NASCAR

NASCAR Pocono predictions 2024: Expert picks for Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway

Portrait of Nick Gray Nick Gray
Nashville Tennessean

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its lone trip of the season to the Tricky Triangle for Sunday's The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Denny Hamlin earned his seventh win at the track last season after tangling with Kyle Larson late in the race.

Last week, Alex Bowman locked himself into the playoffs by outlasting the field in the near-darkness at the Chicago street course to win in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. HMS now has all four drivers into the playoffs with victories with two months to go before the postseason begins in September.

Here are The Tennessean's expert picks for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race in Pocono:

FULL WEEKEND SCHEDULE: NASCAR Pocono full weekend track schedule, TV schedule for The Great American Getaway 400, other races

LAST WEEK: NASCAR Chicago street race winners and losers: Alex Bowman ends streak on another rainy day

NASCAR predictions for Cup Series Pocono race: Here's who wins The Great American Getaway 400

Mike Organ's pick: Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

I've got some catching up to do in our points standings so I'm going with Denny Hamlin to get his eighth win at Pocono Raceway. He passed Jeff Gordon with seven wins at the Tricky Triangle last summer and I believe will hold off top challenges such as Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott this year. 

Tom Kreager's pick: Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

Reddick has been on the verge of wins the past two weeks -- at Nashville and at Chicago. This is finally his chance at win No. 2 of the season. Reddick has two top-five finishes at Pocono. It makes sense he collects his first win there this week and beat team owner Denny Hamlin in the process. 

Nick Gray's pick: Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

For the first time this season, I'll pick a motivated Bubba Wallace to win this weekend. Wallace has been solid at Pocono with 23XI Racing (by average finish, this is his best track while with 23XI). He should have every motivation to put together a strong effort given the points situation. He needs to win. Time to do it.