Pocono NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr holds off Kevin Harvick to triumph

Pitting for fresh tyres and a fuel top-up under a long yellow for a 13-car pile-up going into the final quarter of the race was key to Earnhardt's victory, as it meant his subsequent final stop under green could just be a rapid splash while others needed a full service.

The Hendrick Chevrolet driver still had to clear a gaggle of cars that were gambling on stretching their fuel loads to the finish, but a handful of late yellows helped that process.

After the final restart with three laps to go, Earnhardt just had to hold off a very determined Kevin Harvick, whose pit tactics brought him back up to second despite a pit speeding penalty and damage from the multi-car collision.

Harvick tried his utmost, but crossed the line two tenths of a second behind the triumphant Earnhardt, with early race leader Joey Logano right behind both of them.

Jeff Gordon had dominated much of the race, although the wild variety of strategies that developed from the first yellow onwards meant sheer speed was always unlikely to be enough.

Unlike team-mate Earnhardt, Gordon had to take a full fuel load and four tyres under green at his final stop, leaving him back in the pack, where his Chevrolet didn't handle so well. He could only make it back to sixth, behind Clint Bowyer and fuel-gambler Greg Biffle.

Kurt Busch was the other main protagonist, going out of sequence on fuel strategy early on but showing similar speed to Gordon. He also ended up in the midfield after the final stops, and then hit the wall when a tyre went down.

Denny Hamlin inadvertently triggered the race's huge crash when he got sideways in a big group of cars following a brush with Bowyer. While chaos erupted behind him, Hamlin was able to straighten up with just a small brush of the wall and finished ninth.

Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth were among the big names embroiled in the shunt, Stewart ending up perched atop Paul Menard's car.

Keselowski had earlier tumbled down the order from third on the grid when an opening-lap clash with Busch sent him sideways.

Jimmie Johnson had two punctures. He fought back from a lapped 43rd to fourth following the first, but the second ended his race.

Kyle Busch was another notable retirement due to an early engine failure.

Polesitter Kyle Larson steadily slipped back after losing the lead to Logano on lap one. He eventually finished 11th.

                                                          
Results - 160 laps:                                            
                                                               
Pos  Driver              Team/Car                      Time/Gap
 1.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet            3h08m22s
 2.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet         +0.228s
 3.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                    +0.493s
 4.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                 +2.195s
 5.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford              +2.861s
 6.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet             +2.869s
 7.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet              +3.033s
 8.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet            +3.409s
 9.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota               +3.696s
10.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet             +4.329s
11.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet              +5.513s
12.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet              +6.255s
13.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet         +6.369s
14.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                     +7.218s
15.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet            +7.256s
16.  Justin Allgaier     Hscott Chevrolet               +8.033s
17.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                +10.428s
18.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford               -1 lap
19.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                  -1 lap
20.  Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                       -1 lap
21.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                       -1 lap
22.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet               -1 lap
23.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                     -1 lap
24.  Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet               -1 lap
25.  Travis Kvapil       FAS Lane Ford                  -2 laps
26.  Dave Blaney         Humphrey Ford                  -2 laps
27.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet              -2 laps
28.  Alex Kennedy        Circle Sport Chevrolet         -2 laps
29.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford              -3 laps
30.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet         -4 laps
31.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                      -6 laps
32.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Ford            -16 laps
33.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet           -17 laps
                                                                       
Retirements:                                                   
                                                               
     AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet       137 laps
     Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                    125 laps
     Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        124 laps
     Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                116 laps
     Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota              116 laps
     Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet            111 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                   88 laps
     Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet              28 laps
     Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota               23 laps
     Johnny Sauter       BK Toyota                      11 laps