Matt Kenseth played the fuel-mileage game to perfection Sunday at Pocono Raceway, outlasting Joey Logano and Kyle Busch to record his 2nd victory of the season – snapping Busch’s three-race winning streak but at the same time, extending Joe Gibbs Racing’s run of summertime success. Dating back to NASCAR’s All-Star Race in mid-May, Joe Gibbs Racing has now won 7 of the last 11 Sprint Cup Series races.
Kenseth led just two laps Sunday, one at mid-race and the other at the end of the day in notching career win Number-33. Logano led a race-high 97 laps but his fuel tank ran dry less than three laps from the finish. He yielded the lead to Busch, who took the white flag in 1st place but the checkered flag in 21st place after running out of gas on his final trip around “The Tricky Triangle” and coasting to a stop. Busch was attempting to become the first driver to win 4 straight Cup Series races since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 and carried a 16 second lead over Kenseth into Sunday’s final lap.
Jeff Gordon rode home in 3rd place with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Greg Biffle completing the top 5. Johnson’s 6th place finish gave Hendrick Motorsports 3 of the top 6 spots. Busch started from the pole and led 3 times for 19 laps. Despite his late-race misfortune, he is now just 13 points outside the top 30 – where Busch needs to be in order to become eligible for a berth in the post-season Chase. He remains in 32nd place. Sunday’s race included 18 lead changes, 6 more than in this year’s first stop at Pocono on June 7th.
Unofficial Points Standings
DRIVER POINTS BEHIND LEADER
1. Kevin Harvick (2) 780 —
2. Joey Logano (1) 734 | -46
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2) 717 | -63
4. Jimmie Johnson (4) 713 | -67
5. Martin Truex Jr. (1) 694 | -86
6. Brad Keselowski (1) 681 | -99
7. Matt Kenseth (2) 662 | -118
8. Jamie McMurray 631 | -149
9. Kurt Busch (2) 620 | -160
10. Jeff Gordon 617 | -163
– story by John Singler
www.mrn.com
Concord, NC
