Denny Hamlin comes up just shy of record eighth Pocono victory

Denny Hamlin earned the most points of any driver in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono, but came up just short of a record eighth victory at the "Tricky Triangle."

Already the winningest driver in the history of the 2.5 mile Pennsylvania track, Hamlin was one of the favorites to win going into the weekend. After qualifying fourth, it seemed like Hamlin had one of the best cars on the racetrack on Sunday afternoon and he piloted his No. 11 Toyota Camry to a second-place finish in Stage One. 

In Stage Two, Hamlin opted to stay out once more — as opposed to pitting before the stage end and possibly having a better shot at the race win — to earn the Stage Two victory, grabbing an all-important playoff point. 

In Stage Three, however, the No. 11 car got behind the eight ball, proving unable to get around Ryan Blaney. Hamlin may have had the better overall car, but the benefits of clean air were too much for him to overcome in the closing laps. 

After passing Alex Bowman for second, it was all Hamlin could do to watch his deficit to Blaney remain static, hardly fluctuating in Hamlin's favor over the race's final laps. Hamlin did manage to trim Blaney's lead down to 1.3 seconds by the time the checkered flag flew, but his efforts weren't enough to claim his fourth win of the season. 

While Hamlin was clearly disappointed to finish one spot short of victory, the runner-up finish should be a shot in the arm for a No. 11 team that has fallen asleep over the summer. Before Sunday's race, Hamlin hadn't finished inside the top-10 since Gateway on June 2. 

Hamlin will look to add another crown jewel to his resume next week when the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the Brickyard 400.