Entry List

Explore the Pocono Mountains 350

Sunday, June 27th, 2021

Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PA

  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota
  • 18 Chevrolet

  • 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.

  • Sunday, June 27th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Kyle Busch hangs on to win at Pocono

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."

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 140
  • Margin of Victory: 08.654 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 26 Minutes 49 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 143.036
  • Cautions: 4 for 15 laps
  • Lead Changes: 12
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,302 (18.4 passes per green flag lap)

  • Pocono Raceway
  • 48th Annual Explore the Pocono Mountains 350
  • Race Winner: Kyle Busch
  • Age: 36
  • Team : No. 18 - M&M's Mini's Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
  • Crew Chief: Ben Beshore
  • Kyle Busch won the 48th Annual Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, his 59th victory in 589 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his second victory and 11th top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his fourth victory and 17th top-10 finish in 34 races at Pocono Raceway.
  • Kyle Larson (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Pocono Raceway. It is his 13th top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Brad Keselowski (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 24 races at Pocono Raceway.
  • Chase Briscoe (21st) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • The win today was Joe Gibbs Racing's 16th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono Raceway - Denny Hamlin (six wins), Kyle Busch (four), Bobby Labonte (three), Joey Logano (one), Tony Stewart (one) and Matt Kenseth (one).
  • 23XI Racing and Bubba Wallace scored their first top-five finish of the 2021 season and first for the organization in the series.
Alex Bowman celebrates with a selfie
Long Pond, Pennsylvania - June 26, 2021 : Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, celebrates with a selfie in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Pocono Organics CBD 325 at Pocono Raceway on June 26, 2021 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway Entry List
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