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NASCAR Pocono: Joe Gibbs's Kyle Busch takes a fourth win of 2019

Kyle Busch dominated the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono to score his fourth victory of the 2019 season

Busch, who started second in the #18 Toyota Camry took the lead of the race soon after the second 50 lap stage started.

He was relatively untroubled from then on, only relinquishing the lead during routine green-flag pitstop cycles at the end of stage two and mid-way through stage three.

A late caution for Ricky Stenhouse Jr hitting the wall with 14 laps of the 160 to run eradicated the three-second lead Busch had built up over his Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Erik Jones.

But Busch was able to control the restart to earn the victory and his first win since Bristol in April.

Brad Keselowski jumped Jones on the restart after the Stenhouse caution to take second for Penske, as Jones took his third top-three finish of the season.

Chase Elliott was the highest-placed Chevrolet finisher in fourth for Hendrick Motorsports and was one of many drivers to employ a counter strategy throughout the race.

Elliott, like the victorious Busch, pitted out of sequence during green-flag running in the hope of vaulting position while the majority of the pack pitted.

Daniel Suarez (Stewart-Haas) and pole-sitter William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) were able to claim strong results in eighth and ninth respectively by using this strategy.

Suarez's Stewart-Haas Racing team-mate Clint Bowyer was a "frustrated" fifth as he felt an up-and-down race prevented him from maximising stage points.

Denny Hamlin (JGR) narrowly pipped the #22 Penske of reigning Cup champion Joey Logano for sixth, as Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10 for SHR.

Kyle Larson won both of the first two stages but hit the wall late on to come home a lapped 26th.

Kevin Harvick's afternoon disintegrated in a matter of seconds as a result of a drivethrough penalty for a loose wheel during a pitstop on lap 124.

Harvick had battled for the lead but was hit for an uncontrolled tyre infraction that earned him a drive-through penalty.

Having lost the chance to battle for the win, his race took a further hit when he suffered steering issues that left him one lap down in 22nd.

Race result

Pos Driver Team Car
1 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
5 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
6 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
7 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
8 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
9 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
11 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
13 Daniel Hemric Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
14 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
15 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
16 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford
17 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota
18 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford
19 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
20 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford
21 Darrell Wallace Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
22 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
23 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
24 Ross Chastain Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
25 Bayley Currey Petty Ware Racing Ford
26 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
27 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet
28 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
29 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
30 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
31 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet
32 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
33 Matt Tifft Front Row Motorsports Ford
34 J.J. Yeley Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
35 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
36 Corey LaJoie Go FAS Racing Ford
37 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 568
2 Joey Logano 564
3 Chase Elliott 511
4 Brad Keselowski 509
5 Kevin Harvick 500
6 Denny Hamlin 465
7 Martin Truex Jr. 452
8 Kurt Busch 437
9 Ryan Blaney 406
10 Clint Bowyer 402
11 Alex Bowman 395
12 Aric Almirola 393
13 Daniel Suarez 368
14 William Byron 361
15 Erik Jones 343
16 Kyle Larson 342
17 Jimmie Johnson 342
18 Ryan Newman 332
19 Paul Menard 310
20 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 308
21 Austin Dillon 285
22 Chris Buescher 282
23 Ty Dillon 250
24 Daniel Hemric 205
25 Ryan Preece 201
26 Matt DiBenedetto 188
27 David Ragan 173
28 Darrell Wallace Jr. 161
29 Corey LaJoie 156
30 Michael McDowell 151
31 Matt Tifft 123
32 Reed Sorenson 46
33 Quin Houff 36
34 Jamie McMurray 19
35 Stanton Barrett 2
36 Casey Mears 1

Manufacturers' standings

Pos Constructor Points
1 Toyota 524
2 Ford 502
3 Chevrolet 468


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