Pocono NASCAR: Kurt Busch stretches fuel to win delayed race
Kurt Busch seized victory in Monday's delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono
The Stewart-Haas racer put in an economy drive at the end of the race to narrowly hold off Dale Earnhardt Jr and Brad Keselowski, with the latter the only one of the three drivers not saving fuel.
It was an incident-packed race with 10 cautions flown, the last of which came with around 40 laps to go. With fuel mileage estimated to be somewhere between 33-37 laps, it was a close call between stopping for a top-up, or lifting and coasting to maintain track position.
Informed by interim crew chief John Klausmeier (standing in for Tony Gibson who was suspended for a lug nut violation at Charlotte) that he was two laps short on fuel, Busch began coasting, even going so far as to push his clutch in through Turn 1.
The strategy worked though, and despite Earnhardt's best efforts behind him, Busch crossed the finish line just over a second ahead.
Rapid rookie Chase Elliott led a large portion of the race, heading the field for 51 laps, eclipsing his previous laps led total (32) over the previous 18 races. He would eventually finish fourth behind Keselowski, whose top three finish was quite a feat in itself.
The Penske driver had run high in the order early in the race, but during the competition caution on lap 16 a pit crew member deliberately dented the side of his car in an attempt to create better airflow, and the punishment was a mandatory stop to fix it as well as a drive-through, which dropped him to 39th.
Another driver who appeared at both ends of the field was Kevin Harvick. He led the race on old tyres up until lap 60 of 160, at which point Matt DiBenedetto spun, prompting Harvick to pit, and rejoin way down the order. He eventually finished ninth.
The race was due to be run on Sunday evening, but torrential rain forced the postponement of the event until noon local time on Monday.
With his win, Busch joins Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and last week's winner Martin Truex Jr in the provisional Chase field.
RESULTS - 160 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 3h11m15.s |
2 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1.126s |
3 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 1.402s |
4 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2.727s |
5 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4.614s |
6 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5.593s |
7 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6.304s |
8 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6.441s |
9 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 6.981s |
10 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 19.276s |
11 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 24.441s |
12 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 25.217s |
13 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 27.240s |
14 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.986s |
15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 29.228s |
16 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 29.291s |
17 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 29.377s |
18 | Clint Bowyer | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.946s |
19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 34.269s |
20 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 35.320s |
21 | Ty Dillon | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 37.918s |
22 | Regan Smith | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 45.496s |
23 | David Ragan | BK Racing | Toyota | 48.224s |
24 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 55.120s |
25 | Chris Buescher | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 1 Lap |
26 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 1 Lap |
27 | Josh Wise | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
28 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
29 | Jeb Burton | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 2 Laps |
30 | Cole Whitt | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | Rear Gear |
31 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 Laps |
32 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 15 Laps |
33 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 25 Laps |
34 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 29 Laps |
35 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Accident |
36 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 39 Laps |
37 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | Accident |
38 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | Accident |
39 | Brian Scott | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 79 Laps |
40 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | Accident |
LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Harvick | 490 |
2 | Kurt Busch | 465 |
3 | Brad Keselowski | 442 |
4 | Carl Edwards | 437 |
5 | Kyle Busch | 416 |
6 | Jimmie Johnson | 415 |
7 | Chase Elliott | 413 |
8 | Joey Logano | 410 |
9 | Martin Truex Jr. | 403 |
10 | Matt Kenseth | 382 |
11 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 381 |
12 | Denny Hamlin | 372 |
13 | Austin Dillon | 348 |
14 | Jamie McMurray | 342 |
15 | Ryan Blaney | 340 |
16 | Ryan Newman | 338 |
17 | A.J. Allmendinger | 334 |
18 | Kasey Kahne | 325 |
19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 325 |
20 | Trevor Bayne | 319 |
21 | Kyle Larson | 302 |
22 | Paul Menard | 265 |
23 | Clint Bowyer | 252 |
24 | Aric Almirola | 249 |
25 | Greg Biffle | 245 |
26 | Danica Patrick | 245 |
27 | Landon Cassill | 221 |
28 | Casey Mears | 212 |
29 | Brian Scott | 192 |
30 | David Ragan | 189 |
PROVISIONALLY INTO CHASE SO FAR
Kyle Busch (3 wins), Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski (2 wins), Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch (1 win)
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