Posted on by Brad Norman

RELATED: NXS results from Iowa | Truck results from Pocono

Dale Earnhardt Jr. says the No. 88 team was lucky to drive away with a fourth-place finish at Pocono but had high praise for his JR Motorsports teams’ performances last weekend.

Saying it was a great weekend overall for the organization, Junior was excited about second places for Regan Smith in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Kevin Harvick in the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series. 

Earnhardt said Smith “did a good job” and said Harvick “didn’t have a winning truck but got a lot out of it,” adding that his Sprint Cup driving peer always does a good job when he jumps in a JRM truck.

Smith’s XFINITY crew chief, Jason Burdett, also got kudos from the boss during the radio show.

“Jason Burdett, the crew chief in that car (No. 7 Chevrolet) has been awesome this year,” Junior said. “If you know that guy’s story, you can appreciate how hard it’s been a climb for him.”

Burdett has been a part of two championship Sprint Cup teams, with Jeff Gordon in 2001 and and Dale Jarrett and Robert Yates Racing in 1999. He was car chief on the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team from 2008-10 before moving to Earnhardt’s No. 88 team from 2011-14.

Junior saved his most effusive praise for Cole Custer‘s ARCA win at Pocono and Josh Berry‘s Late Model victory at Orange County.

“Cole (Custer) has a bright future and I’m excited about working with that kid next year and providing an opportunity for him to showcase his talents,” Earnhardt said on the Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio after returning from Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Pocono. “Hopefully, we can do a good job giving him that opportunity.”

Custer is a 17-year-old member of the NASCAR Next Class of 2015. The Ladera Ranch, California, native holds the records for youngest pole award and race winner in both the Truck Series and NASCAR’s touring series. This season he has a win in the Truck Series at Gateway Motorsports Park. Custer has started five NCWTS races for JR Motorsports in the No. 00 Chevrolet this season after making nine starts in the series last year with Stewart-Haas Racing‘s developmental team. 

RELATED: See the NASCAR Next Class of 2015

Berry is 24 and won the Summer Sizzler 75 lap Late Model race Saturday night at Orange County Speedway near Rougemont, North Carolina. 

“He’s been winning left and right,” Earnhardt said of Berry. “I’ve never won at Orange County before. He’s sure representing us very well at all the local tracks that we love to race at.”

Junior added that he’s very proud of the JR Motorsports late model program, and “not just for the obvious reasons” of winning and representing sponsors well. He takes pride in “racing at these local venues that have meant so much to so many people in our sport over the years. It’s a good feeling. Just keeping up with the Langleys and the Orange Counties of the world.”

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Complete news and notes on all 43 cars in the Windows 10 400

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

Breaking down how the full 43-car field fared at Pocono Raceway.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

1. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth was 16 seconds behind leader Kyle Busch in the closing laps, but the driver of the No. 20 saved enough fuel to pass his teammate and coast to his first Pocono win.

2. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. "Sorry about that, guys. Everybody OK?" Keselowski asked his team after he locked up his brakes, slid through his pit box and hit two crew members during his Lap 58 green-flag stop. He rallied to score his fifth top five of the year.

3. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports.  Gordon matched his best 2015 finish when his Pocono finale became a fuel-mileage race and he climbed from 16th.

4.  Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports.  Earnhardt and his team battled through a variety of issues — a pit road penalty and mid-race spin among them — to be in the right place and climb from 17th to fourth in the final 10 laps as the leaders ran out of fuel.

5. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle recorded his second top-five of the year thanks to — you guessed it — fuel mileage. He also led Laps 125-126 during green-flag stops and kept working with his team to find grip.

6. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson was forced to pit for fuel with three laps to go and climbed through the field to earn his 14th top-10 as competitors faded.

7. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. A missed shift triggered a vibration for Allmendinger, who worked through the issue to score his third top-10 of the year. 

8. Clint Bowyer, No. 15, Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer started saving fuel while running 11th with 18 laps to go.

9. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a solid day for Stewart, who started fifth before recording just his second top-10 this season.

10. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards was running ninth in the closing laps when he hit pit road for a quick splash of fuel.

11. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard spent the majority of Sunday’s race running inside the top 15 and saved one lap of fuel to make it to the end.

12. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. Fuel mileage wasn’t on Larson’s side, but he was still pleased with the effort and later tweeted, "Best car we’ve had all year though and pit crew did an awesome job all day."

13. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. With crew chief Slugger Labbe at the helm, Dillon posted his best Pocono result.

14. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Cassill ran as high as second en route to his best career Pocono showing.

15. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet. Chip Ganassi Racing. McMurray said Pocono was slicker this weekend than it was in June and he spent the race chasing the handling of his car.

16. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick had a mid-race scare when a piece of trash adhered itself to her car’s grille and caused her temperatures to spike.

17. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Ragan improved to run 10th, but ran out of fuel in the final laps and coasted across the finish line.

18. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola reported a throttle issue during the first half of Sunday’s race, but appeared to have the right amount of fuel to make it to the end.

19. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex was running second in the final laps and had to hit pit road for a quick splash to finish the race. A pit road speeding penalty incurred during the stop damaged his forward progress.

20. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano led a race-high 97 laps and was cruising toward his second win of the year when his car ran out of fuel with three laps to go. He then picked up a speeding penalty while refueling.

21. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The pole sitter focused on fuel conservation and took over the race lead briefly before sputtering out himself with two laps to go. 

22. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin focused on crisp shifts as he nursed a gearbox issue and maintained his position inside the top 10 until he also ran out of fuel.

23. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman was running 16th when he ran out of fuel in the closing laps.

24. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier was having a solid day, running inside the top 15, when he pitted just prior to the Lap 92 caution flag and lost track position.

25. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman improved upon his best Pocono outing after a solid effort on Sunday.

26. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett’s car started tight and then snapped to loose as Sunday’s race unfolded.

27. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt struggled to find consistency in his car and sustained damage while running in the pack.

28. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears restarted 13th after picking up eight spots on pit road during the final caution. Subsequently, he reported that his car was plowing through the corners.

29. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto stayed out of trouble to post his best Pocono finish.

30. J.J. Yeley, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley was awarded the Lucky Dog pass on the seventh caution period, but struggled to capture any momentum.

31. Brett Moffitt, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. On Lap 27, Moffitt made contact with teammate David Gilliland and sustained a significant tire rub.

32. Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. Kvapil held steady to improve upon his most recent Pocono performance.

33. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. During late-race green-flag stops, Gilliland’s team tried to get the front end of the car down after earlier contact elevated his splitter.

34. Reed Sorenson, No. 98 Ford, Phil Parsons Racing. Sorenson was the Lucky Dog three times in a row, but struggled to find a rhythm and stay on the lead lap.

35. Jeb Burton, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. "They’re lucky no one was pitting that time," Burton radioed his team after Kahne’s early-race crash on pit road brought out the red flag. "They’ve gotten lucky twice. Something needs to change." Burton was in a similar incident during Saturday’s final practice session.

36. Timmy Hill, No. 62 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Hill recorded his best 2015 result in his third Cup event.

37. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch was inadvertently turned by Paul Menard in Turn 1 and then nailed by Sam Hornish Jr.

38. Alex Kennedy, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Kennedy spun on Lap 92 to bring out the eighth caution flag.

39. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish missed a shift early in the race, which caused a world of hurt for him and others navigating the Tricky Triangle.

40. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne’s best Pocono start was stalled just past the midway point when a wayward tail pipe went through the radiator of his car.

41. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenouse braked hard but couldn’t avoid crashing into the back of a slowing Sam Hornish Jr. in Turn 1 on Lap 28.

42. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. The outside pole sitter opted to stay on track during the competition caution and blew up after leading the field to green on Lap 17.

43. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne got loose on Lap 5 coming off Turn 3 and slammed into the pit road wall, sending helmets flying and pit crew personnel scurrying. 

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2015 Awards set for Dec. 4 at Wynn Las Vegas

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 3, 2015) — NASCAR® announced today that the annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ Awards — and all of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week™ — will return to Las Vegas in 2015 as part of a renewed partnership with the destination. The agreement ensures that Las Vegas will continue hosting the week-long celebration, offering fans and industry members a chance to see the sport’s stars and congratulate the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards will headline NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week at Wynn Las Vegas on December 4, 2015. The 16th annual DAYTONA Rising / NASCAR Motorsports Marketing Forum, hosted by SportsBusiness Journal, will kick off NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week festivities at The Mirage on December 1-2.  

"We’ve had a great experience in Las Vegas and are very pleased to extend our partnership with the city," said NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps. "Las Vegas has consistently set the stage for a vibrant, exciting NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week, when the sport looks back on the season and toasts its newest Champion."

NASCAR began hosting its premier series awards show in Las Vegas in 2009 following a 28-year run in New York City. Since then, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards and Champion’s Week has hosted events at over 30 venues along the famous Las Vegas Strip, drawing the sport’s top drivers and an assortment of high-profile musical and celebrity guests.

"We are thrilled that NASCAR and Las Vegas will continue their strong and successful partnership as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week return for the seventh year," said Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "Each year this event gets bigger and better, and Las Vegas provides the ultimate backdrop to this unrivaled experience in the most exciting city in the world."

For the first time, the DAYTONA Rising / NASCAR Motorsports Marketing Forum will expand to a third day and make its debut at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, providing sports industry executives a first-look at the newly completed DAYTONA Rising project. The DAYTONA Rising / NASCAR Motorsports Marketing Forum has established itself as the premier event where thought leaders both in and out of the racing community gather to discuss, debate and share insights that impact the future of racing. Registration is required at www.MotorsportsMarketingForum.com, and more details on the agenda will be shared in the weeks and months ahead.

"We’re very happy to expand our 2015 NASCAR Motorsports Marketing program to include a Daytona component on February 17, given how much excitement there is surrounding the DAYTONA Rising project," said Richard Weiss, Publisher of SportsBusiness Journal. "It’s a win-win combination for attendees who will join in our December Motorsports Marketing Forum discussions in Las Vegas who will now also be able to get an insider’s perspective on the Daytona International Speedway project."

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards will air on NBCSN beginning at 9 p.m. ET. MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the awards show live at 8 p.m. ET.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Team Penske driver manages runner-up finish

RELATED: See frame-by-frame images of crew member incident

LONG POND, Pa. — In a race that had a little bit everything, perhaps no one illustrated the up-and-down nature of the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway better than Brad Keselowski.

The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford finished second to Matt Kenseth, but not without overcoming an obstacle or two of his own, including a scary incident in which his car hit two of his crewmen on pit road.

Pitting on Lap 57, Keselowski slid into his pit box, knocking jackman Braxton Brannon and front tire carrier Jeremy Ogles to the ground. Brannon went airborne and appeared to hit the ground hard, while Ogles hit and slid across the front of the car. Both crew members were OK after the incident, according to Team Penske and much to the relief of Keselowski.



"Yeah, it’s an ‘Oh (expletive) moment,’ but I’m glad from what I can tell, the guys are doing OK," Keselowski told NASCAR.com of the incident.


FULL SERIES COVERAGE

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However, because of the contact with the tire carrier, the tire that Ogles was carrying left the pit box and Keselowski had to serve a pass-through penalty for a pit box tire violation, which put Keselowski in 37th place. 



"It is another race where I kind of feel like it didn’t all come together for us and we had the problems on pit road and sliding through the box and that dug a hole, and we got a lap down with the penalty," Keselowski said.



However, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion’s luck changed quickly as he was the beneficiary of the free pass for the race’s sixth caution, putting him back on the lead lap. 
From there, Keselowski methodically worked his way up into the top 10 by Lap 110 and continued to pick up spots during the lengthy 63-lap green-flag run to end the race.

His 44 quality passes (the number of times passing a car running in the top 15 during a green flag period) were the second-most on the day. In a finish that played out as survival of the ones with fuel, Keselowski had just enough gas to get across the start/finish line with a runner-up result.

Yet, he felt for his teammate, Joey Logano, who led a race-high 97 laps but ran out of fuel with three laps to go on Lap 158.


"The fuel came into play at the end and we were able to take care of it to bring home second, which is a very respectable day," Keselowski said. "Certainly not where we were going to finish without the fuel, but that is sometimes how it works. I think my teammate and his team did a phenomenal job. I am heartbroken for them to not win the race."



Despite scoring his fifth top five of the season and second runner-up finish in three races (he finished second to another Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Kyle Busch, at Loudon), Keselowski was left to wonder what if that early pit road miscue hadn’t happened. 



"There is always going to be adversity and that is part of what makes success worthwhile," he said. "It is overcoming that adversity. If we could have, quite honestly, not had that issue earlier in the race, I feel like we probably would have won today. That one is on me. I feel guilty for my team on that. I am glad we were able to rally to second."

Posted on by Staff Report

Jeb Burton, Kasey Kahne both had hard hits over weekend

A separate pair of incidents at Pocono Raceway has led to plans to alter the facility’s pit road wall after two drivers wrecked into it over the weekend, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell told NASCAR.com on Monday.

Jeb Burton (final practice) and Kasey Kahne (Sunday’s race) both got loose off Turn 3 in separate incidents, lost control of their respective vehicles and wrecked into the inside wall on pit row. Kahne’s incident on Sunday knocked him out of the race, and it was almost identical to Burton’s wreck — the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet essentially followed the same tire marks that Burton had put down.

"First, it’s important to look at what happened in Pocono," O’Donnell said. "Certainly it was unique with Jeb Burton, and then you saw Kasey Kahne really unbelievably follow him with same tire tracks during the event. Tom Gideon, our safety expert, was already up at Pocono drawing up some plans to look at extending the pit wall.

"With that comes some challenges. We have to make sure the drivers coming out of Turn 3 during the race, that it’s a safe situation by extending the wall. We’ll work with the race track. We’ve got to explore the angles, look at all the data we have from the race cars as well and kind of combine all that. The initial plan is … we’ll plan to extend the wall at Pocono. And certainly from there, to take a look at each one of our venues."

President and CEO of Pocono Raceway, Brandon Igdalsky, also commented on the safety procedures that came into question during the Windows 10 400.

“Our commitment to driver safety is paramount,” said Igdalsky. "We have made multiple upgrades and updates to our facility, with more safety improvements rolling out before the 2016 NASCAR season. We work hand-in-hand with NASCAR throughout the year to execute and implement these changes.

"Once NASCAR collects the data, as it pertains to the unique incidents involving Jeb Burton and Kasey Kahne from this past weekend, we will communicate with one another and develop the safest solution.”

O’Donnell also tackled the question of whether or not the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series would race at Iowa Speedway. Saturday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series event at the Rusty Wallace-designed .875-mile oval produced plenty of good racing, a thrilling conclusion … and some drama, as well.

"Well, I think when you look at our Cup schedule right now, there’s no secret that it’s full," O’Donnell said. "One of the things that’s unique about Iowa that we like is the ability for the XFINITY Series to go there and be the showcase event. I believe that’s why you’re talking about it today, seeing Ryan Blaney hold off a number of hungry competitors on a couple of green-white-checkered (finishes), really doing his job to win that event.

"We like the fact the XFINITY Series can be the showcase event. It deserves that. Iowa is a unique venue and it produces some great racing for us … and we like what we’re seeing there."

Posted on by Staff Report

See what’s coming this week to NASCAR.com

Here’s what you’ll see on NASCAR.com this week:

MONDAY: Brad Keselowski inadvertently hit his crewmen on pit road and found himself 37th. So how did he rally to finish second? RJ Kraft explains … Stu Hothem catches up with Jeff Gordon, who tied his best finish of the year on Sunday at Pocono by finishing third … The Rundown takes a look at how every driver in the field performed.

TUESDAY: This week’s Power Rankings presented by Outback is sure to get a shakeup now that Matt Kenseth has two wins on the season … It’s Jeff Gordon‘s birthday, and we’re looking back at his career through photos … Kathy Sheldon identifies Sprint Cup drivers at age 40 (or older), and what their careers look like.

WEDNESDAY: New paint schemes will be on display at Watkins Glen, and we’ll have them all in Paint Scheme Preview … The Glen provides the opportunity for an unknown to sneak out a win, and you can vote on who that might be in our winners poll … High 5 presents the best NASCAR content from around the web.

THURSDAY: Driver Reports highlights the 16 drivers currently on the Chase Grid, and how they fare at Watkins Glen … We’ll catch you back up on the nuances of road course qualifying … This week’s #TBT involves a man named Dale Earnhardt and a broken sternum.

FRIDAY: The Sprint Cup Series gets on track at 9 a.m. ET, and we’ll have full coverage from a busy day at the track … 8 Tweets You Might Have Missed highlights the best from social media over the past week.

Also coming this week: @nascarcasm has a busy week, including Matt Kenseth‘s post-race Facebook page, and texts Jack Roush might have received after Darrell Wallace Jr. and Chris Buescher had another incident … We’ll give you the highlights of the weekend in GIF form … Senior Writer Kenny Bruce heads to North Wilkesboro. Find out why.

Posted on by Staff Report

Meet Jayanna, Official NASCAR Fan Council member of the month

Name: Jayanna

Current City: Rockville, Indiana

Member since: 2011

Getting to know Jayanna

Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?

"I liked the idea of being able to share my opinion on my favorite sport."

Q. What comes to mind when you think of NASCAR? What’s your favorite NASCAR memory?

"Fast cars. The sound of engines roaring past and the smell of fuel and rubber in the air. I love the atmosphere at the track. There is nothing like it. It is hard to pick one favorite memory. I have been lucky enough to be at the track and see my favorite driver, Jeff Gordon, win 4 times. I was in Darlington & Talladega when he won in 2007. I have been going to the Brickyard 400 since 2004, so I have been able to see him win there twice. If I had to pick one, I guess I would say being at Indy last year to see him win his 5th Brickyard and watch him kiss the bricks in person, with my mom, is my favorite memory so far.”

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?

Driver: "Jeff Gordon"

Track: "Martinsville"

Memorabilia: "Jeff Gordon 1:24 die-casts including his Baby Ruth & Jurassic Park cars"

Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?

"Martinsville or the Daytona 500"

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

"In my free time, I love to go to country concerts or catch up on some TV."

Q: Tell us about your family. Do you have children and/or pets?

"I live with my husband, Mike, and our 2 dogs, Bo & Hank."

Q: What’s your dream car?

"New Camaro or Mustang"

From all of us at NASCAR, we thank Jayanna for her continued support and look forward to hearing from her in 2015! Look for Susan on the Official NASCAR Fan Council page on NASCAR.COM.

Posted on by Fraser Nye

Pit strategy pays off for No. 24 team, puts Gordon 10th in points

RELATED: Updated Chase Grid standings | Complete results from Pocono

LONG POND, Pa.– Four-time premier series champion Jeff Gordon ended his Pocono Raceway career with a record-tying 20th top-five finish in his 46th start at the track.

After sitting 16th with 10 laps to go, no one was more shocked than Gordon when he crossed the start/finish line bearing his name in third place as several cars on differing pit strategies ran out of fuel before the end. 

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"Well, it would be a long, long list if we talked to a bunch of people in the grandstands and myself, and everybody on pit road and probably people watching at home to find out who was more surprised," Gordon said. "That was crazy."

As he attempted to extend his track record win total to seven while also earning a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berth, Gordon’s team stayed out under the Lap 17 competition caution and climbed to second following a 10th-place qualifying effort. But five more cautions in the first half of the race found the No. 24 car in 16th at the midway mark.

Gordon moved up to sixth place 10 laps later, but the seventh and final caution at Lap 93 dropped him outside of the top 15 again.

"I’m not exactly sure where I started on that first restart but it was like 15th, 16th and I can’t say I passed many cars," Gordon said. "We just kind of hovered around that area, wasn’t real pleased with how our car was in traffic, and when we were up front we were pretty good, felt like we were a top-five car," Gordon said, echoing the comments of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished fourth.

"But we played the fuel‑mileage strategy pretty early on and that lost us track position and we weren’t able to climb our way up through there," Gordon continued. "And we continued to play that strategy and I’m proud of Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) for sticking with it. There at the end, we were one of the last ones to pit, which allowed us to run hard all the way to the finish, not having to conserve or save fuel."

During the race, though, the strategy didn’t inspire confidence in the driver, who never thought he would have earned a top-five finish or even his 32nd top-10 result, second-best to Mark Martin‘s 34.

"The script I had played out in my head was we were going to be 15th, so this one was way better than that," Gordon said. "For whatever reason, the last couple times we’ve been here, we’ve had decent race cars, not maybe the cars that we would have liked to have had, but cars far capable of better finishes than what we’ve had, have been getting, and just a lot of different circumstances not playing out. Some to our own credit and others just circumstances.

"Today finally one went our way for a change, which is really nice to bounce back after last week’s unfortunate incident where we lost so many points."

Following a 42nd-place finish at Indianapolis, Gordon dropped to 11th place in the points standings. He bounced back to 10th after Pocono, encouraging Gordon in his quest to make the playoffs — with five races until the start of the Chase — and his hopes to make his drive for five championships.

MORE: Gordon wrecks in final Indy appearance

"As a team, even though we’re not performing to the level we want to, we are performing well enough to make it into the Chase," Gordon said. "If you knew that you were going to finish between 10th and 15th every week here going forward, but just like what happened last week, you can’t afford to have many 42nd-place finishes. That could be disastrous. There are no guarantees, and so you’ve got to gain all the points you can when you have the opportunity. We had that opportunity today; we did it."

The series heads to Watkins Glen next Sunday for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), and Gordon believes he has a shot at tying Tony Stewart‘s record of five wins on the road course after a stout effort in 2014 that found him racing road-course ace Marcos Ambrose for the lead until a mechanical failure dropped him to a 34th-place finish.

"The one thing that’s encouraging to me is last year I thought we were really strong there, and we had … some kind of battery connection issue and we lost power, so we never saw it play out. That happened ‑‑ I think we were running second to Ambrose at the time. I’m encouraged by that. I’m looking forward to going back there. I know our aero package is a little bit different, but you know, I don’t think it’s that much different from what we had last year, so hopefully we can have another strong finish and performance there. That would be awesome.

"We need them — right now every race is so critical for us. We can’t afford to have finishes like we had last week at Indy, and so we’re going to have to attack and be on — just marching forward to be aggressive to try to get those good points and finishes and hopefully a win."

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Logano, Kyle Busch and Truex Jr. fall victim to dry fuel cells

RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings

LONG POND, Pa. — It was a tale of two races in Sunday’s Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway, and the only thing that could slow Kyle Busch down was an empty fuel tank.

Eight cautions in the first 97 laps didn’t allow drivers to get into much of a rhythm, but a 63-lap green-flag run to the finish set up a chaotic ending. The top drivers of the afternoon — Joey Logano, Busch and Martin Truex Jr. — all ran out of fuel late while running in the top three and plenty of others were close too. That misfortune allowed Matt Kenseth to lead the final lap and steal the victory.

Logano ran dry on Lap 158 with three laps to go, giving way to Busch for the lead. Except on the final lap, Busch ran out of gas. In between that, Truex Jr.’s fuel tank ran dry on Lap 159. All three stopped for service around Lap 124 during the lengthy green-flag run.

Pit road speeding penalties cost Logano and Truex better finishes than what the final results show. Those penalties were assessed after the finish, making them both the last cars on the lead lap.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

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"I don’t know where we were on our strategy and all that stuff," Busch said on pit road after his 21st-place finish. "I got to debrief with Adam (Stevens, Busch’s crew chief) first. I don’t how close we were, if we were one lap short of making it, then I probably needed to save or do a better job of running those last 30 laps or so. He kept telling me to save my stuff, save my stuff. Just in case we had a yellow there and had to race.

"I didn’t know we were going to be short on fuel but once the 22 (Logano) ran out, to try and save fuel in those three laps just wasn’t going to happen. We were short. We ran out but we went down swinging and I can’t fault my guys for that. An awesome call. They called the race right and another … can of gas and we’d be winning another one."

Busch came into Pocono riding three straight victories and looking to be closing in a spot in the top 30 in the point standings. He will head to Watkins Glen 32nd in the standings, just 13 points out from getting into the top 30.

"We got greedy. I don’t know how greedy, but that’s the position we’re in," Busch said.

For Logano, the result was another close-but-no-cigar type finish for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. The 2015 Daytona 500 winner had a strong car all day, leading a race-high 97 laps but had to settle for 20th-place. This comes on the heels of two runner-up finishes to Busch in the previous three races.

"I guess our numbers, from what Todd (Gordon, crew chief) said, was good enough to make it by a half a lap," Logano said. "I was saving fuel just to cushion it. I thought I was going to be good and then I started running out and knew we weren’t going to make it.

"We keep getting so close to these wins and they don’t happen and it is so frustrating. The truth is that is if we keep racing hard and racing to the front we will win races. We were so close. You are counting down the laps in your head thinking you are going to make it but just didn’t do it."

The pressure Busch was putting on Logano from second place didn’t allow the 25-year-old to save as much and ultimately both were on the wrong side of the fuel game.

"You can only save so much and the 18 (Busch) was doing the same thing. He had to push me and I had to start saving a certain amount. He would catch me and then I would pull away a little bit. We were playing cat and mouse out there. It is not the way you want to race. You want to go to the gas and race hard. These fuel mileage races are always exciting, usually more so when you are on the winning end, not the losing end." 

Truex, who won at Pocono in June, saw a silver lining when he led his first laps since that win. However, he came out 19th, marking his fifth finish outside the top 10 in the past six races. It’s a disappointing statistic when compared to the No. 78 team’s 14 top 10s in the first 15 races of the season.

"Once again on the wrong end of a fuel mileage race," Truex said, who finished fifth at Charlotte, when Carl Edwards rode to victory on a fuel mileage play. "We thought we were in good shape there. I saved the whole last run. The last 15, 20 laps I saved a lot. So not sure where we missed that."

But for Truex, who is currently sixth in the provisional Chase Grid, he was focused on the bigger picture from the weekend’s work.

"Yeah, it’s disappointing but what I am going to take away from this race is how our Furniture Row guys kept on making our Chevrolet better and better during the weekend," Truex said. "We were a contender today and in the big picture that’s the most important point for our team as we head into the Chase. We were rolling; we just needed a little more fuel to make it an even better weekend." 

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Driver hits hard coming out of Turn 3, exits race

RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings

LONG POND, Pa. — Kasey Kahne lost control of his No. 5 Chevrolet on Lap 4 of Sunday’s Windows 10 400, hitting the inside pit wall and bringing an early end to his day in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.

"I just got really loose really late, so far off the corner," Kahne told reporters outside the infield care center. "Really late exit. Not sure why or what happened. I just jumped out and you are so far off the corner that it’s a slow slide so far down pit road. It was crazy. I’ve never ended up over there like that. I don’t know why that was."

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Kahne came off of Turn 3 and smacked the wall of pit road hard around pit stalls 39 and 40, which were the pit boxes of AJ Allmendinger and Travis Kvapil. The hit caused major damage to Kahne’s car and damage to the pit road wall.

A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed there were no injuries in the incident.

For his part, Kahne said "I’m fine" and added that "I wasn’t afraid I hit anyone because it threw me right back off the wall. I was hoping that everybody saw me coming because I was coming fairly fast."

Pocono Raceway President/CEO Brandon Igdalsky and track workers inspected the damage before workers welded the damaged wall as a red flag was displayed. That red flag lasted 14 minutes, 43 seconds.

The incident was similar to what happened to Jeb Burton and his No. 26 Toyota in Saturday’s final practice session. Burton came off of Turn 3 loose and went into the pit road wall. The damage from that hit forced the Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to a backup car for Sunday’s race.

The early exit and last-place finish for Kahne could not have come at a worse time for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. After an eighth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway in June, Kahne was eighth in the point standings. Since then, Kahne has not finished better than 19th, with a 32nd-place result at Daytona, 27th-place finish at Kentucky, 19th-place finish at Loudon and a 24th-place result at Indianapolis. 



"That’s really bad for points," Kahne said. "It’s bad for just our team to lose a car that quickly into this race. And the last month has been really bad, and that was worse. I don’t know what the deal is right there, how that happened. I just lost it, late exit and spun. Got loose, spun."



Entering Pocono, Kahne was 13th in the point standings and holding the second-to-last spot in the provisional Chase Grid. Sunday’s 43rd-place finish unofficially dropped him to 15th in the points standings, but he’s still in the Chase Grid in the No. 16 spot.