It
came down to the battle of the beers
as Kurt Busch beat out Dale Earnhardt
Jr. in the Pennsylvania 500 by 4.1
seconds at Pocono Raceway.
Busch had the
right car and right setup to, at
times, lead by up to 11 seconds. Both
drivers had started on the front row
with Earnhardt Jr. as the pole setter.
Right out of the gate, Earnhardt Jr.
fell back a few positions with Busch
moving into the lead.
Busch on
restarts, and long runs could pull
away with ease from the pack behind
him. Busch did have one bad pit stop
to put him back in the field but only
in the top fifteen for the day and for
only two laps. Other than that Busch
was in the top ten for 198 of the 200
laps. Busch led 173.
Earnhardt Jr.’s
day was a roller coaster ride where at
the start of the race fought a very
tight racecar. His day would prove to
be even more of a challenge as he
thought that he had a tire going down
on lap 122 and spun out coming out of
turn three. Earnhardt was heading for
pit road at the time. Earnhardt made
his stop with four fresh tires and not
loose a lap as the yellow came out for
his spin.
Earnhardt would
restart back in the field around 20th,
but within several laps moved up
several positions. Then with a caution
15 laps later, Earnhardt’s pit crew
had a great stop to put him behind
Busch on a restart. A few laps into
the green flag run, Earnhardt would
find himself in the lead.
Busch came back 8
laps later to regain the lead.
Earnhardt however, would not
relinquish 2nd place and
held the position until the end of the
race.
Denny Hamlin
finishing third started his day 6th
and stay in the top 10 for 195 laps of
the event. Hamlin would not find the
right key to get in front and would
battle Earnhardt Jr. for 2nd
place in the closing laps. Hamlin
could not muster enough power to take
2nd and settled for 3rd
place.
Jeff Gordon took
home a 4th place finish for
his efforts after an 11th
place start. Gordon himself have a
quiet day, but did see the top 5
several times. Gordon near the end of
the race would be in the top ten to
fight his way past several drivers to
claim a 4th place finish.
Jimmy Johnson
would finish behind his owner in 5th.
His day would be more challenging to
keep himself in the top ten, but for
only 25 laps. The rest of the race,
Johnson’s bad car luck would not
follow him from previous races to land
a top 5 finish.
PRE RACE NOTES
The big news of
the race of course is Robby Gordon
with his incident in the Montreal
Busch race. After a one hour meeting
with NASCAR, it was ruled that Gordon
would be benched for the Pocono race
and further action to follow for his
acts in the race. Robby Gordon’s car
would still be in the race, but P.J.
Jones would be piloting the car.
Kurt Busch (No. 2
Miller Lite Dodge) and Penske Racing
teammate Ryan Newman (No. 12 Mobil 1
Dodge) have their teams moving in the
right direction in the series
standings currently 13th and 14th
respectively. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No.
8 Budweiser Chevrolet) sits on the
bubble, 13 points ahead of Busch and
59 ahead of Newman. Neither Newman nor
Busch made the Chase for the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup last season. But this
season may be a different story.
Newman heads to Pocono with a 2003 win
at the track and five top-five
finishes, including a runner-up finish
earlier this season. Newman - a.k.a
‘the Rocket’ - also has been known to
put the No. 12 Dodge on the pole at
Pocono, notching two in his career,
including earlier this season. Busch
has less ground to make up than his
teammate, and he, too, has had success
at Pocono with a win in 2005 and six
top fives.
Earnhardt Jr.
will have to be on his toes because
the competition is closing in. This
race could be the one Penske Racing
uses to make a move because Earnhardt
has only three top-five finishes in 15
starts at Pocono.
Jeff Gordon rolls
into Pocono Raceway with not only the
series standings lead, but also
looking to sweep both races there this
season. Gordon won the Pocono 500 in
June and now looks to become the
seventh driver to pull off the Pocono
season sweep. If Gordon succeeds, he
will put himself with some pretty
exclusive company.
The first driver
to sweep both races at Pocono was
Bobby Allison in 1982. Allison went on
to make it three consecutive races at
Pocono when he put his Buick in
Victory Lane in 1983. Bill Elliott was
soon to follow in Allison’s footsteps,
grabbing both Pocono victories in
1985.
The third driver
must have taken a page from Allison’s
notes because Tim Richmond put his
Chevrolet in Victory Lane three
consecutive times including a sweep in
1986 and the first race at Pocono in
’87. Allison and Richmond are the only
two drivers to achieve that at Pocono.
The fourth driver, Bobby Labonte (No.
43 Cheerios Dodge), was in his fifth
year driving for Joe Gibbs Racing when
he swept both races in 1999. Labonte
ended up finishing second in the
series standings that season.
The two most
recent drivers to sweep were Denny
Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet) last
season and Jeff Gordon’s Hendrick
Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in
2004.
Of all six
drivers that have accomplished the
sweep feat, Hamlin was the only one to
do it as a rookie in the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series.
Gordon has
captured two Bud Poles and four wins
at Pocono. He also has been very
consistent, posting 20 top-10 finishes
there in 29 starts. If Gordon wins, he
also will take the lead in the Chase
for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup seeding with
five wins, giving him 5,050 points
when the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup begins.
Jeff Gordon used
pit strategy to win his fourth-career
Pocono race last June. Otherwise,
Denny Hamlin may have made it
three-for-three at the 2.5-mile Long
Pond, Pa. track.
In 2006’s two
Pocono races, Hamlin started and
finished at the front, capturing both
the pole and the checkered flag. It
was Hamlin’s first visits to the
track, and he mastered the unique
layout perfectly.
Hamlin showed the
success was no fluke in June, leading
a race-high 49 laps en route to a
sixth-place finish. The three
performances have put Hamlin at the
top of practically all key Loop Data
categories.
Hamlin leads in
Driver Rating (137.5), Average Running
Position (4.9), Fastest Laps Run (164)
and Fastest Green Flag Speed. He has
also spent 92% of his Pocono laps in
the top 15, which is the highest
percentage of any driver.
Another driver to
watch should be Kurt Busch. Thirteen
points behind 12th-place driver Dale
Earnhardt Jr., Busch has enjoyed
tremendous Pocono finishes in recent
years. Though he finished 16th in
June, Busch nabbed a win in 2005 and
two runner-up finishes in 2006. He
could charge into the top 12 with
another good finish Sunday.
Busch has a
Pocono Driver Rating of 109.9
(second-best), an Average Running
Position of 8.7 (second-best), 108
Fastest Laps Run (second-best) and 720
Laps in the Top 15 (third-most).
Arguably the
hottest driver in the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series is Tony Stewart, winner of
two consecutive races. He’ll look to
become the first driver to win three
consecutive races since Jimmie Johnson
in 2004 (fall events at Charlotte,
Martinsville, and Atlanta).
Stewart has had
Pocono success. He won there in 2003
and currently has four consecutive
top-10 finishes there – including a
fifth-place finish in June. He has a
Driver Rating of 102.8 (fourth-best),
an Average Running Position of 10.9
(fifth-best), 35 Fastest Laps Run
(tied for fifth-most) and 201 Quality
Passes – passes of cars in the top 15
under green – which is more than any
other driver.
QUALIFYING NOTES
Dale
Earnhardt Jr. won the Bud Pole for the
Pennsylvania 500, his seventh NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series pole in 276 career
races. He turned a quick lap of
169.975 mph (52.949).
This is
Earnhardt’s first pole since Sept. 29,
2002 at Kansas Speedway – a span of
171 races. Earnhardt’s previous best
start at Pocono Raceway was fifth
(June 8, 2003). He now has two
top-five and three top-10 starts at
Pocono.
This is
Earnhardt’s eighth top-five and 11th
top-10 start of the season. This is
Earnhardt’s second front row start
this season (Dover).
Kurt Busch (second)
notched his fourth top-five start of
the season. Kyle Busch (third) notched
his fourth top-five start of the
season. Scott Riggs (16th) was the
fastest driver who needed to qualify
on time.
NOW ONTO THE
RACE!!
Dale Jr., and Kurt
Busch lead our 43 drivers out of turn 3
to the…
GREEN FLAG as the
drivers head into turn one Earnhardt Jr.
falls back to 3rd place as
Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman take 1st
and 2nd. Lap 2 The two lead
Earnhardt Jr. by 1 second.
YELLOW FLAG lap 3
as Jamie McMurray wrecks out of turn one
as he got way loose and solo spins to
the infield grass. McMurray picks up
some moderate damage and pulls into the
pits.
GREEN FLAG lap 7 as
Kurt Busch and Newman get the show going
again. Three wide racing as Michael
Waltrip, Matt Kenseth and David Ragan
race towards turn two. Somebody has to
give and Ragan is the one who backs off
as Waltrip moves forward.
Lap 9 Kurt Busch is
pulling away from Newman to a lead of
1.3 seconds. Lap 11 the field strings
out from turn one to turn three. Lap 14
Kurt Busch is up to 2 seconds with his
lead. Drivers on the move are Jeff
Gordon who started 11th is
now 6th, Tony Raines from 17th
up to 11th, Kevin Harvick
from 23rd up to 12th
and Tony Stewart from 24th up
to 13th.
Lap 17 Casey Mears
runs to the inside of Kasey Kahne to
take 7th place. Lap 18
Stewart keeps the action moving as he
keeps on the bumper of Harvick. Lap 20
Kurt Busch increases his lead to 3.1
seconds over Newman. Lap 21 Carl Edwards
makes an unscheduled pit stop. He may
have had a flat tire.
Lap 22 Edwards
picks up a penalty for the pit crew not
fueling the car properly and will have
to do a drive through. Lap 23 Denny
Hamlin closes in on Earnhardt Jr. who is
fighting a tight racecar. Lap 25 your
top ten drivers are; Kurt Busch, Newman,
Dale Jr., Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy
Johnson, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne, Juan
Pablo Montoya and Stewart.
Lap 28 Kyle Busch
comes in for a pit stop. Most drivers
can go 33 laps. Lap 29 Jeff Gordon,
Kahne, Greg Biffle, Mears and Jeff Green
come in for their stops. Lap 30 Newman,
Johnson, Hamlin come in. Lap 31 the
floodgates open and about 15 drivers
come in.
Lap 32 Kurt Busch
comes in, the last of the leaders to
come into pit road. Martin Truex Jr. is
the leader. Lap 33 Clint Bowyer moves in
on Truex Jr. with both making their
stops. This will put Bill Elliott into
the lead. Bowyer comes in for a second
time.
Pit stops complete
as Kurt Busch is back into the lead once
again with almost no loss with his lead
on the pack. Lap 36 his lead is 5.4
seconds. Lap 39 we see drivers starting
to go a lap down. So far Edwards, Ward
Burton, Jones, Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott
Sadler, David Ragan and Kyle Petty.
Lap 42 Johnny
Sauter, Scott Riggs, David Stremme, J.J.
Yeley and McMurray will be the next
drivers on the list. Lap 44 Stewart is
closing in on Kahne for 8th.
Lap 45 Kurt Busch is now up to almost a
10 seconds lead over Newman.
Lap 47 Waltrip
brings his car into pit road as he
picked up a left flat tire. This will
put him a lap down. To add to the list
David Reutimann, Waltrip’s driver will
go a lap down with Bobby Labonte, Greg
Biffle, Dale Jarrett and Brian Vickers
to be next on the list.
Lap 50 the top 20
drivers are; Kurt Busch, Newman, Hamlin,
Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson,
Mears, Stewart, Kahne, Montoya, Mark
Martin, David Gilliland, Jeff Burton,
Bowyer, Truex Jr., Harvick, Ricky Rudd,
Dave Blaney, Tony Raines and Kenseth.
YELLOW FLAG lap 53
for debris in turn one. Biffle is the
lucky dog. Kurt Busch brings the drivers
into pit road and brings them back out
followed by Hamlin, Dale Jr., Newman,
Johnson and Stewart.
GREEN FLAG lap 58
with Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin
bringing the field back to life. Busch
with another great start, but two time
winner Hamlin is already a half second
behind. Lap 59 Jeff Gordon trying to
make the move forward passing lap down
drivers on the inside.
Lap 61 Busch is 1.5
seconds in front of Hamlin and 2 seconds
in front of 3rd place Newman.
Lap 62 battle for 8th as
Montoya wants around Kahne. Montoya is
three wide as he is in the middle with
Jeff Burton behind as they shoot between
Kahne and lap down driver McMurray.
YELLOW FLAG lap 64
as McMurray spins out coming out of turn
three. It looks like the air was taken
off of the rear end his car by Stremme
who was going himself three wide between
McMurray and Yeley. Riggs is the lucky
dog this time.
The leaders stay
out on the “Quickie” Yellow. This is
where lead lap and lap down drivers can
pit at the same time.
GREEN FLAG lap 68
as Kurt Busch with Hamlin leading our 31
leaders and 13 lap down drivers racing
across the start finish line. Three wide
in the middle of the pack and almost
four wide down the long front stretch.
Coming out of turn three, we see several
drivers three wide in the back of the
pack racing for position.
Lap 72 Kurt Busch
ahead by 1.9 seconds in front of Hamlin.
Lap 73 Kahne, Martin, Kenseth, Mears and
Harvick battle 10th trough 14th.
Lap 75 your top 10 drivers are; Kurt
Busch, Hamlin, Newman, Earnhardt Jr.,
Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Stewart, Jeff
Burton, Montoya and Kahne. Lap 76 Kyle
Busch is in pit road for a flat tire.
Lap 78 Kurt Busch
is running away from the field again by
3 seconds and 6 seconds over 3rd
place Newman. Lap 80 Ward Burton is off
pace coming into turn two and makes it
to pit road. Lap 82 Kyle Busch fights
with Stremme to be the first driver a
lap down so they could be the lucky
dog.
Lap 84 Waltrip
picks up another flat on the left front
and will make another pit stop. Lap 87
Kurt Busch leads by 3.5 seconds over
Hamlin. We start to see drivers making
green flag stops. Lap 89 Kurt Busch is
in for his stop that puts Kenseth into
the lead for a moment.
Lap 92 Jeff Green
is the leader. Lap 94 Green still has
not pitted as well as Blaney. Once the
two drivers make stops, Kurt Busch will
be the leader as pit stops will be
complete. Lap 95 Kurt Busch is back in
front and 2.5 seconds in front of
Hamlin.
Lap 97 we have 30
drivers on the lead lap. Bill Elliott,
Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch would be the
next three to be a lap down. Lap 99 Kurt
Busch is now up to a 4 second lead.
Lap 100 (halfway)
your top 20 drivers are; Kurt Busch,
Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Newman, Stewart,
Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton,
Kenseth, Mears, Martin, Truex Jr.,
Montoya, Kahne, Harvick, Bowyer,
Gilliland, Rudd, Raines and Green. So
far we have seen 3 cautions for 10 laps
and 10 lead changes among 7 leaders.
Lap 103 Jarrett is
in pit road with the hood lifted. The
team pushes the car back to the garage.
We hear that the fuel pump let go. Lap
107 Jeff Burton make a move on the
inside of Earnhardt Jr. for 7th
place. Lap 108 Kenseth looking to take 8th
from Dale Jr. now and makes the pass on
his outside as they head to turn one.
Lap 109 Kurt Busch
leads by 8 seconds over new second place
Jeff Gordon and about 10 or 12 laps away
from stops. Lap 112 Bobby Labonte, Paul
Menard, Biffle who stayed on the lead
lap before in our last report on him,
Bill Elliott who has stayed on the lead
lap and Reed Sorenson would be the next
drivers to be a lap down.
Lap 115 we see some
of the laps down drivers making a pit
stop. It looks like Ward Burton has
taken his car to the garage. Lap 118
Jeff Gordon is closing in on Kurt Busch,
but pulls off onto pit road. We also see
Truex Jr. Yeley and Kahne coming in.
Earnhardt Jr. is in along with Elliott.
Lap 119 we see the
open sign on the door with many takers
on this lap from the lead. Newman is the
leader for the first time today. Lap 120
Newman is in along with 12 other drivers
which puts Kurt Busch back into the lead
with Jeff Gordon 4.7 seconds behind.
Busch’s pit stops have been 14.4, 14.2
and 14.6 seconds on the last three
stops.
YELLOW FLAG lap 122
after Earnhardt Jr. spun out coming out
of turn three. He thought that he may
have had a tire going down and was
starting to head into pit road loosing
traction out of the turn, flat spotting
the tires of the car. Earnhardt Jr. will
be the last driver on the lead lap.
Labonte should be the lucky dog this
time.
Lap 125 your top 10
drivers are; Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon,
Newman, Stewart, Hamlin, Johnson, Jeff
Burton, Kenseth, Mears and Truex Jr.
GREEN FLAG lap 128
as Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon bring the
two rows of drivers into turn one. Lap
129 Three wide for 2nd as
Stewart, Newman and Jeff Gordon head
into turn three. Lap 130 score Newman
with 2nd and Stewart 3rd.
Lap 134 Kurt Busch
is leading Newman by 3.5 seconds and 3rd
place Stewart by 4.5 seconds. Lap 135
your movers since the start of the race
are; Menard from 35th up to
25th, Green from 32nd
up to 22nd, Gilliland from 33rd
up to 19th, Harvick from 23rd
up to 16th, Martin from 25th
up to 11th, Kenseth from 37th
up to 10th, Bowyer from 15th
up to 9th and Burton from 18th
to 7th.
YELLOW FLAG lap 137
as Biffle spins out in turn two behind
Bowyer. Edwards will be the lucky dog.
The leaders come to pit road. Mears with
a two tire stop, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth,
Newman, Hamlin and Jeff Gordon come out
of pit road. Earnhardt Jr. had a huge
stop by the team to get him back to the
top 5. Kurt Busch had a lug nut issue to
have him come back out in 9th.
Sorenson did not pit, so he will be the
leader.
GREEN FLAG lap 142
as Sorenson and Mears get the race
underway once again. Truex Jr. had some
front end damage to put him a half lap
down. Out of turn three Mears is
shuffled back to 4th place as
Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth passed by.
Lap 143 Kurt Busch
is hooked up passing Mears, Bowyer, Jeff
Gordon, Newman and Hamlin to back up to
4th. lap 144 Kurt Busch takes
3rd from Kenseth and at the
same time Earnhardt Jr. takes the lead
from Sorenson. It looks like the entire
crowd goes crazy as he drives by the
start finish line.
Lap 145 Kurt Busch
moves into 2nd, 1.4 seconds
behind. Lap 147 Mears is falling off
pace as Jeff Burton, Johnson and Martin
put him back to 13th. Lap 148
Stewart to the inside of Sorenson to 8th.
Lap 149 Kurt Busch is moving in closing
the gap to 1 second.
Lap 150 (50 to go)
your top 20 drivers are; Earnhardt Jr.,
Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Kenseth, Newman,
Jeff Gordon, Stewart, Johnson, Bowyer,
Martin, Jeff Burton, Mears, Sorenson,
Harvick, Montoya, Green, Elliott,
Blaney, Rudd and Kyle Busch. Lap 152
Kurt Busch is a rocket and on the bumper
of Earnhardt Jr. Lap 153 Busch is back
in the lead.
Lap 155 Kurt Busch
leads by 1.3 seconds. Reutimann is in
the garage with the same issue as
Jarrett with the fuel pump. Lap 156
Newman challenges Stewart for 5th
place. Lap 157 While Busch is 1.5
seconds in front of Earnhardt Jr., both
drivers are over 5 seconds in front of
the pack.
Lap 158 Johnson
takes 6th place from Newman
and looking to take 5th from
Stewart and does so in turn two. Lap 159
Bowyer looking to take 7th
from Newman. Lap 160 David Ragan spins
out in turn three by himself but no
caution and the track looks clear.
Lap 161 Kurt Busch
with a 3 second lead of Dale Jr. and 7.5
seconds over Jeff Gordon in 3rd.
Lap 164 we should see pit stops starting
in the next few laps for the last green
flag stop. Lap 166 Sorenson makes his
stop. Lap 168 Stewart is in along with
many others. Lap 169 Johnson, Newman,
Earnhardt Jr. along with 10 others make
their stops.
Lap 171 Kyle Busch
leads a lap or two before it gets back
to older brother Kurt where stops will
be complete.
YELLOW FLAG lap 172
as Ragan spins out in turn one in front
of Kyle Busch who missed him by a foot
or two. As the drivers cross the start
finish line it looks like Kyle Busch is
running out of gas in turn one. Kyle
still is in front as they come out of
turn three and makes it to pit road.
This will put older brother Kurt back to
the lead. Stremme is the lucky dog.
Lap 175 (25 to go)
your top ten drivers are; Kurt Busch,
Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Jeff Gordon,
Stewart, Johnson, Newman, Bowyer, Martin
and Kenseth.
GREEN FLAG lap 178
with Kurt Busch and Earnhardt Jr. to
fight for the lead and the rest wanting
to be there. Kurt Busch with another
good start to jump a half second in
front of Dale Jr.
YELLOW FLAG with 20
to go with Kurt Busch leading 1.1
seconds, and a huge wreck behind the
leader in turn three. Edwards hit
Sorenson from behind as they were coming
into the turn. This spins Sorenson in
front of several drivers who cannot
check up in time. Sorenson shoots up to
the wall in the path of unlucky McMurray
on the outside and they connect. Behind
that Brian Vickers and Gilliland tangle
with Gilliland the looser and big damage
on his car. Riggs is the lucky dog.
GREEN FLAG with 16
to go as Kurt Busch and Earnhardt Jr.
brings the field to racing. Heading
into turn two Newman to the inside of
Stewart for 6th.
14 to go Kurt Busch
leads by 1 second with the field
stretching out.
12 to go Kurt Busch
by 1.3 seconds over Dale Jr. Hamlin
moves in on Earnhardt Jr.
10 to go Kurt Busch
by 1.7 seconds with Hamlin closing.
Mears passes Kenseth for 11th.
9 to go Kyle Busch moved his way back up
in the field after the last yellow when
he had to pit and everyone else stayed
out. Kyle runs 13th.
8 to go Kurt Busch
by 2 seconds and 2.5 seconds over 3rd
place Hamlin.
7 to go Kurt Busch
by 2.5 seconds. Hamlin two car lengths
behind Earnhardt Jr.
6 to go Mears
looking to pass Jeff Burton and makes it
in turn 2.
5 to go Kurt Busch
by 3 seconds.
4 to go Earnhardt
Jr. pulls a bit away from Hamlin to
almost 1 second.
3 to go Kurt Busch
by almost 4 seconds. Waltrip has a dead
car and pulls it to an access road.
2 to go Kurt Busch
looks like he has this race unless he
makes a mistake an no challenge for 2nd
place.
WHITE FLAG for Kurt
Busch. Jeff Gordon on Hamlin’s heels for
3rd place.
CHECKERED FLAG for
Kurt Busch winning by 4.1 seconds.
The last time Busch
won a race was 51 races ago.
Your top ten
finishers were; Kurt Busch, Earnhardt
Jr., Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Johnson,
Stewart, Newman, Bowyer, Martin and
Mears.
Busch led the most
laps with 173. Earnhardt Jr. led 8,
Sorenson 5, Jeff Green 4, Kyle Busch 2
and Kenseth 2 along with others a single
lap.
The race lasted for
almost 4 hours. We saw 7 cautions for 27
laps and 17 lead changes among 11
leaders.
Busch also broke
the most laps led record at Pocono.
