Moments that changed the course of the 21st race of the 2014 season
RESTART EARNS JUNIOR POCONO SWEEP
Dale Earnhardt Jr. simultaneously followed his gut and listened to his crew chief. After all, both were saying the same thing.
In the lead, Junior chose the outside lane on a restart with four laps to go, and the momentum from swinging wide around the outside of Pocono Raceway kept the No. 88 driver out in front for good.
Earnhardt Jr. held off a charge from Kevin Harvick to win Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400, earning his third victory of the 2014 and a sweep of the season’s two races at Pocono.
“Watching the law of averages today, I’d pick the top line,” crew chief Steve Letarte told Junior over the radio. “But I’m not the one driving. I understand if you disagree.”
Earnhardt didn’t, and soon the two were celebrating in Victory Lane.
HAMLIN’S SPIN HAS FAR-REACHING EFFECTS
Denny Hamlin got loose during a Lap 118 restart, and the result was massive. Game-changing, even.
As the driver of the No. 11 Toyota attempted to regain control of his car, he slid down to the middle of the track just as a pack of drivers were trying to get through.
The end result was a 13-car pileup that threw pit strategies out of whack, and ended the race for good for some drivers.
“I was in the middle lane and I got stuck three-wide,” Hamlin said. “Just the guys getting runs and guys that can accelerate much faster than what we can and so that put me three-wide in the middle. The 15 (Clint Bowyer) was right on my door and it sucked me around and I was just hanging on at that point and I think it was mayhem from everyone checking up from behind. Like I said, I just got sucked around.”
Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Aric Almirola and Tony Stewart were among the cars who went to the garage for good, with Stewart’s car totally destroyed after flipping and landing on top of Paul Menard‘s machine.
Hamlin actually survived to finish ninth, and Kevin Harvick was among the cars in the carnage to come out OK. He finished second.
BUSCH’S DAY, RUNNER-UP STREAK ENDS
“Pack up, we’re going home.”
Not exactly what you want to hear over the radio, but that was reality for Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch and his No. 18 Toyota team. Busch qualified seventh for Sunday’s race and was seeking his first win since March, but an engine problem ended his day after less than 30 laps.
A blown piston was the issue when Busch limped his smoking car down pit road, his machine dying just as he pulled into his stall.
“Something between the frame rails doesn’t seem to operate correctly right now so it’s unfortunate,” Busch told ESPN after emerging from his vehicle. “I thought we had a good car today. Our car has been good this weekend in practices and stuff like that. Obviously you hope for better days. This M&M’s Camry team deserves better days, but this isn’t one of them.”
Busch had finished runner-up in three of the past four races, climbing up to sixth place in the points standings. After Sunday’s 42nd-place finish, he dropped to 10th.