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| Logano celebrates in victory lane Photo – Getty Images |
By Jason Schultz
In an eventful day at Pocono Raceway, Joey Logano gets back to victory lane for his first win since 2009.
Logano passed Mark Martin with four laps to go to earn the win. Logano started the day on the pole and stayed up front almost the whole race. After Logano’s victory, all three Joe Gibbs Racing cars have visited victory lane in 2012. This is Logano’s second career victory, as he won a rain-shortened race in New Hampshire in 2009.
Trouble started early in the race when Landon Cassill spun around in turn three on lap one. After Cassill spun, he hit Martin Truex Jr hard in the right side of the car and knocked some of the energy absorbent foam out of the car. Other drivers involved include; Juan Pablo Montoya, David Reutimann and A.J Allmendinger, who took a spin through the turn three grass.
The next caution came out when the No.32 of Reed Sorenson spun up the track and hit the wall. The No.49 of J.J Yeley and the No.36 of Tony Raines also slid up the track and hit the wall.
On lap 21, Jamie McMurray became the new leader. Then on lap 23, Denny Hamlin passed McMurray for the lead and the first round of green-flag pit stops began.
Since Pocono was repaved, pit road was also changed with adjustments to the scoring lines and adding an additional check point. These scoring lines measure the speed of drivers on pit road to make sure they are not speeding.
Under this round of pit stops, there were a record amount of drivers caught for speeding, they include; Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Ryan Newman, Travis Kvapil, David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson and two others. Out of the drivers caught for speeding once, five drivers were caught for speeding on their penalty drive through. The penalties ruined some of these guys’ chances of winning.
After all the penalties, Hamlin was the leader until Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed him on lap 61.
On lap 65, Denny Hamlin ran out of fuel attempting to get to pit road which cost him valuable time.
Not even halfway through the race, a total of 17 drivers were issued a penalty for speeding on pit road.
David Ragan cut a tire down on lap 74 to bring out the caution. During this caution, Kyle Busch was experiencing engine issues and had to pit. Busch would never re-enter the race, finishing 30th. This is the second week in a row that Busch had an engine problem end his day.
On lap 92, Matt Kenseth passed teammate Greg Biffle for the race lead.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. would return to the top spot on lap 109.
On lap 123, the caution came out for debris and Joey Logano regained the top spot after coming off pit road first.
Kasey Kahne got into the turn two wall to bring out the caution on lap 137. During this caution, Hendrick teammates Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. pitted because of potential fuel issues. This likely cost both of them the race because there were no fuel issues they needed to worry about through the end of the race.
On the restart, Logano was the leader followed by Martin, Hamlin, Stewart and Kenseth.
The final caution of the day was for debris, bunching up the field one more time.
On the restart, Mark Martin raced around Logano for the lead. Martin held the lead until four laps to go when Logano gave Martin a little shove, causing Martin to slide up the track and allowing Logano to rocket to the lead. Logano held off Martin for the rest of the race and Logano crossed the finish line first.
An excited Logano commented in victory lane about getting his first “real” win without the help of Mother Nature by saying “It’s awesome to finally get back to victory lane the right way.”
Mark Martin was happy with a great performance but he said he “wanted to win so badly.”
The points were shaken up after a 24th place finish for Biffle. Kenseth is now the point’s leader followed by Earnhardt Jr. Biffle is now third in the standings.
A great day for Logano ended in victory lane. Logano got his new crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, his first career Sprint Cup win.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to newly repaved Michigan for another very fast race.
In an eventful day at Pocono Raceway, Joey Logano gets back to victory lane for his first win since 2009.
Logano passed Mark Martin with four laps to go to earn the win. Logano started the day on the pole and stayed up front almost the whole race. After Logano’s victory, all three Joe Gibbs Racing cars have visited victory lane in 2012. This is Logano’s second career victory, as he won a rain-shortened race in New Hampshire in 2009.
Trouble started early in the race when Landon Cassill spun around in turn three on lap one. After Cassill spun, he hit Martin Truex Jr hard in the right side of the car and knocked some of the energy absorbent foam out of the car. Other drivers involved include; Juan Pablo Montoya, David Reutimann and A.J Allmendinger, who took a spin through the turn three grass.
The next caution came out when the No.32 of Reed Sorenson spun up the track and hit the wall. The No.49 of J.J Yeley and the No.36 of Tony Raines also slid up the track and hit the wall.
On lap 21, Jamie McMurray became the new leader. Then on lap 23, Denny Hamlin passed McMurray for the lead and the first round of green-flag pit stops began.
Since Pocono was repaved, pit road was also changed with adjustments to the scoring lines and adding an additional check point. These scoring lines measure the speed of drivers on pit road to make sure they are not speeding.
Under this round of pit stops, there were a record amount of drivers caught for speeding, they include; Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Ryan Newman, Travis Kvapil, David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson and two others. Out of the drivers caught for speeding once, five drivers were caught for speeding on their penalty drive through. The penalties ruined some of these guys’ chances of winning.
After all the penalties, Hamlin was the leader until Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed him on lap 61.
On lap 65, Denny Hamlin ran out of fuel attempting to get to pit road which cost him valuable time.
Not even halfway through the race, a total of 17 drivers were issued a penalty for speeding on pit road.
David Ragan cut a tire down on lap 74 to bring out the caution. During this caution, Kyle Busch was experiencing engine issues and had to pit. Busch would never re-enter the race, finishing 30th. This is the second week in a row that Busch had an engine problem end his day.
On lap 92, Matt Kenseth passed teammate Greg Biffle for the race lead.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. would return to the top spot on lap 109.
On lap 123, the caution came out for debris and Joey Logano regained the top spot after coming off pit road first.
Kasey Kahne got into the turn two wall to bring out the caution on lap 137. During this caution, Hendrick teammates Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. pitted because of potential fuel issues. This likely cost both of them the race because there were no fuel issues they needed to worry about through the end of the race.
On the restart, Logano was the leader followed by Martin, Hamlin, Stewart and Kenseth.
The final caution of the day was for debris, bunching up the field one more time.
On the restart, Mark Martin raced around Logano for the lead. Martin held the lead until four laps to go when Logano gave Martin a little shove, causing Martin to slide up the track and allowing Logano to rocket to the lead. Logano held off Martin for the rest of the race and Logano crossed the finish line first.
An excited Logano commented in victory lane about getting his first “real” win without the help of Mother Nature by saying “It’s awesome to finally get back to victory lane the right way.”
Mark Martin was happy with a great performance but he said he “wanted to win so badly.”
The points were shaken up after a 24th place finish for Biffle. Kenseth is now the point’s leader followed by Earnhardt Jr. Biffle is now third in the standings.
A great day for Logano ended in victory lane. Logano got his new crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, his first career Sprint Cup win.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to newly repaved Michigan for another very fast race.
Results and Point Standings via Nascar.com
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SPONSOR
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STATUS
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1
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1
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20
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Toyota
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The Home Depot
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48/2
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160
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Running
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2
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6
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55
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Toyota
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Aaron’s Dream Machine
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43/1
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160
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Running
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3
|
22
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14
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Chevrolet
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Mobil 1 / Office Depot
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41/0
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160
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Running
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4
|
24
|
48
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Chevrolet
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Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools
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40/0
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160
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Running
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5
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5
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11
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Toyota
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FedEx Express
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40/1
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160
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Running
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6
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16
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15
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Toyota
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5-hour Energy
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38/0
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160
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Running
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7
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14
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17
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Ford
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Ford EcoBoost
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38/1
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160
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Running
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8
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8
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88
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Chevrolet
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National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew
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37/1
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160
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Running
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9
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3
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27
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Chevrolet
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Menards / Sylvania
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35/0
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160
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Running
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10
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11
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1
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Chevrolet
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Banana Boat
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35/1
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160
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Running
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11
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2
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99
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Ford
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Kellogg’s / Cheez-it
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33/0
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160
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Running
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12
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18
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39
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Chevrolet
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Haas Automation
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32/0
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160
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Running
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13
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9
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9
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Ford
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DEWALT
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31/0
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160
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Running
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14
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21
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29
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Chevrolet
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Rheem
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30/0
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160
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Running
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15
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20
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31
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Chevrolet
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The Armed Forces Foundation
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29/0
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160
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Running
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16
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7
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78
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Chevrolet
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Furniture Row / Farm American
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28/0
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160
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Running
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17
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17
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42
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Chevrolet
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Target
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28/1
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160
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Running
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18
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31
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2
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Dodge
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Miller Lite
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26/0
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160
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Running
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19
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12
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24
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Chevrolet
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DuPont
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25/0
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160
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Running
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20
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23
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56
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Toyota
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NAPA Auto Parts
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24/0
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160
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Running
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21
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25
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51
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Chevrolet
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Phoenix Construction Services
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23/0
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160
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Running
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22
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27
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47
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Toyota
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Bubba Burgers
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22/0
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160
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Running
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23
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36
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38
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Ford
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ModSpace / TRG Motorsports
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22/1
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160
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Running
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24
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13
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16
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Ford
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3M / Rite Aid / NextCare
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21/1
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160
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Running
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25
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42
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10
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Chevrolet
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Tommy Baldwin Racing
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19/0
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160
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Running
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26
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37
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93
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Toyota
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Burger King / Dr Pepper
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18/0
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160
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Running
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27
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34
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34
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Ford
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Taco Bell
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18/1
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160
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Running
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28
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29
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43
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Ford
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Transportatio-
n Impact |
16/0
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158
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Running
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29
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10
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5
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Chevrolet
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Farmers Insurance
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15/0
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139
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In Pit
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30
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4
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18
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Toyota
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M&M’s
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14/0
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76
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Out of Race
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31
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19
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22
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Dodge
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Shell / Pennzoil
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13/0
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64
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Running
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32
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40
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36
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Chevrolet
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SealWrap.com
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12/0
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47
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In Pit
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33
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43
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33
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Chevrolet
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Little Joes A
utos.com |
11/0
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39
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In Pit
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34
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30
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98
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Ford
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Presbyterian Healthcare System
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10/0
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37
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In Pit
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35
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26
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13
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Ford
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GEICO
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9/0
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36
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In Pit
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36
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32
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249
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Toyota
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America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents
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8/0
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33
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In Pit
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37
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33
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87
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Toyota
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AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves
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0
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30
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In Pit
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38
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28
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119
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Toyota
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Humphrey Smith Racing
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0
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26
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In Pit
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39
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39
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74
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Chevrolet
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Turn One Racing / Country Suites
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5/0
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24
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In Pit
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40
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38
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23
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Chevrolet
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North Texas Pipe
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4/0
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19
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In Pit
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41
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41
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32
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Ford
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Herr Foods / Hero Energy Shot
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0
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12
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In Pit
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42
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35
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26
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Ford
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MDS Transport
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2/0
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12
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In Pit
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43
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15
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83
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Landon Cassill
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Toyota
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Burger King Real Fruit Smoothies
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1/0
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1
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In Pit
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