POCONO, PA. – NASCAR disqualified the Joe Gibbs Racing cars of winner Denny Hamlin and runner-up, Kyle Busch, after Sunday’s post-race inspection at Pocono Raceway.
Chase Elliott, who originally finished third, is the new M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 winner, giving the Hendrick Motorsports driver four wins on the season.
Tyler Reddick moves up to second, Daniel Suárez third, Christopher Bell fourth, and Kyle Larson fifth. Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, and Austin Dillon make up the top-10 finishing order.
Hamlin led 21 of the 160 laps in total, including the final 18 circuits around the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track. Busch led a race-high 63 laps and won Stage 2. They were relegated to the last two spots on the 36-driver results sheet.
There were nine caution periods for a total of 37 laps.
Twenty-nine of the 36 drivers in the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 finished on the lead lap.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on Sunday, July 31 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
SHR Race Finish:
- Aric Almirola (Started 12th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
- Chase Briscoe (Started 13th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
- Cole Custer (Started 32nd, Finished 19th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
- Kevin Harvick (Started 24th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
SHR Points:
- Kevin Harvick (10th with 565 points, 214 out of first)
- Aric Almirola (13th with 512 points, 267 out of first)
- Chase Briscoe (18th with 485 points, 294 out of first)
- Cole Custer (26th with 351 points, 428 out of first)
Almirola earned his 11th top-15 of the season and his sixth top-15 in 20 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. This was Almirola’s seventh straight finish of 16th or better at Pocono.
Briscoe earned his 14th top-20 of the season and his first top-20 in three career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. Briscoe’s 17th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Pocono – 21st, earned in the second race of last year’s doubleheader.
Custer earned his eighth top-20 of the season and his third top-20 in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
The M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 marked Harvick’s milestone 775th career NASCAR Cup Series start.
Harvick finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point and sixth in Stage 2 to earn five more bonus points.
