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After 12 months of not winning at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup level, Kyle Busch has broken through for his 39th career victory and first at Pocono.
Busch had led over 1100 laps in 2017, but for a range of reasons could not take it all the way.
The story of the race was getting out front, and this brought a range of strategies, especially towards the end. Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin stopped early in the final pit stop cycle.
Busch and crew chief Adam Stevens decided to stay out much longer. He re-joined six seconds behind the trio. However, he quickly reeled them in and took the race win by six seconds.
“I never thought this day would happen,” said Busch.
“Such an awesome race car. Adam Stevens and all these guys on this car they never give up. We have been fighting all year long. A great day for us.
“It has been a frustrating year, but an awesome day.
“Our car was really fast on the long run and we were confident that as long as we had a clear run we had the confidence to run them down.”
The result was the 100th victory for Toyota in the Cup Series. The first win was back in 2008; the winner that day was Kyle Busch.
In terms of the stage wins, Busch won Stage 1 and Clint Bowyer took Stage 2, after a number of the leaders chose to pit three laps before the end of stage to gain track position. Busch also had pole for the race.
A loose left-rear lug nut was found post-race on Busch’s car, but that was a breach that would draw a fine, not a penalty.
Kyle Busch’s reputation as a driver for all conditions means that only Charlotte remains on the list of tracks he has not won at.
He will get his head into road course mode next weekend when the series heads to Watkins Glen.
VIDEO: Race recap
VIDEO: Busch speaks after winning
RESULTS: Overton’s 400 – Pocono Raceway
| Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Laps Led |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 160 | 74 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 160 | 0 |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 160 | 31 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 160 | 18 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 160 | 6 |
| 6 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 160 | 5 |
| 7 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 160 | 0 |
| 8 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 160 | 4 |
| 9 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 160 | 9 |
| 10 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 |
| 11 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 |
| 13 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 160 | 0 |
| 14 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 |
| 15 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 160 | 0 |
| 16 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 160 | 11 |
| 17 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 |
| 18 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 |
| 19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 |
| 20 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 159 | 0 |
| 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 159 | 2 |
| 22 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 159 | 0 |
| 23 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 |
| 24 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 |
| 25 | 23 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 159 | 0 |
| 26 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 |
| 27 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 159 | 0 |
| 28 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 |
| 29 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 158 | 0 |
| 30 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 158 | 0 |
| 31 | 15 | Gray Gaulding | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 |
| 32 | 83 | Stephen Leicht | Toyota | 153 | 0 |
| 33 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 148 | 0 |
| 34 | 55 | Derrike Cope | Toyota | 85 | 0 |
| 35 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 57 | 0 |
| 36 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 24 | 0 |
| 37 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 0 | 0 |
STANDINGS
Rank | Driver | Pts | Behind | Wins | Starts | Top 5’s | Top 10’s | Poles |
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 823 | Leader | 3 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 1 |
2 | Kyle Larson | 738 | -85 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 3 |
3 | Kevin Harvick | 726 | -97 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 3 |
4 | Kyle Busch | 723 | -100 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 11 | 5 |
5 | Brad Keselowski | 649 | -174 | 2 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 1 |
6 | Denny Hamlin | 649 | -174 | 1 | 21 | 7 | 11 | 0 |
7 | Chase Elliott | 616 | -207 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 1 |
8 | Jamie McMurray | 615 | -208 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
9 | Matt Kenseth | 594 | -229 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
10 | Clint Bowyer | 577 | -246 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
11 | Jimmie Johnson | 566 | -257 | 3 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
12 | Ryan Blaney | 529 | -294 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
13 | Joey Logano | 525 | -298 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
14 | Kurt Busch | 494 | -329 | 1 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
15 | Ryan Newman | 491 | -332 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
16 | Erik Jones | 469 | -354 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 468 | -355 | 2 | 21 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
18 | Daniel Suarez | 464 | -359 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
19 | Kasey Kahne | 414 | -409 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
20 | Trevor Bayne | 406 | -417 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
21 | Austin Dillon | 395 | -428 | 1 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
22 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 378 | -445 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
23 | Paul Menard | 363 | -460 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
24 | Ty Dillon | 360 | -463 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
25 | Michael McDowell | 326 | -497 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
26 | Chris Buescher | 320 | -503 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
27 | AJ Allmendinger | 317 | -506 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
28 | Danica Patrick | 310 | -513 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
29 | David Ragan | 266 | -557 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
30 | Matt DiBenedetto | 233 | -590 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
31 | Aric Almirola | 226 | -597 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
32 | Cole Whitt | 226 | -597 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
33 | Landon Cassill | 226 | -597 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
34 | Corey LaJoie | 143 | -680 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
35 | Gray Gaulding | 105 | -718 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
36 | Reed Sorenson | 91 | -732 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
37 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 90 | -733 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
38 | Michael Waltrip | 29 | -794 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
39 | Derrike Cope | 29 | -794 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
40 | Billy Johnson | 15 | -808 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
41 | Boris Said | 8 | -815 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
42 | Stephen Leicht | 5 | -818 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
43 | Alon Day | 5 | -818 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
44 | Kevin O’Connell | 4 | -819 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
45 | Cody Ware | 4 | -819 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
46 | Tommy Regan | 3 | -820 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
47 | D.J. Kennington | 2 | -821 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
48 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -823 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
49 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 0 | -823 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
50 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -823 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
51 | Elliott Sadler | 0 | -823 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
52 | Ross Chastain | 0 | -823 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
53 | Joey Gase | 0 | -823 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
54 | Regan Smith | 0 | -823 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
55 | Ryan Sieg | 0 | -823 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
56 | JJ Yeley | 0 | -823 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
57 | Carl Long | 0 | -823 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
58 | B.J. McLeod | 0 | -823 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
59 | Josh Bilicki | 0 | -823 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
