Matt Kenseth has come from fourth place with three laps to run to win at Pocono Raceway and give Joe Gibbs Racing four wins in-a-row.
With fuel being stretched to the absolute limit, race leader Joey Logano ran out with three laps to run, Martin Truex Jr. (second place) with two laps to run, then Kyle Busch – who was going for his fourth win in a row — ran out entering the Turn 1 on the final lap!
The cagey Kenseth, who was around 15 second behind in second at that stage, passed Busch on the back stretch and came through to take his second win of the year.
“I never thought I’d ever win at Pocono, and I never thought I’d win a fuel-mile race,” Kenseth said afterward.
“With 20 to go, I knew we were a little short, so Matt started saving,” said crew chief Jason Ratcliff.
“When those guys in front of us started faltering, I was like ‘Oh my God, what do we do?’ … This has not been one of our better race tracks, and Matt did a heck of a job saving fuel and getting the win.”
Busch, who needs to be in the top 30 to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, finished 21st and still needs to bridge that gap in the coming weeks.
“I didn’t know we were that close. (Crew chief) Adam (Stevens) was just telling me to save, I thought, to not put too much pressure on the car,” said Busch.
“That’s a bummer. I wish I would have saved some more. I wish I would have known the 22 (Logano) was that far away from making it; I would saved some more. … I guess we were a little greedy. We went for broke today and came up a little bit short.”
Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five.
A scary incident occurred on just the fourth lap of the race when Kasey Kahne spun and crashed into the narrow steel barrier that separates pit road from crewmen and other people. Kahne’s car hit helmets that were perched on the wall in AJ Allmendinger’s pit stall and sent them flying as people scattered.
The wall was heavily damaged causing a red flag for nearly 15 minutes. No one was injured.
“I saw the people and I was like, ‘Man, you guys better take off running and get out of the way,’ ” said Kahne.
A tough day for defending champion and points leader Kevin Harvick, who had his first DNF since Texas Motor Speedway in April 2014, with an engine failure.
VIDEO: Kenseth wins at Pocono
RESULTS: Windows 10 400 – Pocono Raceway
POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS POINTS |
1 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 7 | 160 | 2 | Running | 47 | 4 |
2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 9 | 160 | 3 | Running | 43 | 1 |
3 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 10 | 160 | 2 | Running | 42 | 1 |
4 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 15 | 160 | 0 | Running | 40 | 0 |
5 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 25 | 160 | 2 | Running | 40 | 1 |
6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 12 | 160 | 0 | Running | 38 | 0 |
7 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 22 | 160 | 0 | Running | 37 | 0 |
8 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 19 | 160 | 0 | Running | 36 | 0 |
9 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 5 | 160 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
10 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 8 | 160 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
11 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 18 | 160 | 0 | Running | 33 | 0 |
12 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 27 | 160 | 5 | Running | 33 | 1 |
13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 4 | 160 | 0 | Running | 31 | 0 |
14 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 29 | 160 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
15 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 17 | 160 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
16 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 20 | 160 | 5 | Running | 29 | 1 |
17 | 55 | David Ragan | Toyota | 24 | 160 | 1 | Running | 28 | 1 |
18 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 21 | 160 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 |
19 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 13 | 160 | 6 | Running | 26 | 1 |
20 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 3 | 160 | 97 | Running | 26 | 2 |
21 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 1 | 159 | 19 | Running | 24 | 1 |
22 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 11 | 159 | 2 | Running | 23 | 1 |
23 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 14 | 159 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
24 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 31 | 159 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
25 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 28 | 159 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
26 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 39 | 159 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
27 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | 33 | 159 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
28 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 26 | 159 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
29 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 36 | 159 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
30 | 23 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 35 | 159 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
31 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | 32 | 158 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
32 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | 40 | 158 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
33 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 37 | 158 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
34 | 98 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 41 | 157 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
35 | 26 | Jeb Burton | Toyota | 38 | 157 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 |
36 | 62 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 43 | 156 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
37 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 6 | 150 | 13 | Running | 8 | 1 |
38 | 33 | Alex Kennedy | Chevrolet | 42 | 126 | 0 | Running | 6 | 0 |
39 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Ford | 30 | 123 | 0 | Running | 5 | 0 |
40 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 23 | 91 | 0 | Overheating | 4 | 0 |
41 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 34 | 27 | 0 | Accident | 3 | 0 |
42 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 2 | 20 | 3 | Engine | 3 | 1 |
43 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 16 | 3 | 0 | Accident | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
1 | Kevin Harvick | 780 | Leader | 21 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 1 |
2 | Joey Logano | 734 | -46 | 21 | 1 | 12 | 15 | 0 |
3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 717 | -63 | 21 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 1 |
4 | Jimmie Johnson | 713 | -67 | 21 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 0 |
5 | Martin Truex Jr | 694 | -86 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 2 |
6 | Brad Keselowski | 681 | -99 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 1 |
7 | Matt Kenseth | 662 | -118 | 21 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 1 |
8 | Jamie McMurray | 631 | -149 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
9 | Kurt Busch | 620 | -160 | 18 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
10 | Jeff Gordon | 617 | -163 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
11 | Denny Hamlin | 614 | -166 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
12 | Paul Menard | 591 | -189 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
13 | Ryan Newman | 584 | -196 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
14 | Clint Bowyer | 574 | -206 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
15 | Kasey Kahne | 559 | -221 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
16 | Carl Edwards | 553 | -227 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
17 | Aric Almirola | 534 | -246 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
18 | Greg Biffle | 502 | -278 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
19 | Kyle Larson | 485 | -295 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
20 | Austin Dillon | 484 | -296 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
21 | Casey Mears | 467 | -313 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
22 | Danica Patrick | 462 | -318 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
23 | AJ Allmendinger | 460 | -320 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
24 | David Ragan | 440 | -340 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
25 | Tony Stewart | 417 | -363 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
26 | Sam Hornish Jr | 390 | -390 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
27 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 383 | -397 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
28 | Trevor Bayne | 370 | -410 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
29 | Justin Allgaier | 337 | -443 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
30 | David Gilliland | 331 | -449 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
31 | Cole Whitt | 331 | -449 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
32 | Kyle Busch | 318 | -462 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
33 | Brett Moffitt | 279 | -501 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
34 | Alex Bowman | 264 | -516 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
35 | Michael Annett | 248 | -532 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
36 | Matt DiBenedetto | 220 | -560 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
37 | Josh Wise | 186 | -594 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
38 | Michael McDowell | 124 | -656 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
39 | Jeb Burton | 120 | -660 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
40 | Alex Kennedy | 77 | -703 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
41 | Reed Sorenson | 41 | -739 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
42 | Bobby Labonte | 39 | -741 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
43 | Brian Vickers | 32 | -748 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
44 | Michael Waltrip | 26 | -754 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
45 | Mike Wallace | 8 | -772 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
46 | Eddie MacDonald | 7 | -773 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
47 | Will Kimmel III | 6 | -774 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
48 | Ron Hornaday Jr | 2 | -778 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
49 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | -780 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
50 | Landon Cassill | 0 | -780 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
51 | Brian Scott | 0 | -780 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
52 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -780 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
53 | J.J. Yeley | 0 | -780 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
54 | Regan Smith | 0 | -780 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
55 | Chase Elliott | 0 | -780 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
56 | Matt Crafton | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
57 | Johnny Sauter | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
58 | Chris Buescher | 0 | -780 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
59 | Boris Said | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
60 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -780 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
61 | Justin Marks | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
62 | Mike Bliss | 0 | -780 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
63 | Travis Kvapil | 0 | -780 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
64 | Joe Nemechek | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
65 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -780 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
66 | Joey Gase | 0 | -780 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
67 | Derek White | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
68 | Jeff Green | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
69 | Erik Jones | 0 | -780 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
70 | Tanner Berryhill | 0 | -780 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |