At least five Toyotas came to pit road before the end of Stage 2 in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway. And at the time, all five of those cars — driven by Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez, were setting themselves up for the final stage rather than racking up the immediate benefits of stage points.
It was a move that put all the cards out on the table, and perhaps one that had Fantasy Live owners for these drivers pulling their hair out, but track position was cited in post-race interviews as being an important factor in being competitive at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle.” For some, that meant it was OK to pass up the stage points and go for the win.
So, how did the strategy turn out when the smoke cleared from race-winner Kyle Busch’s celebratory burnout?
RELATED: Complete race results
Well, pretty darn good, if we don’t say so ourselves.
As mentioned, Kyle Busch won the race, but teammate Suarez also posted a career-best runner-up finish, Jones finished fifth and Hamlin was 10th — a huge day for JGR. Meanwhile, Truex Jr. was the only real disappointment coming in 15th (though most people not named Martin Truex would be happy with that result).
Part of what makes the strategy effective, however, is not having any issues on pit road, and for the most part, these Toyota teams were on point. Check out the pit stats for Suarez below and use the drop-down menus to see how the other drivers performed.