The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series made the trip to our state this weekend as on the docket was the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway. Often nicknamed a “Roval” because it’s a superspeedway that must be driven like a road course. Three different turns, three different straightaways, and a lot of speed make up the tricky triangle.
Unfortunately, as the cars ran on the track under pace laps, Mother Nature decided to show her card. On the final pace lap, drivers began reporting rain in the third turn. So, officials put off the start for another lap.
Then another lap, and another. Soon, the rain came down and finally they called the cars back to pit road. At that moment, the skies opened up and the rain began pouring like Niagara Falls. The wind also picked up and began blowing water across the speedway, making it hard to see for everyone.
Luckily, it passed rather quickly and the jet driers got on the track to attempt to bring it back to race-worthy status. It took a shorter amount of time to dry than first anticipated because of the winds, and soon the drivers were ordered back to their cars to prepare for racing.
Now, with the sun shining down, yet no rubber on the track, NASCAR was set to go racing at Pocono.
At the green flag, pole sitter Kyle Busch got the immediate jump and pulled a few car lengths on his competition. Meanwhile, teammate Denny Hamlin quickly moved into second.
Soon, he began closing in and on lap 5, made the pass on the back straightaway, nicknamed the “Long Pond” straightaway, to get his five bonus points for the day.
Hamlin would lead until NASCAR’s competition caution at lap 16 which was announced so teams can check tire wear. Majority of teams elected for new tires on all corners, while trying to adjust to the different track conditions. Coming off pit lane, Busch got the lead back as he barely beat his teammate to the line.
On the restart, the No. 18 got a great jump just like at the beginning of the race, and quickly got ahead of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota. But, the car that was coming quickly was Clint Bowyer. After qualifying outside pole, he ran extremely hard and chewed away at the lead.
Finally, on lap 38, he went around Busch to get his first lead of the of the afternoon. As he gained the lead and began putting more distance on the field, pit stops were suddenly becoming the main concern as the pit window was only 33-36 laps for a majority of the teams.
Most teams were complaining of a tight condition as the fuel burned off, so it was track bar, wedge and air pressure adjustments for most of the leaders. But, when the field cycled through, once again the Cheerios Chevrolet of Bowyer was the one out front.
The race had it’s long green-flag run as it cycled through two rounds of green-flag pit stops, but Bowyer did not let up and continued his early dominance. Then, a debris caution on lap 100 shook the field up a little bit as Busch was able to find his way to the front via his pit stall at the end of pit road. He led at the green flag, but the challenge soon came from Kevin Harvick as he made a banzai move down the back straightaway to grab the lead as he entered the tunnel turn to grab the top spot.
But, the driver on the move was Hamlin as he would take over the lead on lap 106 and held it through the race’s third caution on lap 155, which again was for debris.
At this point, the race became extremely interesting. After the field went green on lap 159, Casey Mears went sliding through the grass in turn 1, bringing the field back under caution. Meanwhile, out front Busch grabbed the lead just as the yellow came out. So, he had control of the next restart.
Despite the good restart, Hamlin was not going to be denied the top spot and passed his teammate just as the field entered turn 1. But, once again, carnage was following because Jamie McMurray and David Ragan got together in the apex of the first turn, literally in the same spot as the caution before. McMurray got the worst end of the deal as his No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet was torn up from the rear tires to the spoiler.
The field went back to green at lap 171, but during the caution prior many teams came to pit road to top off the fuel cells. When McMurray wrecked, the leaders then came to pit road for the same service, which gave the lead to Kurt Busch.
On the restart, the older brother got a good jump, but soon found himself in a battle for the lead with his teammate, Sam Hornish Jr. When the field went back to racing, it was Hornish getting the better run off the first turn to get his first lead of the day. Even a debris caution at lap 176 didn’t deter his determination, but it did bring the top cars throughout the afternoon closer to the front.
That restart soon spelled the doom for Hornish as he did get out to a big lead, but Hamlin was coming. At lap 188, the lead changed and it was now Hamlin at the front of the field. Not only was he at the front of the field, he was pulling away and was on his way to an easy victory.
That is, until a little incident in turn 3 changed the course of the finish. Harvick and Joey Logano were battling for a top-five position when the two touched in the third turn. Logano went sliding and did everything he could to keep from spinning, but finally went around at the exit of the turn. It almost looked as though his Home Depot Toyota was meant to be used in the sport of drifting because of the amount of smoke being thrown up.
Logano was angry, but how angry we wouldn’t know until later.
This set up a green-white-checkered finish and Hamlin was in the catbird seat as he brought the field to green on lap 203, and he got the big jump and didn’t look back. As he took the white flag, the race was official and as long as he could keep the car out front, he wasn’t going to be denied.
Suddenly, on the backstretch, A.J. Allmendinger ran teammate Kasey Kahne to the grass as they battled for position, causing Kahne to go sliding and back up the track. He slammed hard into the outside wall, enough to lift the rear of the car off the ground, and then collect Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, and others. As the dust settled, other drivers got involved like Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler as they couldn’t avoid the smoke.
With the wreck, the race would end under caution, giving Hamlin his fourth win of the season and fourth at Pocono. He celebrated with a long burnout down the front straightaway, which ended with him tagging the outside wall.
But, the real action came on pit road as Logano pulled right up alongside Harvick, climbed out and had officials right in his face. With one crewman trying to restrain him from going after his rival, his father Tom jumped in and could be seen encouraging his son to go for it.
After the two were separated, Logano spoke to the media and credited it to hard racing, but took one of the biggest shots at Harvick that no one, including those in the media center, never expected.
“It’s probably not his [Harvick’s] fault, his wife wears the firesuit in that family,” Logano said outside his hauler.
I don’t ever recall someone taking a shot at a driver’s wife, let alone one that is as recognized as Delana Harvick. But, expect something in the next few days as a result of the incident, and the comments.
Next Sunday, it will be all about horsepower as NASCAR heads north to Michigan. In the shadow of the Motor City of Detroit, surrounded by the American auto makers, the four lead manufacturers will look to take a win at the Michigan International Speedway. With a wide racing surface, multiple grooves and fast action, this could be one of the best races all season.
TNT has coverage of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 starts at Noon ET with “Countdown to Green.” The race will begin shortly after 1 p.m. ET.
RESULTS: 1-Hamlin 2-Kyle Busch 3-Stewart 4-Harvick 5-Johnson 6-Kurt Busch 7-Burton 8-Montoya 9-Bowyer 10-Allmendinger
NOTABLE FINISHES: 12-Edwards 13-Logano 19-Earnhardt Jr. 27-Kahne 28-Biffle 29-Martin 32-Gordon
CAUTIONS: 8 for 27 laps. Lap 17-19 (competition), 98-100 (debris-T2), 155-158 (debris-BS), 160-165 (No. 83 spin-T1), 168-171 (No. 1, 6 accident-T1), 176-178 (debris-T3), 200-202 (No. 20 spin-T3), 204-204 (No. 5, 6, 9, 16, 19, 24, 39, 47, 56 accident-BS)
LEAD CHANGES: 14 among 7 drivers. Kyle Busch 1-4, Hamlin 5-17, Bobby Labonte 18, Kyle Busch 19-37, Bowyer 38-77, Hamlin 78-79, Bowyer 80-98, Kyle Busch 99-100, Harvick 101-105, Hamlin 106-158, Kyle Busch 159-165, Hamlin 166-168, Kurt Busch 169-171, Hornish 172-187, Hamlin 188-204.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs. 44 Mins. 30 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 136.303 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: Under Caution
POINT STANDINGS: 1-Harvick, 2063 points; 2-Kyle Busch, -19; 3-Hamlin, -136; 4-Kenseth, -170; 5-Kurt Busch, -182; 6-Johnson, -214; 7-Gordon, -236; 8-Burton, -260; 9-Edwards, -334; 10-Biffle, -336; 11-Martin, -352; 12-Bowyer, -377