The 2026 Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA

     So here we are at the Tricky Triangle in the Pocono Mountains, where if you want to end up in victory lane, you have to master all three turns of Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Turn 1 is a long, high-speed turn to kick off the speedway, turn 2 is known as "The Tunnel Turn" as is tricky because if I've learned anything from playing NASCAR games, it's in this turn you'll want to go way faster than you actually can. Turn 3 is kind of similar to turn 1, although it's less banked and maybe a little slower. So, let's see what the triangle has to offer.

     Nothing happened in stage 1 except for Larson getting passed by Hamlin for the lead and a few drivers flipping the stage. Hamlin went on to win the stage, gaining valuable points to help him catch Tyler Reddick in the standings.

     Reddick led to start the second stage, which went smoothly until Zane Smith spun while battling Denny Hamlin in The Tunnel Turn and hit the inside wall, bringing out the yellow. We went back green on lap 45, but three laps later there was a huge incident on the frontstretch involving Brad Keselowski, SVG, Connor Zilisch, and others. Nemechek led on the restart, and he led until he came down pit road which gave the lead to Erik Jones, who pitted soon after with the 9 of Elliott inheriting the lead, with Hamlin shortly behind. Eventually both cars had to come down pit road, and the car that that went on to win the stage was Todd Gilliland.

     Briscoe led on the restart until there was a caution for a tire on the track off of Mears's car. Hamlin got the lead on the restart and had a pretty lead and then decided to come down pit road. It would work for him because he ended up coming out in second after the pit cycle right behind his teammate Christopher Bell, who was going to be close on fuel. With four laps to go, Hamlin made his move, and made it stick until the end.

     What's crazy is Reddick was dominating at the start of the season, but now Hamlin might catch up to him. Well, see you next week at Naval Base Coronado to make history.