On Sunday, the so-called “Tricky Triangle” may have experienced more twists and turns than in any race the 21/2-mile track in Monroe County has had in its 42 years of hosting NASCAR events.
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When Keselowski stopped, he slid through his pit box and hit his jackman and a tire carrier, sending a tire flying to bring out another yellow on Lap 62.
Gordon’s farewell to Pocono has him the track’s career leader in wins with six and laps led.
Earnhardt had a fast auto at the beginning of the race, however, on Lap 53, his tach failed. But it was all for naught, with Logano running out of fuel with less than two laps to go, and Busch running out with about half a lap remaining. And while Busch’s loss cost him the chance to gain enough points to put him within the 30-range needed to compete in the Chase for the Cup, Kenseth managed to continue the sizzling streak of success Busch started for Joe Gibbs Racing this summer.
Strategizing: With so many teams using so many different strategies, Pagenaud said he was aware of all the different plots. Especially when things like these happen.
Busch inherited the lead with three laps to go when Logano, who had led 97 laps, watched helplessly as his fuel pressure collapsed. Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were all inside the top five in the final five laps when they ran out of fuel.
Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap as his bid for a fourth straight victory was spoiled.
The drama portion of the afternoon occurred over the final 35 laps thanks to the kind of long green-flag run that had been absent earlier.
“I couldn’t catch the leaders anyway”, Kenseth said, “but I wanted to get as close as I could in case they ran out”.
The win is the second of the season or Kenseth, but the finish for Busch hurts a little extra. He must be in the Top 30 in the point standings to qualify.
Teheran (7-6) earned his first road win since his season debut on April 6 at Miami. The other top qualifiers were Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Chris McGaha (Pro Stock).
“I didn’t know we were that close (on fuel)”. One has to presume he is going to make it in.
“We did everything right today”, Logano said.
Angel McCoughtry came up with a steal on the other end but Bonner stole it back near midcourt and Leilani Mitchell’s two free throws gave Phoenix (12-7) a three-point lead with 13 seconds to play. No one was injured. I think you’re going to see more consolidation along the way. He pitted too soon, though, and would run out of fuel with two laps left.
Kenseth, the 2003 series champion from Cambridge, Wis., won for the first time at Pocono. He is 72 points in front of Kahne.
The race was resumed about 15 minutes later after repairs to the wall, which buckled sightly and had a piece of Kahne’s vehicle stuck in it.
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Sometimes you get complete snoozers where the cars are so spread out that you pray for a caution to create a restart. “We had that opportunity (Sunday); we did it”. After Sunday at Pocono, we now know that they get right back up after being knocked down. Greg Biffle – in the midst of a miserable season at Roush Fenway Racing – finished fifth in his Ford.
