Matt Kenseth wins at Pocono as other leaders run out of gas
He finally wins at Pocono after front-runners run out of gas
Long Pond, Pa. — Matt Kenseth stretched his fuel and zipped past the fading leaders in the final thrilling laps Sunday to check two boxes on his NASCAR career to-do list.
“I won at Pocono. I didn’t think that would ever happen,” Kenseth said after taking the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway. “And I won a fuel-mileage race. I didn’t think that would ever happen.
“There’s been a few through the years that I thought we had it all figured out, and we were the only one that was going to make it and all that stuff and you catch an untimely caution. And there’s been some other ones where you are kind of dominating the race and you’re out there and you run out of gas and somebody back mid-pack had enough gas to make it.”
This time, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were among the unlucky ones. All ran inside the top five in the final five laps when they ran out of gas.
Busch failed in his bid to become the ninth driver since 1972 and the first since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four straight Cup races.
With Busch’s recent dominance, Kenseth made it five wins in the last six races for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I know it’s a cliché, everybody back at the shop is working hard, but they really are,” said Kenseth, the 2003 series champion from Cambridge, Wis.
“They’ve really been digging because nobody was happy with our season last year, and I think as late as March, I think Coach (Gibbs) was still yelling at us in meetings, and ever since he yelled at us that last meeting, we’ve all been running better.”
Brad Keselowski was second, followed by Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle.
Truex ended up 19th, Logano 20th and Busch 21st.
Busch remained outside the top 30 in points, the only remaining hurdle he must clear to qualify for the Chase after missing the first 11 races of the year because of injuries.
Busch had won three straight Cup races and four of five, swept the Xfinity and Cup races last weekend at Indianapolis and won the Camping World Truck Series event Saturday at Pocono.
“I wish I had saved a little more,” Busch said. “I wish I had known (Logano) was that far from making it. It’s a shame we couldn’t get it done.”
With a win, Busch would have had the points needed to at least crack the top 30, although he’d still have to stay there for the final five races before the 16-driver field is set for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship shootout.
“I think Kyle just pins his ears back and tries to get up front and go, and I think that was typical today,” Gibbs said.
“I think somebody asked him, hey, you ran out there, did you try and save, and he goes, ‘I was just trying to win.’ Particularly when you win one and two and you get on a roll and you’re trying to go for it.”
Kenseth survived a race that resembled a demolition derby: Cars, crews, walls, equipment, all took beatings over 400 miles.
Kasey Kahne kicked off a race stuffed with wreckage when his No. 5 got loose, found the opening to pit road and slammed the inside pit road wall. Kahne’s hit buckled the wall, sent helmets flying and crew members scurrying for safety.
The race was red-flagged for about 15 minutes while the wall was repaired. No one was hurt.
Keselowski slid through his pit stall and took out three members of his crew. His tire changer and tire carrier both jumped on the hood and the team jackman was clipped by the left side of the No. 2 Ford. One tire got free and rolled down pit road before it came to a dead stop.
“If we could have, quite honestly, not had that issue during the race, I feel like we probably would have won today,” Keselowski said. “That one is on me, so I feel really guilty for my team on that.”
Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 suffered engine failure only 20 laps into the race. Ricky Stenhouse’s No. 17 was a crumpled mess after he slammed into Sam Hornish Jr. Kurt Busch spun, tried to save his car and was plowed by Hornish. Trevor Bayne was knocked out of the race when a pipe went through his radiator.
There were seven cautions in the first 70 laps. It took an hour to complete the first 30 laps on the 21⁄2-mile track.