Keselowski was turning the fastest circuits of the top three racers but getting to the back bumper of someone at Pocono Raceway and passing them is a whole different ballgame. “Same penalty. Here it comes … hip check”.
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Gordon and Keselowski once brawled in pit road following a 2014 race at Texas Motor Speedway over contact on the track.
“It’s an incredible feeling when you get to drive into victory lane”, said Busch, who posted his third career victory at Pocono Raceway and joined Hall of Famer Rex White in 25th place on NASCAR’s all-time victory list with 28.
It truly was a total team effort because Kurt Busch did it with a replacement crew chief in team engineer John Klausmeier, who was sitting in for Tony Gibson while Gibson was serving a one-race suspension imposed earlier in the week by NASCAR officials. The race, won by Kurt Busch in fuel-saving mode, was rained out on Sunday, the first race rainout of the year. “He could talk the game and back it up”, retired champion Jeff Gordon said on the TV broadcast. “Today, we did. I knew I needed to do my best to preserve the fuel and to deliver the win”.
Busch, however, was taken aback when told how much fuel he had to save. To earn his first win of the season, Busch had to save two full laps of gas – five miles’ worth – and without Gibson calling the shots.
The veteran Busch used creative fuel-saving techniques that he chose not to expand on to claim the checkered flag in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski to win a race that was postponed a day due to rain and fog. He entered, and remained, second in the 2016 standings and now has a win to go along with his other 11 top-10s in 14 races this year. The top Toyota was the No. 20 Camry of Matt Kenseth, who finished seventh.
But it was a big deal for Klausmeier, who has a mechanical engineering degree from Maryland-Baltimore County and is the former lead engineer for Danica Patrick. “I wish I had been a little more patient and given ourselves a better chance, but you live and you learn”.
“I just stuck with saving fuel and watching the No. 88 (Earnhardt) behind us”.
Instead, he was held up by teammate Chase Elliott, who led 51 laps and also wanted to regain the advantage of clean air.
It was the first Monday race at Pocono since 2009 and the first postponed Cup race of the season.
The race proved to be a battle between drivers without a win this season as five of the top six finishers were searching for their first.
Harvick was forced to pass cars – repeatedly – because of an early speeding penalty and a pair of inopportune cautions that occurred right before he was to make planned green-flag pit stops. He’d rebound to get back in contention, but on lap 121, with the race under caution, his right rear tire flattened, sending him to the pits again.
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Several days after his death Friday, remembrances for boxing legend and social icon Muhammad Ali were still coming in. Now that his confidence is restored, the No. 19 team could be considered as a foundation for teams at Michigan International Speedway-a track that has been good to both the driver and Joe Gibbs Racing.
