The NASCAR Cup Series Doubleheader Weekend at Pocono Raceway had a couple of surprise winners. The surprise came as a result of the situations that allowed Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch to head to Victory Lane.
The Pocono Organics CBD 325 was first Saturday night (6/26). Kyle Larson has been dominating in the Cup Series leading the most laps and winning the past three point races leading up to Saturday night’s race.
Larson would start from the pole position leading many to believe we would see another display of domination. However, that would not be the case. Larson would be among the nine drivers that would exchange the lead 14 times during the race. He would only lead half as many laps as the Kyle Busch who led a race high 30 laps.
It did appear that Larson was going to get it all figured out and be there to at least win his fourth consecutive point race. He took the lead with three laps remaining in the race. Larson kept that lead to take the white flag and appeared to be about to score the victory when his right front tire went flat heading into turn three. That sent his #5 Chevrolet into the wall through the final turn of the track.
Alex Bowman was then able to race forward from second place to claim the win. This was his first win on the “Tricky Triangle” in NASCAR’s top division. It also gives Alex three wins in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Kyle Busch claimed the runner-up finish. William Byron finished in third place. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth places respectively. Kyle Larson was able to score a ninth place finish after experiencing the flat tire and hitting the wall. See the complete race results for the Pocono Organics CBD 325 (Pocono Raceway Race #1) here.
Sunday (6/27) was the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350. The finishing order from Saturday’s race was inverted to set the start of this race. That gave some different drivers the chance to start the race in clean air to try to claim a victory.
This time there would be 10 drivers that would exchange the lead 12 times. Early on in the race some of those drivers were not the usual to be found out front. However, as the race wore on the top drivers found their way to the front as they usually do. Most of the race it looked as though it would come down to either Brad Keselowski (who led a race high 31 laps) or Kyle Busch (who led 30 laps). It looked as though it would be whomever chose the right race strategy that would have a shot at winning.
Unfortunately Kyle Busch had mechanical problems that initially made everybody think his chances to win had vanished. His transmission got stuck in fourth gear. That meant pit stops and re-starts would be nearly impossible for him to not lose many, many spots. Fate appeared to have dealt Kyle Busch a losing hand, but karma gave him an ace in the hole.
After the final round of pit stops, Kyle Busch got back on track in decent position. His hope was that the race would remain green so he could salvage as good a day as possible and not have to endure a re-start that would surely lose him positions.
Then the engineers and crew chiefs started crunching the numbers. Everybody was trying to figure out of they could save enough fuel to make it to the end of the race. A few knew they had to stop and did so to ensure they could make it. Several thought they could save enough to have a chance. They knew that was the only way they could win the race. Kyle Busch was one of those.
As the laps clicked off and cars made stops for fuel the #18 Toyota moved closer and closer to the lead. William Byron had to pit with two laps remaining as he was running out of fuel. That moved Denny Hamlin to the lead with Kyle Busch now in second place.
Following the 2.5-mile lap as the leader Denny Hamlin was also running out of fuel and had to pit handing the lead to Kyle Busch for the final lap of the race. The question was would Busch have enough fuel to make it around the track one more time? He did. He was able to claim his fourth career win at Pocono Raceway. It was also his second win of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Kyle Larson was able to claim the runner-up finish after the stumble the day before. Brad Keselowski finished in third place. Fourth place went to Kevin Harvick with Bubba Wallace rounding out the top five. See the complete race results for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 here.
Following the NASCAR Doubleheader weekend at Pocono, Denny Hamlin remains the leader in the point standings. Kyle Larson continues in second place with William Byron holding steady in third place. Joey Logano moves up to fourth place and Kyle Busch moves up to round out the top five.
There are now just seven races remaining in the regular season. The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs outlook has Kyle Larson at the top (4 wins). Martin Truex Jr. (3 wins) is second with Alex Bowman (3 wins) in third. Kyle Busch (2 wins) moves up to fourth pushing Joey Logano (1 win) back to fifth. These ranks are based on wins and playoff points to this point in the season. When the regular season is complete things will change slightly based on all factors.
The next stop for the NASCAR Cup Series is Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin and the Road America road course. Sunday, July 4th will be the Jockey Made In America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip.
By: Buck Stevens
