Kyle Busch Wins Pocono Race Two on Fumes with a Failing Car

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LONG POND, PA – RIS – Kyle Busch had an eventful day.  A broken transmission and a failing clutch to start, but it all even for the best for the driver of the No. 18 Toyota.  As usual, the NASCAR Cup series Pocono Mountains 350 became a fuel mileage race.  As driver after driver had to pit for fuel in the closing laps, Busch conserved fuel and won, beating new phenom Kyle Larson by a whopping 8.654 seconds.

Brad Keselowski finished third with Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace rounding out the top five. Ryan Blaney, Saturday’s winner Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, and Joey Logano finished in 6th through 10th place.

Busch, Saturday’s runner-up, encountered major issues with his shifter, which initially starting popping out of gear but then became stuck in fourth gear — severely hampering his pit stops and eventually burning out the clutch on his No. 18 Toyota. In the end, gas mileage made the difference and Busch went 46 laps on his final tank of fuel.

"Just playing the strategy the best we could with what was given to us," Busch said. “Sometimes these races aren't always won by the fastest car, but I still felt like we had the fastest car. Even though we were in the back and behind and having to come through and preservere through behind stuck in fourth gear, no clutch, all that stuff -- It's all burnt out, Nothing left in this M&M's Mini's Camry. It was awesome today."

Busch realized his pr9oblem early enough, he was in hope that it could be fixed on his final pit stop, but  in having to try and fix his transmission under caution, Busch was able to top off on fuel, putting him prime position as the rest of the leaders had to either go into hard fuel conservation mode or come to pit road over the final 10 laps.

As the final green flag run unfolded, the altering fuel strategies throughout the field began to play out over a dramatic final 10 laps. As Brad Keselowski was forced to pit for fuel from the race lead, William Byron held a comfortable lead as he tried to conserve fuel, but his pace allowed Denny Hamlin and Busch to close in. Byron then had to pit for fuel coming to two laps to go, and Hamlin had to peel off for fuel coming to the white flag.

With his fuel mileage win, Busch earned his second victory of the season and snapped a six-race win streak by Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Busch is now one of four drivers to have earned multiple wins this season, joining Kyle Larson (four), Martin Truex Jr. (three), and Alex Bowman (three).

The NASCAR Cup cars next head to Road America next Sunday on the Fourth of July for another road race.  

Unofficial Results, 48th Annual Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, June 27, 2021, Pocono Raceway - 2.5 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts
1) 19, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Mini's Toyota, 140, , 7, 44, Running, 2, 30, 5
2) 12, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 140, , 8, 38, Running, , ,
3) 11, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Detroit Engines Ford, 140, 3, 3, 50, Running, 2, 31,
4) 13, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 140, , , 33, Running, , ,
5) 7, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 DraftKings Toyota, 140, 5, , 38, Running, 1, 3,
6) 16, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Duracell Ford, 140, 4, , 38, Running, , ,
7) 20, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 140, , , 30, Running, 1, 18,
8) 23, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Thomas'/Kroger Chevrolet, 140, , , 29, Running, , ,
9) 10, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Kalahari Resorts & Conventions Chevrolet, 140, 8, , 31, Running, , ,
10) 14, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 140, 10, , 28, Running, , ,
11) 3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Reser's Fine Foods Toyota, 140, 1, 6, 41, Running, 1, 19, 1
12) 18, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Color of the Year Chevrolet, 140, , 1, 35, Running, 2, 22, 1
13) 21, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Workrise Chevrolet, 140, , , 24, Running, , ,
14) 17, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 140, , 2, 32, Running, 1, 1,
15) 8, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet, 140, 9, , 24, Running, , ,
16) 5, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 140, 2, 9, 32, Running, , ,
17) 2, Michael McDowell, No. 34 ARRMA Ford, 140, 6, , 25, Running, 1, 7,
18) 32, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 140, , , 19, Running, , ,
19) 1, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Acronis Ford, 140, , , 18, Running, 1, 6,
20) 15, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 140, , , 17, Running, , ,
21) 24, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 HighPoint.com/Webex by Cisco Ford, 140, , , 16, Running, , ,
22) 37, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Guaranteed Rate Ford, 140, , , 15, Running, , ,
23) 36, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Nations Guard Chevrolet, 139, , , 14, Running, , ,
24) 38, Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 139, , , 13, Running, , ,
25) 27, Justin Allgaier(i), No. 77 Diamond Creek Water Chevrolet, 139, , , 0, Running, , ,
26) 33, Ross Chastain, No. 42 McDonald's Chevrolet, 139, , 10, 12, Running, , ,
27) 9, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 139, , 5, 16, Running, , ,
28) 25, Cody Ware(i), No. 51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 139, , , 0, Running, , ,
29) 30, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 American Brain Tumor Association Ford, 138, , , 0, Running, , ,
30) 28, James Davison, No. 15 Go FMX Chevrolet, 137, , , 7, Running, , ,
31) 22, Erik Jones, No. 43 Medallion Bank Chevrolet, 136, , , 6, Running, , ,
32) 4, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 135, , 4, 12, Running, 1, 3,
33) 31, Quin Houff, No. 00 Mane 'n Tail/Spirit Unlimited Chevrolet, 135, , , 4, Running, , ,
34) 26, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 Death Wish Coffee Ford, 134, , , 3, Running, , ,
35) 34, Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Jacob Companies Ford, 132, , , 2, Running, , ,
36) 29, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 53 RichMar Florists Chevrolet, 122, , , 0, Engine, , ,
37) 35, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 M&M Mechanical Toyota, 113, , , 0, Handling, , ,
38) 6, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Scott Brand Chevrolet, 111, 7, , 5, Engine, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 26 Mins, 49 Secs.
Race Length: 140 Laps, 350 Miles
Average Speed: 143.036 MPH
Margin of Victory: 8.654 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 10, 2, 12, 23, 34, 47, 8, 99, 22
Stage 2 Top 10: 24, 11, 2, 20, 9, 19, 18, 5, 10, 42

Comments: Kyle Busch has won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway, his 59th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: No. 77 (driver change) and Nos. 41, 6, 5, 37, 42, 7, 38 (backup cars).

Caution Flags: 4 for 15 laps;
Laps: 3-6 (No. 38 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
32-35 (Stage 1 Conclusion [53]);
87-90 (Stage 2 Conclusion [77]);
94-96 (Debris [51]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 10 drivers;
C. Buescher 1-6;
M. McDowell 7-13;
M. Truex Jr. 14-32;
B. Keselowski 33-45;
K. Busch 46-73;
B. Wallace 74-76;
W. Byron 77-93;
C. Bell 94-96;
A. Bowman 97-114;
B. Keselowski 115-132;
W. Byron 133-137;
D. Hamlin 138;
K. Busch 139-140.

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Chase Briscoe, #14

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 2021, Issue 6, Posted 7:47 PM, 06.27.2021