Sunday, June 27th, 2021
Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PA
Race lineup was set based on Saturday’s race finish.
Positions 1 through 20: Drivers start from their inverted finishing position in Saturday's race. (1st starts 20th, 2nd starts 19th, etc)
Positions 21 through 38: Drivers start from their finishing position in Saturday's race.
With remarkable perseverance behind the wheel of a car stuck in fourth gear, Kyle Busch saved enough fuel to win Sunday's Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, the second leg of a weekend NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono Raceway.
After William Byron and Denny Hamlin ran out of gas ahead of him, Busch cruised to an 8.654-second victory over Kyle Larson, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after crashing while leading in the final corner of Saturday's race.
Busch brought his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to pit road for the last time on Lap 95, one circuit after Hamlin and Byron—and that one lap of extra fuel made all the difference.
"Yeah, stuck in fourth gear, about out of gas, just saving, just riding, playing the strategy the best we could with what was given to us," said Busch, who won for the second time this season, the fourth time at Pocono and 59th time in his career—most among active drivers and ninth all-time.
"Just can't say enough about everybody on my team, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, TRD, all the work they're putting in.
"Sometimes these races aren't always won by the fastest car, but I felt we had the fastest car, even though we were in the back and behind and having to come through and persevere through being stuck in fourth gear, no clutch, all that stuff. It's all burned out. Nothing left in this M&M's Minis Camry.
"Really great to pull off another win here at Pocono. Feels good."
With the victory, Busch also snapped Hendrick Motorsports' six-race Cup Series winning streak.
Larson, also on a fuel-saving strategy in the closing laps, rallied for a runner-up finish after early contact with Hamlin's car dented the nose of his No. 5 Chevrolet. On a pit stop under caution, Larson's crew raised the hood of the car, pounded out the damage and secured it with tape.
"It's a surprising finish for us," Larson said. "Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really loose for a majority of the race. Then we got a lot of nose damage there on one of the restarts. Was off on speed, I felt like after that.
"(Crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) and everybody did a really, really good job managing the race, coached me through saving fuel there at the end. Was hoping that the 18 (Busch) was going to run out. I saw the 11 (Hamlin) running out. I was, ‘OK, they're teammates, they got to be close to running out.'
"The 18 did pit a lap after us under caution. That actually probably won them the race. But, yeah, second-place finish… I thought we would be outside of the top 20 (at) a lot of points throughout the race today. We'll take it. Happy about the effort, for sure, all weekend."
Brad Keselowski led a race-high 31 laps but had to pit for fuel on Lap 132 of 140. As drivers ran out fuel over the final three laps, Keselowski held third at the finish, one spot head of fellow Ford driver Kevin Harvick.
"We ran a really good race but just didn't have enough fuel to make it to the end like those other guys did," Keselowski said. "They beat us on power and fuel mileage. We have a lot of work to do to keep up with those guys.
"I'm really proud of (crew chief) Jeremy Bullins and the team. They had the setup really well, and it put us in position and we ran a great race today and maximized our day."
Bubba Wallace ran fifth, the first top five for the 23XI team that debuted this year under the co-ownership of Hamlin and NBA superstar Michael Jordan.
Ryan Blaney, Saturday's winner Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano completed the top 10.
Despite finishing 14th after running out of fuel, Hamlin retained the series lead by four points over Larson. Sunday was another hard-luck story for the driver of the No. 11 Toyota.
"I mean, you're trying to win or you're trying to get the best finish that you can," Hamlin said. "But ultimately, we just didn't save enough. The 18 I think came in and got topped off because he had transmission issues. That was essentially the race."
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Tampa, FL | Mar 14, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Smithfield | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Bugarewicz |
2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Auburn Hills, MI | Feb 12, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Detroit Engines | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins |
3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, VA | Nov 18, 1980 | 43 | Toyota | FedEx Ground | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart |
4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Middleton, CT | May 24, 1990 | 34 | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe |
5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, CA | Dec 8, 1975 | 48 | Ford | Busch Light | Stewart-Haas Racing | Rodney Childers |
6 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Las Vegas, NV | Aug 4, 1978 | 46 | Chevrolet | Monster Energy | Chip Ganassi Racing | Matt McCall |
7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, NV | May 2, 1985 | 39 | Toyota | M&M's Mini's | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Mayetta, NJ | Jun 29, 1980 | 44 | Toyota | Reser's Fine Foods | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small |
9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Phoenix, AZ | Dec 21, 1984 | 39 | Ford | ARRMA | Front Row Motorsports | Drew Blickensderfer |
10 | 6 | Ryan Newman | South Bend, IN | Dec 8, 1977 | 46 | Ford | Guaranteed Rate | RFK Racing | Scott Graves |
11 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Workrise | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander |
12 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Olive Branch, MS | Oct 2, 1987 | 37 | Chevrolet | Scott Brand | JTG Daugherty Racing | Brian Pattie |
13 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Port Tobacco, MD | Feb 25, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | M&M Mechanical LLC | Motorsports Business Management | Johnny Roten |
14 | 77 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | Diamond Creek Water | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt |
15 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Sacremento, CA | Jul 31, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels |
16 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Ally | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives |
17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, NC | Dec 31, 1993 | 30 | Ford | Menards / Duracell | Team Penske | Todd Gordon |
18 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Kannapolis, NC | Sep 25, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Nations Guard | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks |
19 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, GA | Nov 28, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | NAPA Auto Parts | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson |
20 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Grass Valley, CA | Jul 27, 1991 | 33 | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane | Wood Brothers Racing | Jonathan Hassler |
21 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, TX | Oct 29, 1992 | 31 | Ford | Acronis | RFK Racing | Luke Lambert |
22 | 43 | Erik Jones | Byron, MI | May 30, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | Medallion Bank | Richard Petty Motorsports | Jerry Baxter |
23 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Wauchula, FL | Nov 17, 1983 | 40 | Ford | ABTA.org | Live Fast Motorsports | Frank Kerr |
24 | 37 | Ryan Preece | Berlin, CT | Oct 25, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Thomas' / Kroger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Trent Owens |
25 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Monterrey, Mexico | Jan 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | CommScope | Trackhouse Racing | Travis Mack |
26 | 51 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | Nurtec ODT | Rick Ware Racing | Mike Hillman Sr |
27 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | McDonald's | Chip Ganassi Racing | Phil Surgen |
28 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | DraftKings | 23XI Racing | Mike Wheeler |
29 | 24 | William Byron | Charlotte, NC | Nov 29, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | Axalta Color of the Year | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle |
30 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | HassTooling.com | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett |
31 | 53 | Garrett Smithley | Ligonier, PA | Apr 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | RichMar Florists | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde |
32 | 52 | Josh Bilicki | Menomonee Falls, WI | Jun 3, 1995 | 29 | Ford | Jacob Companies | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Houghtaling |
33 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | Kalahari Resorts & Conventions | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett |
34 | 00 | Quin Houff | Weyers Cave, VA | Sep 15, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Mane 'n Tail / Spirit Untamed | StarCom Racing | George Church |
35 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | Dec 16, 1994 | 29 | Toyota | Rheem | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens |
36 | 15 | James Davison | Melbourne, Australia | Aug 28, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | Go FMX | Rick Ware Racing | Pat Tryson |
37 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mitchell, IN | Dec 15, 1994 | 29 | Ford | HighPoint.com | Stewart-Haas Racing | Johnny Klausmeier |
38 | 38 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Death Wish Coffee | Front Row Motorsports | Seth Barbour |