Kyle Busch Wins Pocono Xfinity Race, but Fails Post-Race Inspection

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LONG POND, PA – RIS – Kyle dominated the Pocono Green 250 Xfinity race on Saturday, but the car failed inspection after the race.  Busch’s Toyota was found to be two high on the left front, which has in the past been a penalty.  Most penalties are announced on the Wednesday after the race.  It was Busch’s first win in the series this year.  Busch led 64 of the 100 laps, came back from a pit road speeding penalty following winning Stage 1 to score his 92nd career series win.

“Feels good for as good as our car was,” Busch said. “This car was on rails this week. It was last week too, but was just able to overcome our deficit that we had this weekend and get back to the front.

“My guys are amazing, Joe Gibbs Racing, everybody in the Xfinity Series shop…We were able to overcome our deficit and get to Victory Lane.”

Busch took the checkered flag 2.8-second ahead of the field.

Chase Elliott finished second after a battle with Daniel Hemric over the closing laps.

Hemric, Austin Cindric and pole sitter Cole Custer rounded out the top five.

“We had a really fast Haas Automation Mustang, we just didn’t have really good long run speed,” Custer said. “That was our biggest problem. We just got too tight at the end of a run. It was interesting to run the package and try to learn it throughout the day. I just think we needed a little more there. We were close, we just needed a little more long-run speed.”

Elliott Sadler, John Hunter Nemechek, Paul Menard, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Truex completed the first 10 finishers.

Two championship contenders in Christopher Bell and Justin Allgaier were eliminated from the race when they were involved in an accident on lap 61.

The race featured the rules package that was in place for last year’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway race including a restrictor plate and aerodynamic modifications.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series now heads to Michigan International Speedway next Saturday afternoon. The same rules package will be used at the two-mile superspeedway.

Unofficial Race Results for the 3rd Annual Pocono Green 250 Recycled By JP Mascaro & Sons - Saturday, June 2, 2018 - Pocono Raceway - Long Pond, PA
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Pts, Status
1) 4, Kyle Busch(i), No. 18 Comcast Salute to Service/Juniper Toyota, 100, 1, 6, 2, 64, 0, Running
2) 10, Chase Elliott(i), No. 23 Allegiant Chevrolet, 100, 7, 7, , , 0, Running
3) 11, Daniel Hemric, No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 100, 10, , , , 35, Running
4) 3, Austin Cindric #, No. 12 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford, 100, 3, 4, 1, 1, 48, Running
5) 1, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 100, , 2, 2, 23, 41, Running
6) 7, Elliott Sadler, No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, 100, 4, 8, , , 41, Running
7) 8, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 100, 6, 5, 1, 4, 41, Running
8) 13, Paul Menard(i), No. 22 LTI Printing Ford, 100, 8, 1, 1, 3, 0, Running
9) 9, Tyler Reddick #, No. 9 Pinnacle Financial Partners Chevrolet, 100, 9, 9, , , 32, Running
10) 2, Ryan Truex, No. 11 Phantom Fireworks Chevrolet, 100, , 10, , , 28, Running
11) 12, Ross Chastain, No. 4 Flex Seal Chevrolet, 100, , , , , 26, Running
12) 18, Shane Lee, No. 3 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet, 100, , , , , 25, Running
13) 20, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford, 100, , , , , 24, Running
14) 21, Matt Tifft, No. 2 Tunity Chevrolet, 100, , , , , 23, Running
15) 14, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, 100, , , , , 22, Running
16) 15, Kaz Grala #, No. 61 NETTTS Ford, 100, , , , , 21, Running
17) 17, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 KMB Plumbing & Electrical Chevrolet, 100, , , , , 20, Running
18) 23, Alex Labbe #, No. 36 Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Gear Chevrolet, 100, , , , , 19, Running
19) 24, Joey Gase, No. 35 Sparks Chevrolet, 100, , , , , 18, Running
20) 29, David Starr, No. 52 GeorgesToolRental.com/ATS/Whataburger Chevrolet, 99, , , , , 17, Running
21) 32, Josh Williams, No. 90 Star Tron Star brite/Sleep Well Chevrolet, 99, , , , , 16, Running
22) 28, BJ McLeod, No. 78 JW Transport LLC Chevrolet, 99, , , , , 15, Running
23) 26, Dylan Lupton, No. 28 Fatal Clothing Ford, 99, , , , , 14, Running
24) 6, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Juniper/Comcast Salute to Service Toyota, 99, 5, , 1, 5, 19, Running
25) 27, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 8 JW Transport, LLC Chevrolet, 99, , , , , 12, Running
26) 37, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 Wheeling Wailers Chevrolet, 98, , , , , 11, Running
27) 31, Matt Mills, No. 15 Chevrolet, 98, , , , , 10, Running
28) 36, Spencer Boyd #, No. 76 Grunt Style Chevrolet, 97, , , , , 9, Running
29) 39, Josh Bilicki #, No. 45 Prevagen Toyota, 96, , , , , 8, Running
30) 35, Chad Finchum #, No. 40 Smithbilt Homes Toyota, 96, , , , , 7, Running
31) 30, Vinnie Miller #, No. 01 JAS Trucking Chevrolet, 96, , , , , 6, Running
32) 38, Brandon Hightower, No. 55 Timmons Truck Center Toyota, 95, , , , , 5, Running
33) 40, Mike Harmon, No. 74 Horizon Transport Chevrolet, 93, , , , , 4, Running
34) 25, JJ Yeley, No. 38 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 68, , , , , 3, Brakes
35) 22, Michael Annett, No. 5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 66, , , , , 2, Suspension
36) 5, Christopher Bell #, No. 20 Ruud-Meier Supply Toyota, 61, 2, , , , 10, Accident
37) 19, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Breyers 2 in 1 Chevrolet, 60, , 3, , , 9, Accident
38) 16, Chase Briscoe, No. 60 Nutri Chomps Ford, 57, , , , , 1, Accident
39) 34, Timmy Hill, No. 66 OCR Gaz Bar Dodge, 10, , , , , 1, Overheating
40) 33, Jeff Green, No. 93 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 4, , , , , 1, Brakes
 (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 57 Mins, 59 Secs.
Total Race Length - 100 Laps - 250 Miles 
Average Speed: 127.137 MPH
Margin of Victory: 2.852 Seconds
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the 3rd Annual Pocono Green 250 Recycled by JP Mascaro & Sons, his 92nd victory in 342 NASCAR XFINITY Series races. Prior to the start of the race the following car moved to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: 36 (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: (1) No. 89 Morgan Shepherd.
Caution Flags: 5 for 18 laps: Laps: 27-30 (Stage 1 Conclusion [78]); 32-34 (No. 5 spin in turn 1 [90]); 52-55 (Stage 2 Conclusion [52]); 58-60 (No. 5, No. 60 incident in turn 1 [0]); 62-65 (No. 7, No. 20 and No. 28 incident on backstretch [8]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 6 drivers: C. Custer 1-2; K. Busch(i) 3-26; A. Cindric # 27; C. Custer 28-48; P. Menard(i) 49-51; J. Nemechek 52-55; B. Jones 56-60; K. Busch(i) 61-100.
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 18 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Austin Cindric, No. 12 
Race Fast Facts - 3rd Annual Pocono Green 250 Recycled by JP Mascaro & Sons, Pocono Raceway
Race Winner:
 Kyle Busch(i) Age: 33
Team : No. 18 - Comcast Salute to Service/Juniper Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
Crew Chief: Eric Phillips
Kyle Busch won the 3rd Annual Pocono Green 250 Recycled by JP Mascaro & Sons, his 92nd victory in 342 NASCAR XFINITY Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2018.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in two races at Pocono Raceway.
Chase Elliott (second) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at Pocono Raceway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2018.
Daniel Hemric (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Pocono Raceway.
Austin Cindric (fourth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Elliott Sadler leads the point standings by 62 points over Cole Custer.

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2018, Issue 6, Posted 6:12 PM, 06.02.2018