Quick pit work helped Kevin Harvick to his first top-10 finish since he was eighth at Pocono in June. Credit: Autostock

Sunoco Pit Move: Pocono Raceway

It wasn't noticed much, but it was very impressive that Kevin Harvick was able to finish sixth on old tires at Pocono.

Harvick started 10th, but he went a lap down early when Kurt Busch was mowing down the field. Harvick got his lap back and was running 15th when the caution flew on Lap 163.

Sunoco Pit MoveHarvick leaves the pits in third after taking fuel only Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Crew chief Todd Berrier made an incredibly bold move by taking fuel only, and with the rash of cautions the race experienced in the last 30 laps, the move worked.

The move worked because Harvick had less than 10 laps on his tires anyway. He had already stopped on Lap 151, but he stayed on the lead lap and was able to get a caution at the right time.

Harvick's run snapped a five-race slump in which he hadn't finished better than 19th.

Edwards, Wallace make two tires work

Race ReactionWallace, Martin, and Johnson review the Pa. 500 Bumper tagCarl Edwards tags Kasey Kahne in the final laps at Pocono Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

It was a no-brainer for the cars of Mark Martin and Kurt Busch to take four tires on the final stop, but the same can't be said for Carl Edwards.

Crew chief Bob Osborne had to fight the track position game all day long after Edwards had to start from the rear of the field.

A two-tire call on the final stop capped his comeback, as Edwards' Ford actually ran better with just two tires. He wound up fourth for his first top-10 since Michigan.

Wallace's two-tire call was more complex. A problem on the left rear of his car prevented the jackman from getting the left side of his Dodge up quickly, so Wallace took right-sides only on the final stop.

Busch has pit problems again

Kurt Busch experienced problems on pit for the second consecutive week, but the real story was that his "long" pit stop was only 17.5 seconds.

	Kurt Busch Credit: Autostock
	Results Pennsylvania 500 Pos. Driver Make 1. Kurt Busch Ford 2. Rusty Wallace Dodge 3. Mark Martin Ford 4. Carl Edwards Ford 5. Ryan Newman Dodge • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here

Seventeen-point-five seconds. Only five years ago, that was an average stop. Nowadays, it's deemed "long."

And it was.

During a round of green-flag pit stops on Lap 110, Busch's crew left a lugnut loose on the front, and it enabled Mark Martin to make up five seconds.

Busch was fortunate the mistake happened during a round of green-flag stops. Certainly, the mistake happened at the best time possible.

Busch also had a lackluster stop during the final round of yellow-flag stops.

"You can't get hard on your team," Busch said. " If you do that, then they're not going to be as focused and determined to give you that solid pit stop the next time around."

Four tires worked for Busch

Busch had a great car at Pocono, but two good breaks helped him win. He was nearly out of gas with less than 40 laps to go, but he got a caution right when he needed it on Lap 163.

That caution enabled him to come in and change four tires, and fortunately, only a handful of cars were able to get ahead of him with two-tire stops.

SUNOCO PIT MOVE •   2005 Archive

Busch was able to restart in the top 10 and easily make his back into the lead.

"There has to be a certain amount of laps and there can't be a large quantity of cars that take two tires," Busch said. "So when we came back out on the track and we looked at who was in front of us, with the amount of tires that they had, it looked as if we were poised for a good run."

Quotable

"It may have been a blessing in disguise. It allowed us to come back in and get tires. We made up a lot of spots."
-- Tony Stewart, who pitted during yellow on Lap 178, got tires -- and picked up 10 spots as a result