The inclement weather forced a postponement of the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 until Monday.
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Busch was urged to save fuel and go hard on the final lap. He coasted, he kept his foot of the gas and he even turned his engine off when he headed into the turns at Pocono Raceway.
Busch got around Elliott for second, then passed Earnhardt for the lead heading into Turn 1 on lap 129. “Although we had some bad luck at Kansas and Charlotte I’d say that we are really stepping our game up overall as we head into the summer months of the season”. Apparently some NASCAR fans and media outlets were not aware that the race being shown was from 2015 and not today’s event as many took to social media after the replayed race concluded to congratulate Truex Jr. and the No. 88 team.
But Busch had zero concerns about Klausmeier’s ability to take over the duties in Gibson’s absence.
When the race restarted on Lap 128, Busch was fourth behind Earnhardt, Elliott and Casey Mears.
“I’m looking forward to MI, and obviously it’s going to be a different package, but I think we’ll run good on that track, too, and anticipate having a good run at Kentucky”, he said.
However, it still left Earnhardt in search of his first victory of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
That last re-start cost Elliott dearly.
Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards round out the top five starting positions.
Brad Keselowski starts from the pole. It also is the 28th win of his career, which ties him for 25th on the all-time series win list with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rex White.
It didn’t come without drama, as all of the top contenders were low on fuel at the end, a common occurrence at Pocono in the final stages of a race.
“Johnny Klausmeier called a ideal race to gamble on fuel a little bit”, Busch said. The auto wasn’t all we hoped it would be, but it was good.
“I’m just really proud of the auto we had today”, Elliott said.
“I feel like I’m a better driver than I’ve ever been”, he said.
“. For us to be able to contend and lead laps all day and have a vehicle that could fight for the lead the majority of the day, I thought was great”.
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Rain limited practice time on Friday and not every team even made it out on the track. The 2012 rain-shortened race at Pocono was marred by lightning strikes that killed one fan and injured nine others.This was the first postponed race of the season and ninth since 2011.Truexs win in Charlotte earned him a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship a spot he parlayed a year ago into the four-driver field in the finale to race for the title.Truex has proved this season that his success was no fluke. He had reeled off seven straight top 10s – he graded his season an A-minus – but didn’t have the win he needed to earn a sport in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
