Kasey Kahne celebrates his win at Pocono in victory lane
Photo – Getty Images

Kasey Kahne made Team Hendrick proud on Sunday at Pocono after he took the win in a day they totally dominated. A wild afternoon started with pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson leading, but when he ran into trouble just shy of the mid-point of the race, Kahne rose to the top spot. Then when a late caution sprung a dash for the win, it was Jeff Gordon taking over the lead but he was passed on another late restart by Kahne. It was a decent day for Hendrick teams to say the least and they’ll be sipping the champagne tonight.

Not even a lap, nor a corner into the race and trouble struck. Going into turn one, Juan Pablo Montoya entered the corner hot and slid up into Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Both drivers went up into the wall and Matt Kenseth had nowhere to go but into the wreck. The caution flag flew early, sending a message for the rest of the day.

Caution number two flew on lap 15 for the once Pocono dominator, Denny Hamlin. He slid up into the wall in turn three, destroying his car and his chances of regaining his Pocono glory.

The decline of Johnson from a formidable opponent in the race came to a point when he blew a tire and hit off the wall in turn one. He was the leader when the caution flew. His team quickly repaired the damage giving Johnson a glimpse of hope for the rest of the afternoon. He would end the race in thirteenth place.

Brad Keselowski became the man up front on the restart, but ten laps later, the Kahne train blasted to the lead. He would remain there for a good portion of the afternoon, but different pit cycles prevented him from leading the rest of the event.

The wrecks seemed to keep coming all afternoon and one of the biggest occurred with 50 laps to go. Danica Patrick was running underneath Travis Kvapil going into turn two and when they came to the exit of the corner, she got loose and spun up into Kvapil. The two slapped the wall and when Patrick started to slide down the track, Paul Menard and Jeff Burton tagged her, causing extensive damage to all three machines.

The last pit stop was all that separated Kahne and victory or that’s what fans thought when he came down pit lane with 30 laps remaining. Once everyone cycled through their stops, Kahne was out front again. He was on cruise control with about a five second lead over Gordon. But with 12 laps left to run, Kahne’s lead was erased when the eighth caution flag of the day flew.

The quick caution put the two teammates on the front row coming to the restart and it was Gordon pulling out front. Kahne was coming for that lead, but another yellow-flag gave him the chance he needed.

The restart with two laps remaining had the two again battling for the lead, but when Kahne had a bad restart, it seemed Gordon would pull away; but that didn’t happen. Kahne powered back on the outside heading into turn one and quickly cleared Gordon for the top spot.

Kahne didn’t need to do anything else and took the checkered flag for the second time this season (Bristol).  In the midst of fighting for his Chase spot, a win all but secures him a place in the playoffs. Two wins would give him a wild card, but now Kahne sits in the top-ten, so all he needs to do, is enter the next five races and he’ll be set for a championship run.

The wild card race will continue next week when surely twisted weekend will occur in Watkins Glen. This race is a proven wild card contenders dream and could give contenders the boost they need next Sunday in upstate New York.

Results via ESPN.com