Returning to Pocono Raceway for their second event of the season, the Monster Energy Cup Series looks to continue what has been an eventful stretch of racing throughout the middle course of the season. With the standings tightening up, racing at Pocono will give drivers a challenge on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ in order to make up ground in the standings.
As the pole sitter, Kevin Harvick brought the field to the green flag to kick off the race. As Harvick increased his lead on the field, everyone else was trying to figure out the best way to gain track position. Alex Bowman came down pit road for early servicing. More drivers began to trickle down pit road in an attempt to gain track position at the end of the stage. The strategy worked well for Kyle Busch as he cycled into the lead, and won the first stage of the race.
Kevin Harvick did not stop during the stage break and restarted the race in the lead. Once again, Harvick jumped out to a comfortable lead, leaving the rest of the field to chase behind. Kyle Busch continued to show speed as he chased down Harvick and passed him for the lead on lap 72. On lap 83, Chase Elliott blew his right front tire and smacked the fence. This wreck brought out a caution and ended Elliott’s day. Shortly after the restart, another caution flag waved when some rain moved onto the track. This caution did not last long, and the field continued on to the end of stage two. On the ensuing restart, Ryan Blaney spun around and brought out the caution. The stage ended under the caution and Jimmie Johnson picked up the stage win.
Once again, Kevin Harvick brought the field to the green flag. This time Denny Hamlin had the stronger restart and was able to overtake Harvick. As Hamlin was leading, his team was figuring out the perfect time to come down pit road. That time arrived when Ryan Preece made hard contact with the safer-barrier in turn-one to bring out another caution. Everyone came down pit road except Kyle Busch giving him the top-spot for the restart.
It became a fuel battle as the race winded down. Kyle Busch continued to lead, but he would soon have to surrender that lead. He came down pit road with 25 laps remaining in the race. Erik Jones cycled back into the lead, but he needed some help to be able to make it to the end of the race.
With 15 laps remaining, Denny Hamlin passed up Jones for the race lead. It seemed as if he had enough to make it the end of the race on fuel. With only eight laps to go, the caution flag waved for Josh Bilicky, and on the following restart, another flag waved for Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell. The race headed into overtime for one final restart.
Denny Hamlin jumped out to the lead with the field chasing behind and some drivers forcing three-wide action down into turn one. The only question was if Hamlin had enough in the tank to make it around one more time. The No. 11 team breathed a sigh of relief once they saw Hamlin power off turn three down toward the checkered flag and winning the Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway.
After a dramatic Sunday afternoon race, Denny Hamlin can breathe a sigh of relief knowing his team made all the right decisions to put him in victory lane. If it was not for the caution with eight laps remaining, everyone would have had to come down pit road for fuel. This would potentially have given Kyle Busch the victory. Pocono seems to always turn into a pit strategy battle as teams try to make it to the end of the race on three or four stops throughout the afternoon. These races can turn south quick for teams if they choose to pit at the wrong time. It worked out well for Denny Hamlin.
Next week’s race is at Watkins Glen for some more road course action. Chase Elliott claimed his first career victory last year on fumes. He even ran out of fuel on his victory lap and had to be pushed back to the front stretch by his teammate. Watkins Glen is a fun course with a lot of action running through the twists and turns of this road course.