Denny Hamlin has achieved something new in his 21st full-time NASCAR Cup Series season. He has won three races in a row for the first time.
Videos by FanBuzz
Hamlin, who won for the eighth time at Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon, had won two races in a row multiple times during his NASCAR career. Yet, he had never hit a three-peat.
MORE: Denny Hamlin Wins, Full Pocono Results
That changed on Sunday as he started from the pole, won the opening stage, and then played the strategy right during the final green flag run to the checkered flag.
He had enough fuel and fresh enough tires to chase down Christopher Bell, who had attempted to stretch his fuel to the end of the race.
Bell ran out with two laps remaining, and he had to settle for a 26th-place finish. Hamlin took advantage of the strategy and clean air to build his lead over Tyler Reddick and William Byron. He crossed the finish line first for the 64th time in his Cup Series career.
Reddick finished second after using fresh tires to race through the field in the closing laps. Byron finished third. The rest of the top 10 included John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, and Ryan Blaney.
"I would certainly say it's the best we've been," Hamlin told Prime Sports after winning at Pocono. "We come to the racetrack every week knowing we got a great shot to win.
"The team's doing an amazing job giving me exactly what I need in the car every single week. That's why we're winning.
Historic three-peat aside, Hamlin also joined an elite list. He became the fifth driver to win three consecutive races from the pole position.
Fred Lorenzen achieved this first in 1964. Richard Petty then pulled off the feat in both 1966 and 1967. Bobby Allison followed in 1971. Darrell Waltrip most recently won three consecutive races from the pole, doing so in 1981.
