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| Toyota Racing |
Kyle Busch has won the “Explore the Pocono Mountains” 350 at Pocono Raceway, scoring his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2021 season.
Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway (the second of the double header) was really quite the show! Few drivers had everything go smoothly, and some drivers even had horrible mishaps. For most drivers (and the fans at home) this race really came down to the wire. The last set of green flag pit stops happened simply at the wrong time. With 47 laps left in the race, most of the field pitted, some for tires, others for fuel only. This pit strategy left many teams right on the edge of the fuel window, and most of the Top-10 were trying to save.
When it came down to roughly 15 laps left in the race things were not as you might had imagined. Teams who obviously could not make it on fuel elected to stay out, begging and pleading for a caution. One by one, they dropped like flies, first Keselowski pitted for a splash of fuel, then Byron reluctantly can to pits with 2 laps to go. The No. 11 of Denny Hamlin took the lead, and with the team as confident as they could be, it appeared Hamlin could’ve been heading to his first victory of the season…. that was until just before the white flag they had to pit.
With one lap to go, that left one guy to take the lead, Kyle Busch. Busch had a fast car all day, but unfortunately he had struggled throughout the final stage with a bad transmission (which was stuck in 4th gear), and a fried clutch. Kyle Busch and the whole No. 18 team knew they simply could not pit again, even if they needed to. The last time they tried that, the No. 18 M&M’s Minis Camry barely made it off of pit road, with a huge push from the pit crew. Fans were surprised, and equally confused as they watched the malfunctioning No. 18 roll the checkered flag, and proceed to run out of fuel. It’s hard to believe that a broken transmission, and the unscheduled pit stop that it created is what allowed Busch to end up in victory lane. None than less this finish is one for the history books!
One team who had a really great day was Bubba Wallace, and the No. 23 team. While 23XI Racing has faltered from the media’s often far too high expectations, in this race they finished 5th, scoring both their first Top-10 and Top-5 finish. The team has really been all over the place finishing anywhere from 12th to 28th, though after a really solid day at Pocono Raceway, they have definitely shown some improvement. Another name who fits this category well is Ryan Preece, who finished 8th, scoring his 3rd Top-10 of the season. Preece is showing some promise this season, which is especially significant considering the team is not 100% certain whether or not they can afford to complete the entire season.
In this race Martin Truex Jr. won stage 1, and William Byron won stage 2.
1. Kyle Busch- No. 18
2. Kyle Larson- No. 5
3. Brad Keselowski- No. 2
4. Kevin Harvick- No. 4
5. Bubba Wallace- No. 23
6. Ryan Blaney- No. 12
7. Alex Bowman- No. 48
8. Ryan Preece- No. 37
9. Tyler Reddick- No. 8
10. Joey Logano- No. 22
11. Martin Truex Jr.- No. 19
12. William Byron- No. 24
13. Austin Dillon- No. 3
14. Denny Hamlin- No. 11
15. Daniel Suárez- No. 99
16. Aric Almirola- No. 10
17. Michael McDowell- No. 34
18. Matt DiBenedetto- No. 21
19. Chris Buescher- No. 17
20. Kurt Busch- No. 1
21. Chase Briscoe- No. 14
22. Ryan Newman- No. 6
23. Corey LaJoie- No. 7
24. Cole Custer- No. 41
25. Justin Allgaier- No. 77
26. Ross Chastain- No. 42
27. Chase Elliott- No. 9
28. Cody Ware- No. 51
29. BJ McLeod- No. 78
30. James Davison- No. 15
31. Erik Jones- No. 43
32. Christopher Bell- No. 20
33. Quin Houff- No. 00
34. Anthony Alfredo- No. 38
35. Josh Bilicki- No. 52
36. Garrett Smithley- No. 53 - DNF
37. Timmy Hill- No. 66 - DNF
38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.- No. 47 - DNF
A group of contenders who pitted on Lap 94, including @KurtBusch, might try to stretch it on fuel. @NASCARonNBC listens to the No. 1 team. pic.twitter.com/GQreH7IGfo
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 27, 2021
WHOA.
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 27, 2021
Chase Elliott gets loose, and hits Christopher Bell! #NASCAR // NBCSN pic.twitter.com/OjisJ4GURV
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