Optimal 5-driver roster for this race

Salary

$49/50

Avg Finish

Total Points

374.53

Group	Driver	Salary	Finish	Led	Bonus	Pts
A	Denny Hamlin	$15	1	28	+12 S1:10 S2:2	119.60 2 × 59.80
B	John H. Nemechek	$6	4	42	+8 S2:8	89.60 1.75 × 51.20
C	Kyle Larson	$14	5	24	+9 S1:9	74.10 1.5 × 49.40
D	Erik Jones	$10	6	1	+10 S1:3 S2:7	57.63 1.25 × 46.10
E	Todd Gilliland	$4	19	6	+10 S2:10	32.60 1 × 32.60