Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Pocono 400

  • Kyle Busch is victorious on the Tricky Triangle in the Pocono 400

    Kyle Busch is victorious on the Tricky Triangle in the Pocono 400

    Despite the field seeking out more speed and track position with various pit strategies, Kyle Busch led 79 laps to win his 55th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in the Pocono 500, tying Rusty Wallace on the all-time win list.

    “I just can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “Everybody that works there works so hard to build these awesome Camrys. We’ve had an amazing roll this year here so far. We’ve been doing well.

    “We feel like we’ve kind of given away a couple of wins that we thought we had a shot for, but overall, it’s been awesome to get back to Victory Lane here. Pocono’s been a struggle, but it’s a lot better now.”

    Busch’s fourth win of the season came after beating Brad Keselowski by 2.224 seconds. He led a few laps during pit cycles, but was able to fight his way up after the final restart to get close to Busch. His No. 2 Penske Ford wasn’t quite as strong.

    “We didn’t have speed enough to pass guys, but we could run with them,” Keselowski said. “We wanted a little bit more to be able to pass everybody, but you had to be so much faster that you just try to execute the best you can and hope things fall the right way. “They fell decent, just not good enough to win today.”

    Erik Jones finished in the third position, followed by Talladega winner Chase Elliott. Clint Bowyer completed the top five.

    “I feel like if Kyle [Busch] and I had been on four tires, we would’ve been pretty even,” Jones said with a positive outlook with his third place effort after a dead last finish in last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. “Good day overall, it would have had to really be a perfect scenario for us to win today, but we had a good car. The Dewalt Camry was fast, and it was fast all weekend.”

    “We’ve been good, but not great,” Elliott shared with FOX Sports after the race when evaluating their current overall situation.

    Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, pole winner William Byron and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10.

    Three front runners had struggles in the race. First, Kevin Harvick was in contention for the win, but a late race pit-road penalty changed their outcome. On Lap 124, they were caught with an uncontrolled tire and were forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Harvick dropped off the lead lap and finished his day at Pocono in the 22nd spot.

    Last week’s winner Martin Truex Jr. was victorious in three of the last five points-paying races. However, his attempt for his fourth win of the season fell short after 91 laps into the race when his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota went behind the wall with an engine issue. His team finished 35th for the day.

    The third driver who was a strong contender early in the race was Kyle Larson. The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet driver led 35 laps and won the race’s first two stages. On a late race restart, Larson slapped the outside wall after contact with Clint Bowyer. He was forced to pit with damage to the right rear and at risk of blowing a tire. He finished one lap down in the 26th position.

    The weekend was a rough start for Erik Jones and Chris Buescher as they failed pre-qualifying inspection on Saturday. Since cars were impounded after Busch Pole Qualifying, the inspection also served as pre-race inspection. This resulted in the car chief for both teams being ejected for the race weekend, Jason Overstreet (No. 20) and Doug Powers (No. 37). Both drivers have been coming from strong recent finishes, with Jones finishing in the top-six in two of the last three races and Buescher with two consecutive top-10 results.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races next weekend at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 9.

    Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 14
    Race Results for the 38th Annual Pocono 400 – Sunday, June 2, 2019
    Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA – 2.5 – Mile Paved
    Total Race Length – 160 Laps – 400. Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos Pts Status
    1 2 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota 160 0 0 40 Running
    2 5 2 Brad Keselowski Wabash National Ford 160 3 4 50 Running
    3 4 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 160 0 0 34 Running
    4 12 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 160 0 0 33 Running
    5 3 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation Ford 160 0 0 32 Running
    6 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 160 0 0 31 Running
    7 16 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 160 8 2 42 Running
    8 9 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Demo Days Ford 160 7 10 34 Running
    9 1 24 William Byron Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet 160 2 3 45 Running
    10 13 10 Aric Almirola Valley Technical Academy Ford 160 5 0 33 Running
    11 21 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 160 0 6 31 Running
    12 17 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Libman Ford 160 6 0 30 Running
    13 23 8 Daniel Hemric # Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet 160 0 9 26 Running
    14 24 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Thrill of the Grill Chevrolet 160 0 8 26 Running
    15 15 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 160 0 0 22 Running
    16 19 6 Ryan Newman Wyndham Rewards Ford 160 0 5 27 Running
    17 22 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota 160 0 0 20 Running
    18 14 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 160 10 0 20 Running
    19 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 160 0 0 18 Running
    20 28 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 160 0 0 17 Running
    21 26 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 160 0 7 20 Running
    22 11 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Father’s Day Ford 159 4 0 22 Running
    23 29 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 159 0 0 14 Running
    24 32 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low T Center Chevrolet 159 0 0 0 Running
    25 34 51 Bayley Currey(i) Jacob Companies P-40 Warhawk Ford 159 0 0 0 Running
    26 7 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 159 1 1 31 Running
    27 25 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 158 0 0 10 Running
    28 35 27 * Reed Sorenson VIPRacingExperience.com Chevrolet 157 0 0 9 Running
    29 36 77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 157 0 0 8 Running
    30 27 38 David Ragan ExploriaResorts.com Ford 156 0 0 7 Running
    31 31 0 Landon Cassill(i) Madison Group Chevrolet 154 0 0 0 Running
    32 18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 146 0 0 5 Accident
    33 30 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Sunscreen Ford 128 0 0 4 Running
    34 37 52 JJ Yeley Steakhouse Elite Chevrolet 110 0 0 3 Running
    35 20 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 91 9 0 4 Engine
    36 33 32 Corey LaJoie VisoneRV Ford 68 0 0 1 Accident
    37 10 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet 28 0 0 1 Accident
  • Five drivers to watch heading into the Pocono 400

    Five drivers to watch heading into the Pocono 400

    With the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season halfway through, the drivers who are making an impact on the way to the Playoffs have either emerged or are about to. With Chevy drivers finally starting to hit their strides such as Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, it’s a safe bet to go with the Bowtie Brigade heading into Sunday.

    1. Alex Bowman

    Bowman is easily the hottest commodity in the Cup Series right now. With four consecutive top-10s including three straight runner-up finishes, he finally seems to be knocking on the door to Victory Lane. He came close at Kansas, leading 63 laps before losing the lead to Brad Keselowski, but with the series heading into Pocono, this may be the weekend for Bowman. He finished third there in last year’s Gander Outdoors 400, and with Chevy teams starting to show up at the front more often this season, the odds are in Bowman’s, Crew Chief Greg Ives’ and the No. 88 team’s favor.

    2. Kurt Busch

    Busch is obviously having fun in 2019, and it’s easy to tell. He wrapped up final practice for Sunday’s race with a 172.712 lap, which was the quickest of the session. The three-time Pocono winner is making his first trip to the Tricky Triangle with his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing team, for which he has already scored three top-fives and eight top-10s and sits eighth in the points heading into Sunday. What plays into Busch’s favor is that for the most part, despite his troubles (however few they have been this season), he has been at or near the front in almost every race in 2019.

    Busch and Matt McCall have melded quite well and it shows, with runs such as a fifth at Las Vegas and a third at Atlanta, that the team isn’t lacking in speed, and considering that Pocono is a big, fast, 2.5-mile racetrack, Busch is a strong bet to be in contention on Sunday.

    3. Daniel Suarez

    Although the Stewart-Haas Racing Fords haven’t had a victory yet in 2019, they’ve been consistent finishers who have been at or near the front, including Suarez. And with Pocono being one of Suarez’s strongest tracks, he could be a safe bet to be a contender on Sunday. Suarez, the 2018 Gander Outdoors 400 pole-sitter and runner-up, topped Friday morning’s first practice with a 171.798 lap. He also has an average start of 10.2 and an average finish of 12.0 in four starts, which although isn’t impressive, it is solid.

    The SHR Fords aren’t without speed, and with Billy Scott on top of the pit box, Suarez is sure to have another solid day at Pocono.

    4. Martin Truex Jr.

    There is hardly a place where Truex won’t contend or win at, and that includes Pocono, where he won in 2015 and 2018. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won three times with Crew Chief Cole Pearn this season, including the most recent event at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600. The No. 19 Toyota has won early and often in 2019, with the team really hitting its stride in April and showing no signs of slowing.

    Truex holds five top-fives and 10 top-10s in 26 starts, including those two wins, and considering he’s at the beginning of a hot streak it’d be foolish not to bet on the No. 19 JGR Toyota to be at the front at some point during Sunday’s race.

    5. Chase Elliott

    Once again, with Chevy performance on the rise it’d only make sense to also bet on the one Chevy driver to win so far in 2019. Elliott has been quietly consistent in six Pocono starts, having earned five top-10s including a fourth in his first start there in 2016. The one race where he finished outside of the top-10 was later that year, where he crashed while battling Joey Logano for the lead. He finished 33rd that day, and although his average finish there is 12.0, had it not been for that crash it would have been much higher.

    Elliott has made it a point to master almost every type of track, and he has managed to put himself in contention almost everywhere. His relationship with Crew Chief Alan Gustafson has finally yielded the expected results, and with the confidence that this No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports crew has week in and week out, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Elliott continues to build on his winning ways Sunday in the Pocono 400.

    The Pocono 400 is Sunday on FS1, starting at 2 p.m. ET.

  • Truex gambles on late caution to win at Pocono

    Truex gambles on late caution to win at Pocono

    Martin Truex Jr. didn’t have the strongest car in the race, though he won a stage, and didn’t pitch one of his signature clinic performances. But his team gambled in the closing laps by staying out under caution, and he held off drivers with fresher tires to win at Pocono.

    He, along with Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, chose to stay out during a caution with 21 laps to go. He held off Larson on two consecutive restarts to score his 17th career victory in 455 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    “You’re always concerned on restarts. You just never know. So much can happen on those things, but we were luckily able to get a good one. Just can’t say enough about everyone on this team. Everybody, Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and all the guys really did a good job last night. We had a good practice yesterday. Really, it’s been a good weekend, overall. Just kind of been a sane weekend. I feel like we’re getting back to what we were doing last year.”

    It’s his second career victory at Pocono Raceway.

    “It’s always fun to win, but especially when you beat the best guys out there. Those two guys (Larson and Harvick) were so fast today. Honestly, we were all really equal. It was a matter of who could get out front. The 4 (Harvick) and I stayed (out) on tires. We felt like in practice, we were really fast on scuffs. So Cole made a good call there to stay out. Once we got out in clean air, this thing was like a rocket ship.”

    Larson, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Brad Keselowski rounded out the Top-five.

    “We weren’t quite as fast as what I thought we’d be after practice,” Larson said. “I ran probably sixth or seventh all day long and finished second. Was happy about that because I felt like obviously we were at a little bit of a disadvantage on tires there, but the track position overcame that. But I felt like if I didn’t have a good restart on any one of those, I would have fell back outside the top 5 from those guys on fresher tires. Happy we finished second but needed a lot more to kind of compete with the three guys that ran up front all day.”

    “Just real unfortunate there that once we all thought we had that caution that brought us all down pit road for what we thought was the final stop of the day, we got tires, we beat everybody off pit road and was in control of the restart and then in control of the race when we were leading there, and all of a sudden about 10, 11 laps into that run, there was a caution in Turn 1 for what looked to me to be a shoe booty,” Busch said. “Somebody took their booty off, I guess, and chucked it out their window. That was kind of weird that we saw a caution for that, but safety comes first, so that just kind of derailed our strategy, if you will, and we lost this race last year on not pitting in that situation and getting beat by tires, and so we pitted this year for tires and got beat by those that didn’t pit.”

    “We had a good car all day, just came down to really losing control of the race on the last pit stop,” Harvick said. “Really not pitting or pitting didn’t really seem to matter. We lost control to the 18 (Kyle Busch) and wound up losing a couple more spots on the restart starting on the inside, and that was the end of the day. Car was fast and everybody did a great job, it just didn’t work out.”

    Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott rounded out the Top-10.

    “My guys kept fighting all day long,” Johnson said. “That was a hard-fought eighth place finish. We just need to keep improving, but we’re slowly chipping away at it.”

    RACE SUMMARY

    LONG POND, Pa. – JUNE 03: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Duracell Ford, and Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Beer Ford, lead the field to green for the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 3, 2018 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

    Ryan Blaney led the field to green at 2:15 p.m. He led the first 11 laps, before Kevin Harvick used a run off Turn 3 to pass him down the frontstretch for the top spot. Blaney opted to pit early in the run and work the race like a road course race (fuel window was roughly 35 laps). While he was among a few drivers that pitted early in the fuel run, most of the field pitted 10 laps after Blaney, with Harvick pitting on Lap 26. Jimmie Johnson — who’d led a career total of 169,291 laps, entering this race — led his first lap of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season on Lap 27. When he pitted on Lap 29, Brad Keselowski took over the top spot. After he pitted from the lead on Lap 33, Harvick — who passed Kyle Busch exiting Turn 3 two laps prior — cycled back to the lead.

    Martin Truex Jr. got a run down the short-chute to pass Harvick through Turn 3 to take the lead on Lap 43, and drove on to win the first stage on Lap 50. Keselowski took only two tires under the caution and exited pit road with the lead.

    Back to green on Lap 57, Harvick got a run going into Turn 1 and took the lead back from Keselowski. Running third, Keselowski pitted on Lap 67 to short-pit the second stage. The rest of the leaders followed suite on Lap 78, with Harvick pitting from the lead the following lap, and handing the lead to Darrell Wallace Jr. Harvick ran him down and passed him to retake the lead on Lap 84, and drove on to win the second stage.

    For most of the final stage, Harvick ran unchallenged. But after Derrike Cope got turned by Kyle Larson in Turn 3 with 36 laps to go, he lost the lead on pit road to Kyle Busch.

    LONG POND, Pa. – JUNE 03: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Red White & Blue Toyota, pits during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 3, 2018 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

    Back to green with 31 to go, Busch shot ahead of Harvick going into Turn 1. A crush panel in the middle of Turn 1 brought out the caution with 21 to go. Truex, Harvick, Chase Elliott and Larson opted to stay out, Blaney, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon exited pits first by taking just two tires and Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Keselowski, the first cars on four new tires, rounded out the Top-10.

    “…clean air is always super important here,” Larson said after the race. “He and the 4 (Harvick) were way better than I was at the end, but I was just able to kind of stay just low enough on exit I felt like to keep them tight behind me, so yeah, clean air is just important everywhere, but especially I feel like when you get to these fast tracks that are pretty flat.”

    Martin Truex Jr. does celebratory burnouts on the front stretch at Pocono Raceway, to celebrate his victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway. Photo: Kirk Schroll/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Restarting with 17 to go, Truex shot out to a lead of over a second, while Harvick was usurped for second by Larson.

    “…when you’re on the outside, the leader typically chooses the outside for the launch and to get going, and so he can control the guy on his inside and not get in a bad aero spot so that just makes that lane accelerate just that instant sooner, and that momentum just kind of rolls,” Busch said. “But I thought Larson and I had a pretty good run there on that final restart where I pushed him back up to the back of the 78, and he didn’t hit him enough in order to get him up the track a little farther so I could squeak on under there and have a three‑wide battle and probably a whole bunch of fire and flames and parts on the outside of the racetrack in Turn 2, but maybe next time.”

    Rounding Turn 1 with 15 to go, Hamlin got loose in Turn 1 and made contact with Alex Bowman, sending him into the wall, while he slid down and hit the inside wall.

    Restarting with 10 to go, Erik Jones got turned when he jumped out of line with Joey Logano, who was pushing him on the restart, spun down the track and hit the inside wall with his left-rear corner panel.

    Back to green with seven to go, Truex swung down and back up the frontstretch to block Larson’s advance and drove on to victory.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours and 52 minutes, at an average speed of 139.535 mph. There were 11 lead changes among seven different drivers, and six cautions for 23 laps.

    Busch leaves with an 87-point lead over Harvick.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/C1814_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 400

    Under surprisingly blue skies with no rain in sight, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 33rd annual Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

    Surprising: It may have been his first ever win at Pocono Raceway and his second win of the season guaranteeing him an opportunity to run for the championship, but surprisingly Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was focused more after the race on how he was going to share the victory with Junior nation.

    In fact, the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet advised the media that he planned to head over to his Twitter account because he “took a picture of myself over at the pylon and I’ll tweet that out later once I get to my phone.”

    “I joined Twitter in February at Daytona and I underestimated just how enjoyable that could be,” the race winner continued. “The interaction is unlike any other, and I get as much out of it, I think, as the fans that are following me.”

    “It definitely has some sort of a small effect on your personality, to have that kind of support directly right at your fingertips, knowing everybody is behind you 100 percent every day.”

    “I’ve enjoyed it a lot and it’s wins like this that certainly make it a whole lot more fun for everybody.”

    Not Surprising: There is no doubt that Brad Keselowski must be hoping that NASCAR forget Air Titan and develop Trash Titan after having to choose between trying to get some trash off his grille and finishing the race or trying to win and blowing up in the process.

    To make matter worse, the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Apple Ale Ford had not only been leading the race at the time of the trash, but had also dominated the race, leading 95 laps.

    “You know, we were just running really hot and the motor was going to blow up so I had to do something,” Keselowski said. “So, I tried to follow the 10 down in the corner to get the debris off and I just checked up too much. I thought I had more room than I did.”

    “I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference,” Keselowski continued. “But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion. When I got down in the corner, the car got sideways and I realized I had made a mistake. It was too little, too late.”

    “It was really a flawless day except for my mess up.”

    Surprising: At the conclusion of the Pocono 400, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch shared something surprisingly snake-like in common. Kahne continued to be snake bit after crashing hard on lap 142 to finish 42nd, while third-place finisher Busch commented that he felt like he and his team were “shedding that new-team skin today and running up front.”

    In contrast to Busch’s shedding off of bad runs, the snake bit runs of Kasey Kahne continued. And the driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet was not happy about any of it as he emerged from the infield care center after his hard crash.

    “Well, I had just passed Kyle (Busch) and I caught (Ryan) Newman and I was passing him off Turn 3,” Kahne said. “We were side-by-side so Kyle was able to get a good draft down the straightaway. We got to Turn 1 and I was on the outside and then he knew if he didn’t clear me there, then I would pass him back because I just had.”

    “He just floored it and didn’t care there was someone out there and ran me right in the wall,” Kahne continued. “We both ended up wrecking. I think he wrecked a little bit, but I hit a good bit harder.”

    “Once we hit, my car just went hard right.”

    Not Surprising: Kyle Larson continued to prove himself to be a quick learner by winning the ARCA race at Pocono and also by mastering the art of shifting.

    “To be honest with you, I did miss a couple shifts,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “Yeah, just twice, which is a lot better than probably it would have been if I didn’t practice shifting a whole lot.”

    “But yeah, I mean, surprisingly there was only two times, when I was battling people and when I was pretty excited,” Larson continued. “I don’t know, I thought it was a good day.”

    It was indeed a good day as the rookie driver finished fifth, again scoring Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors, at a track where he had never been before.

    Surprising: ‘Home’ tracks were surprisingly good for Martin Truex Jr., who scored his second top-ten finish in two races, taking the checkered flag in ninth at Pocono this weekend and sixth at Dover last weekend. Since Truex is from southern New Jersey, he considers both tracks his ‘home’ turf.

    “We had top-10 cars all year but we were not able to finish races,” the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet said. “The last two weeks we finished the races and got some decent results. We’re gaining but still have a ways to get to where we want to be with our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.”

    “I made a mistake on one of the restarts and lost a bunch of track position,” Truex, a native of nearby Mayetta, N.J, continued. “But on the last restart I was in the right line and got a little lucky. Earlier in the race we were unlucky on the restarts.”

    “I guess what goes around comes around.”

    Not Surprising: Even champs make mistakes, but their true measure is demonstrated as to how they handle those errors. Both Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart made pit road mistakes, Johnson with a spin on pit road and Smoke with a speeding penalty, but both were able to rebound, finishing sixth and thirteenth respectively.

    “My car somehow pivoted around that right-front tire changer and carrier,” Johnson said. “From there, we just went to work and did what the No. 48 does best and grind it out.”

    “100 percent driver error,” Stewart said of his pit road speeding issue. “I got to where I blew through all the lights.”

    “Had an awesome Mobil 1 Chevy all day, so great race, just the driver screwed it up this week.”

    Surprising: David Ragan had a surprisingly good Tricky Triangle run, finishing 18th in his No. 34 Taco Bell Ford.

    “That was fun to be racing up there with those guys,” Ragan said. “Obviously it’s been a tough year for us so hopefully this can be a turning point for our Front Row Motorsports team.”

    “It was nice to have things go in our favor today and do what we know we’re capable of doing.”

    Not Surprising:   Denny Hamlin, after scoring the pole, went on to prepare for the upcoming charity poker event for the next race at Pocono.

    “It was a challenge,” Hamlin said of his fourth place run in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota. “Those are the cards you are dealt and you have to deal with it.”

    “I think in today’s world, strategy plays more into it than wheeling the car,” Hamlin continued. “The driver was at the mercy with the air that he’s dealt and the car that’s under him.”

    “Those were the cards we had today.”

    Surprising: One of NASCAR’s intrepid beat reporters Dustin Long became the story this past weekend, after breaking his ankle during an interview with eventual race winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    Junior bantered with Long in the media center after the race, telling Long to use the ramp and asking why he was so far away sitting at the furthest end of the media center from the dais.

    “I’m keeping my distance now,” Long replied.

    “I won’t push you again,” Junior bantered back.

    While Earnhardt Jr. did no such thing as Long tripped over one of the scales during the interview, the story took on a life of its own and will no doubt be one of the stories to remember in the 2014 season.

    Not Surprising: It was Jeff Gordon’s turn to snatch the points lead back from Matt Kenseth, after Kenseth stumbled early in the race to finish 25th in his Dollar General Toyota while Gordon brought his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet home in the 8th position.

    “It was a great effort, great race car again,” Gordon said. “I thought that was consistent all day long and the pit stops were fantastic.”

    Gordon now leads the winless Kenseth in the point standings by just 16 points.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scores First Ever Pocono Win and Chase Berth to Boot

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not have dominated the Pocono 400 race, but he was the one who took his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet to Victory Lane after Brad Keselowski succumbed to trash on his grille and overheating issues.

    This was Junior’s first win at Pocono Raceway and the first time that he has scored multiple wins in one season since 2004, when he won six times. Now that he has two wins, Earnhardt Jr. is guaranteed a spot in the Chase for the Championship for 2014.

    “I’ve lost some in some strange ways, so it feels good to win one,” Dale Jr. said from Victory Lane. “We won the race and it goes in the books and helps us toward the Chase.”

    “I’ve never won here,” Junior continued. “I can mark this one off.”

    Steve Letarte, crew chief, shared his driver’s sentiments in the media center after the race.

    “It means the world to win races,” Letarte said. “We talk a lot about the Chase and points and they are important but when you’re little you just want to win.”

    “You appreciate the wins when they come,” Letarte continued. “I don’t think we had the best car, but Dale drove a great race and we had a little luck on our side at the end.”

    “This one fell our way and we’ll take it.”

    After running so well and leading 95 laps, Brad Keselowski was visibly disappointed with his runner up finish, for the most part blaming himself for the decision to try to get the trash off his grille.

    “First off, I’m really proud of the speed we had today,” Keselowski said. “But this one’s kind of on me and the circumstances.”

    “I was trying to do something for me and to help the car out, the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford continued. “I knew it was going to break and I was going to get passed. So, I was trying to make whatever move I could do to help clean it off.”

    “I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference,” Keselowski said. “But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion. When I got down in the corner, the car got sideways and I realized I had made a mistake. It was too little too late.”

    “The team did a heck of a job; I just messed up a little bit there. We had a really, really good car. It was really a flawless day other than my mess-up there.”

    Kurt Busch, who started the race on the outside pole, finished third in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet. He was the highest finishing Stewart-Haas Racing driver as Tony Stewart finished 13th; Kevin Harvick finished 14th; and Danica Patrick finished 37th.

    “Nice solid day. Top five car and we cashed in on a top five finish,” Busch said. “We were able to hold the track position and it was a solid execution. It was a nice turning of the page so to speak and a congratulations for shedding that new team skin.”

    Kyle Larson, winner of the ARCA race the day before, finished fifth and was once again the top finishing rookie.

    “It was a lot better finish than I thought that we were going to get,” the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet said. “I knew from the drop of the green that we were going to be pretty good. Today I had a lot of grip and I knew that was a good sign.”

    “We tried to put ourselves into position to get a better finish on that last restart and it all worked out,” Larson continued. “I’ll take a top five here at Pocono.”

    Denny Hamlin, who started from the pole position, ended up taking the checkered flag in fourth in his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota.

    “We had great strategy, great pit stops,” Hamlin said. “Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the guys really put a great FedEx Ground Toyota underneath me this evening. It’s a good run for us — two top-fives in a row for us this year all year and that’s not bad.”

    “We had great strategy and I’m proud of the Camry our FedEx Ground crew put under me this week.”

    While several of the cautions were due to debris on the track, as well as one bizarre caution for a grass fire in the infield in Turn 3, there was one very vicious wreck that occurred, involving the No. 5 of Kasey Kahne, the No. 18 of Kyle Busch and the No. 99 of Carl Edwards.

    “Well I had just passed Kyle (Busch) and I caught (Ryan) Newman I was passing him off Turn 3,” Kahne advised. “We were side-by-side so Kyle was able to get a good draft down the straightaway. We got to Turn 1 and I was on the outside and then he knew if he didn’t clear me there then I would pass him back because I just had.”

    “He just floored it and didn’t care there was someone out there and ran me right in the wall,” Kahne continued. “We both ended up wrecking. I think he wrecked a little bit, but I hit a good bit harder once we hit my car just went hard right.”

    “I’m not sure what happened,” Edwards said. “Somehow Kasey hit the wall.”

    “It’s just tough to run the whole race and miss the best part.”

    Thanks to Jeff Gordon’s eighth place finish and the trouble of Matt Kenseth, who ran into Jamie McMurray early, damaging his nose and finishing 25th, Gordon re-assumed the points lead which he had lost after the Dover race.

    The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet is now sixteen points to the good of the driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota.

    “It was just kind of chaos,” Gordon said of his race. “I thought that we were consistent all day long and the pits tops were fantastic.”

    “It was a great effort, great race car again.”

    The full race results for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 are as follows:

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
    1 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 160 47 4 Running 3 11
    2 3 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford 160 44 2 Running 4 95
    3 2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 160 42 1 Running 1 5
    4 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 160 41 1 Running 2 4
    5 14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 160 40 1 Running 1 7
    6 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 160 39 1 Running 2 5
    7 15 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 160 37 Running
    8 5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 160 37 1 Running 2 2
    9 17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 160 35 Running
    10 18 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet 160 34 Running
    11 19 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 160 33 Running
    12 6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 160 32 Running
    13 12 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 160 32 1 Running 4 24
    14 4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 160 30 Runnng
    15 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford 160 29 Running
    16 13 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 160 28 Running
    17 11 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 160 27 Running
    18 32 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 160 26 Running
    19 9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 160 26 1 Running 1 1
    20 30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 160 24 Running
    21 21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 160 23 Running
    22 22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 160 22 Running
    23 25 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 160 21 Running
    24 29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 160 20 Running
    25 26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 160 19 Running
    26 23 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 160 18 Running
    27 24 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 160 18 1 Running 1 6
    28 35 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 160 16 Running
    29 33 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford 160 15 Running
    30 40 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota 159 14 Running
    31 34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 159 13 Running
    32 41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 159 12 Running
    33 31 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet 158 0 Running
    34 36 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 158 10 Running
    35 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 158 9 Running
    36 39 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota 158 8 Running
    37 16 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 158 7 Running
    38 38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet 157 0 Running
    39 42 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet 156 5 Running
    40 7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 150 4 Engine
    41 10 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford 143 3 Accident
    42 27 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 142 2 Accident
    43 43 77 Dave Blaney AmyRFochlerVtrnsLawAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.com Ford 142 1 Running

    # = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

     

  • Denny Hamlin Looking Forward to Race Day with Pocono Pole Run

    Denny Hamlin Looking Forward to Race Day with Pocono Pole Run

    Denny Hamlin, four-time winner at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, scored the pole for the 33rd annual Pocono 400 with a fast lap of 181. 415 mph and a time of 49.610 seconds. Hamlin broke Jimmie Johnson’s previous track record of 180.654 mph and 49.819 seconds set in August 2013.

    This is Hamlin’s 19th pole in 304 Cup races, his second pole of the season and his third pole at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin’s previous two Pocono poles resulted in victories.

    “It was really good throughout each session,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota said. “We were not a pole winning car after practice or really I didn’t think throughout the first round. We just kept getting our car three to four tenths better every time we ran it. A little bit of that was repetition and me getting better and Darian (Grubb, crew chief) made good adjustments throughout each session.”

    “Really it all worked out for us for a pole run. I’m very proud to have that especially at a race track here where track position is going to be premium,” Hamlin continued. “I’m looking forward to Sunday now.”

    As at most tracks, Hamlin acknowledged that the first pit stall was one of the most important perks of having that pole run, however, shared a caveat that the first pit stall was better under the yellow flag than the green at Pocono.

    “The number one pit stop is really good on yellow flag stops but it hurts you a little bit on the green flag stops simply because you don’t have the momentum exiting pit road,” Hamlin said. “But we’ll take it as most of the stops we will be doing will be on yellow flag positions. As tough as passing is, it’s better to be up front than battle through the traffic.”

    Hamlin also credited his qualifying success with the fact that he felt the track was beginning to age a bit, thanks to the temperature changes and the weather. And for Hamlin, that edge could be just the ticket to another ‘w’ under his belt.

    “As the track is wearing in, we’re starting to get our edge back,” Hamlin said. “Typically when you have a car that can get the pole, it tells me we have all the parts and pieces in the car to be successful here.”

    Kurt Busch, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, qualified in the runner up spot by just two one thousandths of a second. Busch qualified second with a speed of 181.408 mph and a time of 49.612 seconds and scored his fifth top ten start of the season.

    “It was a great run for our Haas Automation Chevy,” Busch said. “We came here with a new approach and to try to get our front ends to settle into the race track a little better. This track can lead to finding some comfort with how smooth it is from the repave.”

    “I was really surprised we had the speed for the pole,” Busch continued. “It’s great to be able to cash in on our first attempt to try a little something different.”

    “It’s just nice to confirm a change on the car and see it go in the right direction.”

    The third position in qualifying was secured by Brad Keselowski, with a speed of 181.316 mph and a time of 49.637 seconds. This was Keselowski’s second top-10 start at Pocono and the thirteenth pole for Team Penske in 2014.

    “We were just all really close on speed,” the driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Ford said. “I didn’t think Denny was that quick but I knew by the second round that Kurt was. We put up a decent lap but just a tiny bit short. On a two and a half mile track, that’s pretty dang close.”

    “I’m proud of the efforts qualifying each and every week,” Keselowski said. “It’s certainly helpful and I’m sure we will get a great pit stall which is always important to us.”

    Kevin Harvick, in the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet, and Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet rounded out the top five in qualifying, with speeds of 180.832 and 180.513 mph respectively.

    All of the manufacturers were well represented in Pocono qualifying, with Kyle Busch’s Toyota in the sixth spot and then the Ford of Logano, the Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the Toyota of Brian Vickers and the Ford of Carl Edwards completing the top ten.

    With just 0.562 seconds separating the tenth place qualifier, Carl Edwards, in that tenth spot in his No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheez-It Ford, summed it up best.

    “That was some pretty tight competition there,” Edwards said. “The track, the cars run really well here so if you make one small mistake it is really amplified because there is so much time on the throttle.”

    “That is a tough qualifying session.”

    2014 NSCS Pocono 400 Starting Lineup

    Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
    1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 49.61 181.415
    2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 49.612 181.408
    3 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford 49.637 181.316
    4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 49.77 180.832
    5 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 49.858 180.513
    6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota 49.873 180.458
    7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 50.048 179.827
    8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 50.121 179.565
    9 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 50.126 179.548
    10 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford 50.172 179.383
    11 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 50.188 179.326
    12 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 50.244 179.126
    13 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 50.207 179.258
    14 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 50.215 179.229
    15 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 50.259 179.072
    16 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 50.265 179.051
    17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 50.286 178.976
    18 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet 50.302 178.919
    19 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 50.342 178.777
    20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 50.37 178.678
    21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet 50.48 178.288
    22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 50.521 178.144
    23 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 50.553 178.031
    24 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 50.765 177.288
    25 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 50.549 178.045
    26 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 50.571 177.968
    27 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 50.588 177.908
    28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford 50.61 177.83
    29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 50.801 177.162
    30 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 51.047 176.308
    31 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet 51.129 176.025
    32 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford 51.159 175.922
    33 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford 51.175 175.867
    34 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota 51.231 175.675
    35 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 51.249 175.613
    36 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 51.441 174.958
    37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford Owner Points
    38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet Owner Points
    39 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota Owner Points
    40 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota Owner Points
    41 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota Owner Points
    42 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet Owner Points
    43 77 Dave Blaney AmyFchlrVtrnsLwAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.cm Frd Owner Points

    (i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series, # Denotes Rookie

    Source: Timing and Scoring provided by NASCAR Media/NASCAR Statistics

    – See more at: http://www.catchfence.com/2014/sprintcup/06/06/2014-nscs-pocono-400-starting-lineup/#sthash.GStwOJND.dpuf

     

  • Pocono 400 Review: Logano Tames the Triangle

    [media-credit id=43 align=”alignright” width=”268″][/media-credit]After starting on the pole on Sunday, Joey Logano claimed his second Cup win in 125 starts. The Joe Gibbs Driver broke a 104 race win-less streak to become the youngest driver to win at Pocono, at 22 years and seven days old. This is crew chief Jason Ratcliff’s first Cup win of his career and the No. 20 team became the 10th different winner of 2012.

    “You work so hard to do this, and them teaming me up with Jason has been an awesome experience,” Logano said. “We’ve been growing together a lot lately and able to make our cars better. To get a victory, it meant so much, and pulling the Home Depot car into victory lane at a Sprint Cup race and winning it the right way was just an amazing, amazing feeling that you can’t replicate and you can’t explain what it means.”

     

    Earnhardt Oh So Close to Victory

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his Cup-best 11th top-10 finish of 2012, taking over second in points. Earnhardt led 36 laps on the 2.5 mile track and looked as if he would break the 4 year win-less drought looming over his head.

    The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet was leading with 35 laps remaining when a caution flag flew, leaving his crew chief Steve Letarte with a tough decision to make. If the race went green from that point on, Earnhardt would have been about five laps short on fuel. With this information, the team pitted twice in the remaining 35 laps to guarantee they would make it on fuel.

    “We had a really, really good car,” Earnhardt said. “That was fun. That was the funnest car I’ve had all year and the best car I’ve had at Pocono in a long, long time. So, I’m just really trying not to be too upset about it because we did a lot of good things today and we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”

    Although the team did make it on fuel, Earnhardt’s domination throughout the race ended with an eighth place finish. Earnhardt now resides in second position in standings, just 10 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

     

    Controversy Over Pit Road Penalties

    The talk of the race surrounded the outstanding amount of infractions that occurred on pit road. There were 22 speeding penalties, the most in documented infraction history since 2006. Travis Kvapil was penalized four times for speeding on exit; David Reutimann was penalized three times – two for exiting and one entering; Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, AJ Allmendinger were each penalized twice.

    Many drivers blamed the scoring timers on pit road for the speeding penalties. However, according to NASCAR’s vice president of competition, the problem was with the drivers.

    “This track’s gone under a lot of reconfiguration since last year,” Robin Pemberton said after the race. “It’s a brand new pit road, all brand new loops, positions have been changed since last year. Sections were smaller than they were last year throughout pit road and, actually, the last section is a little bit bigger.”

    Brad Keselowski, who finished in 18th position after the penalties, had a different opinion on the infractions.

    “It was obvious that the section had some kind of issue because I know both times I got busted I was under the limit with my tools that I have available,” said Keselowski. “I was consistent down pit road, so if I was speeding in that sector, I would have been speeding in the others — but it didn’t show that. I think there’s plenty of evidence to show that there is something wrong with that section timing.”

    Johnson, who fell back to 22nd after the penalties, rebounded to finish in fourth position.

     

    Quicken Loans 400 Predictions

    [media-credit name=”NASCAR.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]This weekend we head to Michigan International Speedway and all eyes will be on the No. 88 team where they captured their first and only point’s win for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. After dominating most of the race at Pocono and finishing in the top 10 for the 11th time this season, expectations are high for the Cup veteran. Along with his win four years ago at this track, Earnhardt has four top-5 and eight top-10 finishes at Michigan and is looking to drive to victory lane once again.

    Denny Hamlin is another driver who knows how to get the job done at MIS. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has two wins at this track, with five top-5 and seven top-10 finishes. Hamlin is currently fourth in Cup standings and has two wins so far this season.

    Kevin Harvick is another driver to keep an eye on, with one win in 2010 and seven top 10 finishes. Harvick resides in sixth position in points, 53 points behind the leader. The Richard Childress Racing driver has yet to win a race this season, but has been very consistent with three top-5 and seven top-10 finishes.

    Carl Edwards is itching to get his first win of the season, and MIS may be the track that he drives to victory lane at. The Roush Fenway Racing driver has impressive stats here, with two wins, nine top-5 and 12 top-10 finishes. Edwards is also looking to break into the top 10 in points, sitting in 11th position, 100 points behind leader and teammate Kenseth.

     

    All quotes via NASCAR.com.