Busch Saves Enough Fuel to Win at Pocono

Kyle Busch won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon in the second race of the Pocono doubleheader.

Busch persevered through numerous struggles with his car throughout the race. In the second stage, Busch’s transmission got stuck in fourth gear and they lost the clutch.  That caused Busch to struggle getting on and off pit road along with restart issues.

While the team attempted to fix the issues, Busch pitted a lap later than the rest of the leaders.  Fuel became an issue over the final run, and Busch inherited the lead when William Byron and Denny Hamlin ran out of gas.

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Busch said he didn’t think he could win after struggling with the shifter all day.

“Just playing the strategy the best we could with what was given to us,” Busch said.  “I still felt like we had the fastest car even though we were in the back and behind.”

Busch said the biggest struggle throughout the race was getting caught back up to the field before the restarts with his car unable to accelerate properly.

“Trying to time the restart right,” Busch said.  “Leave pit road and then come back around and be at full speed by the time the field takes the start/finish line.  We were a little bit off on that.”

Kyle Larson finished second on Sunday, and said the difference may have been Busch’s late pit stop.

“I thought [Busch] was going to run out,” Larson said.  “I saw [Denny Hamlin] run out and…they’re teammates.  I guess the 18 did pit a lap after us under caution, so that actually probably won them the race.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Kyle Larson

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Bubba Wallace

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Alex Bowman

8. Ryan Preece

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Joey Logano

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. William Byron

13. Austin Dillon

14. Denny Hamlin

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Aric Almirola

17. Michael McDowell

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. Chris Buescher

20. Kurt Busch

21. Chase Briscoe

22. Ryan Newman

23. Corey LaJoie

24. Cole Custer

25. Justin Allgaier

26. Ross Chastain

27. Chase Elliott

28. Cody Ware

29. BJ McLeod

30. James Davison

31. Erik Jones

32. Christopher Bell

33. Quin Houff

34. Anthony Alfredo

35. Josh Bilicki

36. Garrett Smithley

37. Timmy Hill

38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Bowman Surprises with Pocono Victory

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Alex Bowman won the Pocono Organics CBD 325 from Pocono Raceway in the first-half of the Pocono doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.

Bowman took the lead on the final restart and had a hard battle with teammate Kyle Larson for the lead over the final 20 laps.  Larson got around Bowman in the closing laps, and looked set to win his fourth-consecutive points race.

Headed into the final corner, Larson’s left-front tire came apart and that allowed Bowman to get by to get to victory lane.

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Bowman said he thought he had given the win away after Larson took the lead.

“We kind of gave the lead away; we were on two tires and just got super tight,” Bowman said.  “Tried to hold him off as long as I could.  We didn’t run that good all day, so I’m kind of in shock.”

Larson still finished ninth after riding the wall around the final turn. 

Larson said he was upset that his win streak came to an end after fighting his teammate for the lead.

“Hate that we didn’t get another win; would have been cool to win five in a row,” Larson said.  “One thing that’s kind of keeping me excited – and not depressed – is we get to go back again tomorrow.”

With no tire problems during the race on Saturday, Larson said he didn’t have any indication that the tire was going to come apart.

“I felt something right in the middle of the tunnel and wasn’t quite sure what it was yet,” Larson said.  “Then it kind of shredded halfway through the short-chute there and couldn’t turn.”

“Hate that we didn’t get the win, but cool that Alex still did.  Cool to keep Mr. H’s streak going.”

Unofficial results:
1. Alex Bowman

2. Kyle Busch

3. William Byron

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Kurt Busch

7. Joey Logano

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Kyle Larson

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Tyler Reddick

12. Chase Elliott

13. Daniel Suarez

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Aric Almirola

17. Christopher Bell

18. Martin Truex Jr.

19. Michael McDowell

20. Chris Buescher

21. Austin Dillon

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Preece

24. Chase Briscoe

25. Cody Ware

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Justin Haley

28. James Davison

29. Garrett Smithley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Quin Houff

32. Matt DiBenedetto

33. Ross Chastain

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Timmy Hill

36. Corey LaJoie

37. Ryan Newman

38. Cole Custer

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Hamlin Beats Harvick for Sixth Pocono Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the Pocono 350 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon in the second race of Pocono’s NASCAR doubleheader weekend.

Hamlin beat Kevin Harvick in a reversal of Saturday’s race at Pocono, where Harvick beat Hamlin for the win.  Hamlin picked up his sixth-career victory at the track, which tied him with Jeff Gordon for the most all-time at Pocono.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Hamlin said the victory shows off the work his team has put in at the shop.

“Six…I can’t even put it into words at how much it means to me,” Hamlin said.  “This is work that happens in the shop.  This is way beyond what happens on race day.”

The race once again came down to pit strategy, and the divergent strategies of Hamlin and Harvick proved to be the difference.  Harvick pit when the fuel window opened, but Hamlin drove until his Toyota was almost out of fuel. 

After Hamlin pitted for fuel, he came out over a second ahead of Harvick.  That proved to be the difference, as Hamlin was able to work his way through lapped traffic over the final 20 laps to pick up his fourth victory of the season.

Hamlin said he was worried a caution would come out and ruin his strategy before everything cycled around.

“I knew we had the car, and I just kind of maintained my gap right there,” Hamlin said.  “I just tried to work the traffic the best I could, and obviously [crew chief Chris Gebhart] was paying attention to strategy there and made the right call.”

Harvick said his team attempted a strategy in the event a caution came out, especially with darkness threatening to end the race early.

“We didn’t want to get caught with a caution and then wound up losing a little too much time in lapped traffic,” Harvick said.  “[Hamlin] was out there running clean laps and waited until right to the very end, and he wound up in front of us.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Erik Jones

4. Chase Elliott

5. Aric Almirola

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. William Byron

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Alex Bowman

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Matt Kenseth

13. Kurt Busch

14. Austin Dillon

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Jimmie Johnson

17. Cole Custer

18. Ryan Newman

19. John Hunter Nemechek

20. Bubba Wallace

21. Corey LaJoie

22. Ryan Blaney

23. Ty Dillon

24. Joey Logano

25. Ryan Preece

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Brennan Poole

28. JJ Yeley

29. Timmy Hill

30. James Davison

31. Quin Houff

32. Garrett Smithley

33. Joey Gase

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Tyler Reddick

36. Chris Buescher

37. BJ McLeod

38. Kyle Busch

39. Christopher Bell

40. Michael McDowell

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Harvick Finally Wins at the Tricky Triangle

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Pocono Organics 325 from Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon in the first race of NASCAR’s Pocono doubleheader.

Harvick used pit strategy to get to the front of the field, and he held off Denny Hamlin in the closing laps to pick up his first career victory at the Tricky Triangle.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Harvick said his team worked hard to finally get to victory lane in Pocono.

“We weren’t where we needed to be to start the race,” Harvick said.  “Came back and made some great strategy calls and were able to get out front.  Great to finally check Pocono off the list.”

With his win, Harvick will now start 20th for Sunday’s race at Pocono due to an invert of the top 20 finishers.

Harvick said he wasn’t worried about coming from the back of the field again.

“Well we were back to 20th today, so I think in the end it’s going to come down to strategy and what you need to do,” Harvick said.

Hamlin was chasing down Harvick in the closing laps, but he wasn’t able to get around to pick up his sixth victory at Pocono.

Hamlin said a vibration at the end of the race affected the handling of his car.

“It’s like something loosened all the nuts in the car,” Hamlin said.  “It was unfortunate…just with about 15-20 to go the vibration just got really, really bad.”

“Our car was extremely, extremely fast and optimistic for tomorrow’s race, for sure.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Aric Almirola

4. Christopher Bell

5. Kyle Busch

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Clint Bowyer

8. Michael McDowell

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Chris Buescher

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. William Byron

15. Ryan Newman

16. Cole Custer

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Kurt Busch

19. Austin Dillon

20. Ryan Preece

21. Jimmie Johnson

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Corey LaJoie

24. John Hunter Nemechek

25. Chase Elliott

26. Ty Dillon

27. Alex Bowman

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Brennan Poole

30. Tyler Reddick

31. JJ Yeley

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Garrett Smithley

34. James Davison

35. Timmy Hill

36. Joey Logano

37. Joey Gase

38. Erik Jones

39. BJ McLeod

40. Quin Houff

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Hamlin Picks up Fifth Pocono Win

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the Gander RV 400 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Hamlin held off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. on the final restart, with fuel-mileage on everyone’s minds.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

The final round of pit stops caused most of the front-runners to stretch it on fuel, but two cautions late in the race allowed everyone to make it.  With everyone worried about fuel-mileage, Hamlin challenged Jones and Truex, hoping he could push them to run out of fuel.

Hamlin said he was worried that his team wouldn’t be able to make it to the end on fuel.

“I was really worried,” Hamlin said.  “We just did a great job with the car.  Once we lost track position there to [Truex] and [Jones], we weren’t able to pass them.”

Pocono staff put PJ1, a substance that adds grip to different grooves on the track, on the track before the race.  Hamlin said he was able to use the substance to his advantage to get to the lead.

“Thanks Pocono for putting in this PJ1, because I was able to use it there and get around those guys,” Hamlin said. 

Jones’ second-place finish was his third-consecutive top 3 finish.  Jones said he believes his team can break through and get a win before the playoffs.

“It’s a bummer, we’re close every week,” Jones said.  “It would sure be nice just to knock a win out, and when we’re just so close it stings a little bit more when you get that close.”

“We just have to break through and once we get one, I think we can knock a couple off.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Erik Jones

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. William Byron

5. Kyle Larson

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Daniel Hemric

8. Brad Keselowski

9. Kyle Busch

10. Ryan Blaney

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Aric Almirola

13. Joey Logano

14. Ryan Newman

15. Jimmie Johnson

16. Chris Buescher

17. Matt DiBenedetto

18. Paul Menard

19. Austin Dillon

20. Alex Bowman

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Matt Tifft

24. Daniel Suarez

25. Michael McDowell

26. Corey LaJoie

27. Kurt Busch

28. Landon Cassill

29. Ty Dillon

30. Ross Chastain

31. Quin Houff

32. Reed Sorenson

33. BJ McLeod

34. Austin Theriault

35. Josh Bilicki

36. David Ragan

37. Ryan Preece

38. Chase Elliott

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Busch Continues to Dominate, Wins at Pocono

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Gander Outdoors 400 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon for his sixth win of the season.

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Busch started in the back of the pack after failing post-qualifying inspection on Saturday, but he quickly worked his way to the front when the green flag dropped.  Busch took the lead late in the race, but he had to hold off teammate Daniel Suarez over two late restarts.

Busch said he was impressed with how clean Suarez raced him over the final run.

“I can’t say enough about my teammate,” Busch said.  “He gave us a run for our money on those last couple restarts.  He ran me so clean; he did a great job.”

The victory was the 49th of Busch’s career, which ties him with Tony Stewart on the NASCAR Cup Series wins list.

Busch said it was an honor to be mentioned with Stewart, but he hopes to keep moving up.

“You keep reaching higher up the ladder and reaching more milestones,” Busch said.  “Tony Stewart’s one of the all-time best and I was a fan up as well, so it’s awesome to be able to tie him.”

Suarez finished a career-best second on Sunday, but he said he was disappointed he couldn’t catch Busch in the closing laps.

“I thought I was a little better than Kyle with new tires,” Suarez said.  “I felt like if I was able to complete the pass by corner 1, I was going to be able to hold him off.”

“It’s a little disappointing; it hurts to be close.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Daniel Suarez

3. Alex Bowman

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Erik Jones

6. William Byron

7. Chase Elliott

8. Ryan Newman

9. Kurt Busch

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Austin Dillon

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Martin Truex Jr.

16. Michael McDowell

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. Matt Kenseth

19. David Ragan

20. Jamie McMurray

21. Paul Menard

22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

23. Kyle Larson

24. Ty Dillon

25. Aric Almirola

26. Joey Logano

27. Matt DiBenedetto

28. JJ Yeley

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt

30. Kasey Kahne

31. Kyle Weatherman

32. Reed Sorenson

33. Darrell Wallace Jr.

34. Landon Cassill

35. Ross Chastain

36. Timmy Hill

37. Chris Buescher

38. Brad Keselowski

39. Corey LaJoie

40. BJ McLoed

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Truex Wins at the Tricky Triangle

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Pocono 400 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Truex had a strong car and ran up front for most of the day.  After winning Stage 1, a pit road miscue forced him to restart in the back of the pack.

Bryan Nicodemus

Truex was able to work his way through the field throughout the second segment, and took the lead away from Kevin Harvick in the final segment.

After staying out on a late pit stop, Truex took the lead and had to hold off Harvick, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch over multiple late-race restarts.

Truex’s crew chief Cole Pearn said there was some concern when most of the field pitted under the late caution.

“When only four of us stayed out, it was a little bit more of a concern at that point,” Pearn said.  “In practice we were able to re-fire really well on older tires…that kind of gave us some optimism at least.”

11 of the first 14 races this season have been won by Truex, Busch and Harvick, and Truex said he was excited to beat the best drivers for the victory at Pocono.

“It’s always fun to win, but especially when you beat the best guys out there,” Truex said.  “Once we got in clean air, this thing was a rocket ship.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Aric Almirola

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Joey Logano

10. Chase Elliott

11. Paul Menard

12. Austin Dillon

13. Matt Kenseth

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Jamie McMurray

16. David Ragan

17. Chris Buescher

18. William Byron

19. Kurt Busch

20. Clint Bowyer

21. Michael McDowell

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Ty Dillon

24. Daniel Suarez

25. Ryan Newman

26. Cole Custer

27. Alex Bowman

28. Ross Chastain

29. Erik Jones

30. Cole Whitt

31. Landon Cassill

32. JJ Yeley

33. Gray Gaulding

34. Derrike Cope

35. Denny Hamlin

36. Kasey Kahne

37. Matt DiBenedetto

38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Kyle Busch Returns to Victory Lane in Pocono

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Overton’s 400 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday for his first victory of 2017.

Busch dominated the first stage of the race, but he fell behind during the second and final stages.  After making his final pit stop, he was able to run down the leaders to get to victory lane.

Busch has run well this season, but had failed to reach victory lane before Sunday.  Busch said he was happy to finally return to victory lane after a 36-race winless streak.

“It’s pretty cool, finally being able to get the monkey off our back, get to Victory Lane this year,” Busch said.  “It feels really good to finally capitalize on finally having a fast car.”

Busch won for the first time at Pocono on Sunday, and the 39th time in his career.  Busch said he was happy to check another track off his list.

“We’ve been really close at a lot of these tracks to continually make history, but haven’t been able to do so this year,” Busch said.

“”Hopefully it just kind of snowballs from here and we’re able to continue with wins.”

Kevin Harvick finished second on Sunday after giving up the lead with 20 laps to go.  Harvick said his car wasn’t fast enough to hold off Busch on fresher tires.

“There was no battle, he was way faster than we were,” Harvick said.  “Got to us, got around us, gone.”

“He was in a league of his own there at the end.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Daniel Suarez

8. Erik Jones

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Chase Elliott

11. Kasey Kahne

12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

13. Kurt Busch

14. Ryan Newman

15. Danica Patrick

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Ty Dillon

18. Michael McDowell

19. Paul Menard

20. Trevor Bayne

21. Austin Dillon

22. David Ragan

23. AJ Allmendinger

24. Cole Whitt

25. Corey LaJoie

26. Jamie McMurray

27. Joey Logano

28. Chris Buescher

29. Landon Cassill

30. Ryan Blaney

31. Gray Gaulding

32. Stephen Leicht

33. Kyle Larson

34. Derrike Cope

35. Jimmie Johnson

36. Jeffrey Earnhardt

37. Matt DiBenedetto

38. Aric Almirola