Saturday, June 26th, 2021
Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PA
After an intense, nail-biting battle over the last 29 laps at Pocono Raceway, Alex Bowman won Saturday's Pocono Organics CBD 325 when his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson blew a left-front tire while leading within one corner of the finish line.
Bowman's victory ended a streak of three-straight wins for Larson, who passed Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet on Lap 127 of 130 and appeared destined to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four straight NASCAR Cup Series races.
Choosing the inside lane for a restart on Lap 112, Bowman surged into the lead, having gained track position with a two-tire call on his final pit stop. Larson spent the next 15 laps harrying his teammate and made what appeared to be the winning pass as the cars entered the Tunnel Turn on Lap 127.
But three laps later, on the short straightaway between Turns 2 and 3, Larson's left front went flat, and the No. 5 Chevrolet rocketed into the outside wall in Turn 3. Larson came home ninth in his damaged Camaro, his first finish outside the top two in seven races.
Bowman, who announced a contract extension with Hendrick last weekend at Nashville, won for the third time this season, the first time at Pocono and the fifth time in his career. The victory was the sixth straight for Hendrick Motorsports, matching a string of six combined wins by Johnson and Jeff Gordon in 2007.
"Yeah, I hate to win one that way, but hell, yeah, I'll take it," a shocked Bowman said after climbing from his car. "Super proud of this Ally 48 team. Man, we kind of gave the lead away. We were on two tires, just got super tight. Tried to hold (Larson) off as long as I could.
"(Crew chief) Greg (Ives) and all the guys did a really good job. We didn't run that good all day, so I'm kind of in shock. I don't know what to say to you guys. Hell, yeah, so cool to see all the fans out here. Always like to come to ‘PA.' It's a cool place, beautiful weather, great day for a race. Heck, yeah, I'll take it."
Larson was just as shocked at the loss as Bowman was at his victory.
"I guess disbelief still," Larson said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. "I don't know, a little bit laughable, just because I can't believe it.
"Hate that we didn't get another win. Would have been cool to win five in a row (assuming another victory in Sunday's second leg of the NASCAR Cup doubleheader). Just wasn't meant to be I guess today. I felt something like right in the middle of the Tunnel (Turn). Wasn't quite sure what it was yet. It finally kind of shredded halfway through the short chute there. Couldn't turn.
"Hate that we didn't get the win. Cool that Alex still did, a Hendrick car with another win. Cool to keep Mr. H's (team owner Rick Hendrick's) streak going. Yeah, hate we didn't get HendrickCars.com into Victory Lane, but we'll try to start another streak (on Sunday)."
Larson will have to start Sunday's race from the rear of the field in a backup car. Bowman will start 20th after an inversion of the top 20 finishing positions from Saturday's race.
In an event that featured a hodgepodge of pit strategies before it distilled into the closing Bowman-Larson battle, Kyle Busch led a race-high 30 laps and finished second, .683 seconds behind Bowman. William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney completed the top five.
"We were a tick—just a little bit—slower than Larson, and we were able to hold him off," Busch said of the green-flag run before the final caution for debris on Lap 107. "The 48 (Bowman) held him off forever and finally the 5 (Larson) got by and got away by 20 lengths or so.
"I was just dying tight behind those guys. I just could not do anything in traffic. We were just struggling in traffic. We don't have what we need to slice through traffic. Everybody's hindered, but it seems like us a little bit more."
Kurt Busch won the second stage and finished sixth, leap-frogging past Chris Buescher into the final Playoff-eligible position in the series standings.
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 | Stanley | 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 | Wyndham Rewards | 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 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Sacremento, CA | Jul 31, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels |
15 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Ally | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives |
16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, NC | Dec 31, 1993 | 30 | Ford | Menards / Richmond | Team Penske | Todd Gordon |
17 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Kannapolis, NC | Sep 25, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Nations Guard | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks |
18 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, GA | Nov 28, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | NAPA Auto Parts | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson |
19 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Grass Valley, CA | Jul 27, 1991 | 33 | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane | Wood Brothers Racing | Jonathan Hassler |
20 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, TX | Oct 29, 1992 | 31 | Ford | Acronis | RFK Racing | Luke Lambert |
21 | 43 | Erik Jones | Byron, MI | May 30, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | Medallion Bank | Richard Petty Motorsports | Jerry Baxter |
22 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Wauchula, FL | Nov 17, 1983 | 40 | Ford | ABTA.org | Live Fast Motorsports | Frank Kerr |
23 | 37 | Ryan Preece | Berlin, CT | Oct 25, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Thomas' / Kroger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Trent Owens |
24 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Monterrey, Mexico | Jan 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | CommScope | Trackhouse Racing | Travis Mack |
25 | 51 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | Nurtec ODT | Rick Ware Racing | Mike Hillman Sr |
26 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | McDonald's | Chip Ganassi Racing | Phil Surgen |
27 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | Root Insurance | 23XI Racing | Mike Wheeler |
28 | 24 | William Byron | Charlotte, NC | Nov 29, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | Axalta Color of the Year | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle |
29 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | HassTooling.com | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett |
30 | 53 | Garrett Smithley | Ligonier, PA | Apr 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Wheeling Nailers | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde |
31 | 52 | Josh Bilicki | Menomonee Falls, WI | Jun 3, 1995 | 29 | Ford | Jacob Companies | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Houghtaling |
32 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | Kalahari | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett |
33 | 00 | Quin Houff | Weyers Cave, VA | Sep 15, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Mane 'n Tail / Spirit Untamed | StarCom Racing | George Church |
34 | 77 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | Diamond Creek Water | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt |
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 | Americas Best Value Inn | 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 |