“His car was pretty strong”: Denny Hamlin admits he wouldn’t have caught Ryan Blaney at Pocono

NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin believes Ryan Blaney's Ford was too fast for him to be able to catch up with the Team Penske driver in the Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway. Blaney, piloting his No. 12 Ford, captured his second win of the season on Sunday.

Following a thrilling weekend of racing action in Pocono, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney has registered his second victory in five races as he mounts a title defence. Four weeks after emerging victorious in Iowa, the Team Penske star secured his second-ever win at Pocono Raceway, denying Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin in the process.

Hamlin, who has seven wins at the Pocono track, was a dominant force for much of the race, leading for a total of 31 laps. However, he finished about two seconds behind Blaney after the Team Penske driver surged ahead with 44 laps remaining.

Despite a valiant effort towards the end, Hamlin, who overtook Alex Bowman with just seven of the 160 laps left, couldn’t close the gap on race leader Blaney. A crucial delay during his penultimate pit stop where he lost nine positions significantly hampered his chances.

In the closing laps, Hamlin managed to narrow the gap but couldn’t get close enough to challenge Blaney for the lead. Blaney crossed the finish line 1.312 seconds ahead of Hamlin.

Reflecting on the race during his "Actions Detrimental" podcast, Hamlin was asked how many laps he would have needed to overtake Blaney. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver responded:

"I'm not really sure. Because when he was running his all out, I think we were matching times at that point. I think his car was pretty strong and he was obviously in the top 5 for the most of the day on speed."

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Denny Hamlin differentiates his experience with other competitors and Ryan Blaney during Pocono race

Hamlin highlighted a key difference between Ryan Blaney’s car and the other competitors' cars. He found it challenging to stay close to Blaney’s No. 12 Ford compared to other vehicles on the track. He said during his "Actions Detrimental" podcast:

"I thought it was probably going to be difficult to get around him. Of all the other cars that I chased, it seemed like I could stay close to everyone else."

Commenting further on Blaney's pace, Denny Hamlin added:

"I mean, I never really ran behind Blaney throughout the day except for the very end, those last 7 laps. But it seemed like he had decent enough pace that he was going to be able to hold us off."

Despite the result, Denny Hamlin finds himself fourth on the NASCAR Cup Series standings, three spots ahead of Ryan Blaney. Hamlin has 683 points to his name, courtesy of his three victories early on in the season.