LONG POND — It was evident after the race in June that Pocono Raceway needed to make some changes.

Besides the wild restarts, which Pocono has always been known for, the race didn’t feature much passing around the difficult-to-navigate “Tricky Triangle.”

So the brass at Pocono made a decision to improve the racing action, applying the PJ1 traction compound to the three distinct turns at the 2.5-mile track. The traction compound was grooved into the track by the infamous Tire Dragon, which drags tires over the racing surface to improve grip.

The placement of the traction compound was well thought out, being applied in the third lane in turn one, the outside lane in the narrow tunnel turn and the outside lane in turn three. Back in 2017, in an article by NBC Sports’ Nate Ryan, yesterday’s race winner Denny Hamlin was then advocating for Pocono to utilize the PJ1.

“They said it’s definitely on the table when we come back,” Hamlin had said. “I’d love to see it in the second to third lane, and you could see some amazing restarts and fun racing here once they do that.”

Albeit it two years later, Hamlin got his wish. And the racing wasn’t just improved, it was intense — which is exactly what Pocono Raceway was built for.

Cars dive bombing into turn one at over 200 mph and then having them be able to stay side-by-side through the tunnel turn was great to see, and drivers were also able to take advantage of a second racing lane on the outside of turn three, using that lane as momentum to pass cars down the longest front stretch in NASCAR.

The extra racing lanes enabled drivers to also take more risks, fanning out on all three of Pocono’s straightaways. Hamlin had a lot to be happy about on Sunday, collecting his third win of the season and his fifth-career victory at Pocono, but he was even happier about the PJ1, which he says attributed to his win.

“That’s how I got around those two guys on the outside,” said Hamlin. “The 19 made the move to try to get around a lap car in turn three. I saw an opportunity to dive on the outside there. I was able to put my right side tires in it. Once I did, it had the grip and I was able to get beside him. That was key to then have the power position on the outside entering.”

Although Pocono never releases official attendance numbers, it’s easy to see that over the past couple years it’s been a well-attended race with the infield jammed and the grandstands nearly filled. With the addition of the traction compound, now Pocono can offer a better quality of racing action paired with a packed atmosphere, which not many tracks on the NASCAR circuit can duplicate.

With the doubleheader slotted for next season, it could be a truly historic weekend in 2020.

“We never would have had an outside lane or even close to an outside lane had it not been on the racetrack. I think most of the passes today were probably done on the outside,” said Hamlin.

“It still can be refined and be better. I’ve worked with NASCAR and the track really hard on this particular racetrack, getting it in the right place. I think when we come back here next year for the doubleheader, we’re going to make it even better.

“I’m happy this track is opening up to changes. Certainly we had a better race than what we would have had without it.”