But the pain at the pump for drivers pushing toward the finish line was the break Matt Kenseth needed to coast past them all in the final thrilling laps Sunday to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway.
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Busch inherited the lead with three laps to go when Logano, who had led 97 laps, watched helplessly as his fuel pressure collapsed. He had won three straight races and was trying to become the eighth driver in NASCAR’s modern era (since 1972) to win four in a row.
Matt Kenseth (20) drives back up the front stretch past a coasting Kyle Busch (18) after winning the NASCAR Pocono 400 auto race, Sunday, August 2, 2015, in Long Pond, Pa. Busch was leading the race when he ran out of fuel on the final lap. It takes more than just talent to be on top and if Busch continues this he might also continue to search for his first Sprint Cup championship.
Busch will head to next weekend’s race at the Watkins Glen road course 13 points out of 30th place and with five races no remain until the start of the Chase. “I want I had recognized (Logano) was that removed from making it. It is a disgrace we could not get it carried out”. We didn’t win the race.
Jeff Gordon qualified 10th in the No. 24 Chevrolet at 177.211 miles per hour in his final race at Pocono.
Kenseth had the only position that mattered, winning for the first time this season since Bristol and for the first time ever at Pocono. There were seven yellow flags within the first 80 laps of the 160 lap race.
Let’s get a couple of things clear about Kyle Busch before we go any further.
When Kurt Busch was up front early in the race, he battled his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Harvick until Harvick lost his engine right after taking the lead on lap 20.
“I appreciate Adam being able to hold everybody together for 11 weeks”, team owner Joe Gibbs said.
The second came a lap later, when Johnson had to putter down pit road. It looked like he would win another Sunday when Logano slowed to a crawl well before the finish. On the NBC Sports Network telecast, Kyle Busch’s crew chief pleaded with Busch to abandon his chase with Logano and save fuel. “But, we went for broke today and come up a little bit short so can’t fault the team”. “It’s out.” Busch finished 21st. The green flag returned on Lap 70, but came back out nearly immediately, as Cole Whitt bumped Earnhardt Jr., sending him around and bringing out the caution.
The St. Louis, Missouri native, who comes from a racing family that includes brothers NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace and long-time driver Mike Wallace, has not won a race since 2001, but feels confident he can visit Victory Lane in his Gibbs-powered vehicle. As this is Kenseth’s second win of the season, there are no major changes to the Chase field. I think this makes it easier to predict performance, as I thought pass differential was the toughest category to project.
Keselowski, who accidentally ran over those two crew members, recovered to finish second.
After all there was going to be another late caution, right? “It’s just fantastic what we’re on”.
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“We’re fortunate the race has been on the same date for a number of years now and so people are used to it”, track president Craig Rust said. As the drivers cycled through their pit stops, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch separated themselves in the top two positions.
