Pocono Race Review and Analysis
The Tricky Triangle! The Nascar Cup Series visited Pocono Raceway, located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400. Denny Hamlin, on an up and down day, does not take home the checkered flag after being disqualified after post-race inspection. Chase Elliott, who finished 3rd collects his 4th win of the 2022 season, and the 17th win of his career. Chase Elliott is now the only driver with more than three wins in the 2022 season. Elliott collects his 1st career win at Pocono Raceway, as a misfortune for would’ve been 2nd place Kyle Busch, and would’ve been today’s race winner Denny Hamlin strikes.
Let’s rewind to the beginning of today, with Kurt Busch. What stunned the Nascar world this morning was the news that Kurt Busch would be sidelined this afternoon with concussion like symptoms after a qualifying crash. On short notice, the 19 year-old Xfinity Series phenom Ty Gibbs was called upon to fill in for Kurt Busch. Gibbs took the helm of the #45 car this afternoon and stayed out of trouble. Ty Gibbs, who is Joe GIbbs’ grandson had no prior experience with the next-gen car. Ty Gibbs caught a plane back to Pocono Raceway, after finishing 2nd in yesterday’s Xfinity Series race. In a stellar, and impressive race Ty Gibbs comes home 16th in his Nascar Cup Series debut.
Stage 1 today was won by Kyle Larson. Larson, who has struggled without crew chief Cliff Daniels in recent weeks turned around his performance today with a stage win, and a 5th place finish. Coming into today, Larson had an average finish of 13.3 through 21 races. By qualifying 4th on Saturday, this set up Larson’s #5 team for a solid day. That comes to fruition as we head into Indianapolis. Following in stage 2, Ross Chastain was the winner. Chastain’s Chevrolet was strong all afternoon until he spun. Chastain led 16 laps, as he captured 15 points total on the day. Today ends in a bittersweet way with a 32nd place finish for Ross Chastain.
(Chase Elliott crossing the start/finish line)
For some of today’s troubles, wrecks coming out of turn 3 were the centerpieces. Austin Cindric, Aric Almirola, and Ryan Blaney all were victims of the vigorous turn 3. Austin Cindric in what was the start to a dreadful afternoon for Team Penske spun in which was the first caution of the day. Cindric was put on the 6-minute crash damage clock but a broken toe-link was also a factor as the #2 team looked to fix Cindric’s machine. Austin Cindric finished 31st for Team Penske. Josh Bilicki also had a toe-link issue as he got into the wall hard early on in today’s race. Spire Motorsports has gone through a lot of race cars dating back to Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 10th. Josh Bilicki finished 34th for Spire Motorsports. Fellow teammate Corey LaJoie finished 19th, after taking a spin on lap 46 of today’s race. Ty Dillon for Petty GMS Motorsports finished 22nd, after spinning out on lap 84. Dillon, who has now spun out in consecutive races, is in the middle of a rough patch performance wise. Aric Almirola finished 13th, after a rebound afternoon. This came from a spin earlier in today’s race to conclude stage 1. Ryan Blaney for Team Penske also saw trouble this afternoon. Blaney rebounded and ran 5th after cutting a tire down, and getting up into the wall. Shortly after that, Blaney saw trouble, as he spun and pounded the inside wall hard coming onto the front stretch. Blaney currently sits 15th on the cutline, as he finished 33rd. In what was a headlining story in today’s race, Ross Chastain finally was wrecked by Denny Hamlin. In what has been a one-sided trend since World Wide Technology Raceway back in June, Ross Chastain has had multiple conflicts with Denny Hamlin. On a restart late in the race, Denny Hamlin came out of turn 1, Denny Hamlin ran Ross Chastain tight coming out of the corner. Chastain then got high, and into the wall on corner exit. Following that, Chastain spun due to Hamlin using all of the race track and spun out in front of the field. Chastain collected Kevin Harvick, as this ended a stellar day for Chastain. The feud certainly isn’t over between these two drivers, as more potential retaliation is expected from Denny Hamlin. Chastain went on to finish 32nd, as Harvick finished 27th.
Drivers who had stellar days were Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, and Austin Dillon. Tyler Reddick finished 2nd for Richard Childress Racing after a stellar afternoon. Daniel Suarez finishes 3rd for Trackhouse Racing. Suarez’s #99 team is showing consistency, as we head towards the playoffs. Christopher Bell finishes 4th for Joe Gibbs Racing. Bell, who had a strong car all weekend, ran a consistent race, which led
to a great finish. Kyle Larson finishes 5th for Hendrick Motorsports, after winning stage 1. Michael McDowell continues his hot streak this afternoon in Pocono. McDowell comes home 6th, as a road-course is next up on the Cup Series schedule. Martin Truex Jr. finishes 7th for Joe Gibbs Racing. Truex Jr.’s #19 car showed speed later in the final stage, which set him up for success this afternoon. Bubba Wallace continues a two race top-10 streak for 23XI Racing. Wallace’s #23 Toyota Camry finishes 6th, as Toyota dominated for most of today’s race. Wallace led 4 laps today for 23XI Racing, a good finish next week would be good for Wallace’s #23 team. Erik Jones for Petty GMS Motorsports had a solid afternoon with a 9th place finish. Jones led 11 laps in today’s contest, he still sits 18th in points. 10th place goes to Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing. In what was a mistake free day for Dillon, a 10th place finish was badly needed, as Dillon is still in the hunt for the 2022 playoffs.
(Chase Elliott exiting Pit Road)
In my opinion, today was good at Pocono. Pocono Raceway in recent years has put on a great display of racing. It’s strange, and a surprise that Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified. This shakes up the standings, and official results majorly as we head into Indianapolis. Indianapolis Motor Speedway should be fun as we leave Pocono behind. Considering all action, I’d rate today’s contest a 9.0 out of 10.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is up next on the Nascar schedule. The Nascar Cup Series will visit Indianapolis Motor Speedway located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Xfinity and Cup Series will make the trip out to Indianapolis. The Truck Series will also make the trip out to Indiana, but the Truck Series will head to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The Truck Series kicks off practice at 10:35am ET, followed by qualifying at 4:30pm ET on Friday. The Truck Series race from Lucas Oil will be at 9:00pm ET that Friday night. The Xfinity Series will have practice and qualifying starting at 3:05pm ET Friday afternoon. The Xfinity Series race will start at 3:30pm ET on Saturday in Indianapolis. The Cup Series will have practice followed by qualifying at 9:35am ET on Saturday. The Verizon 200 at the Brickyard will be at 2:30pm ET only on NBC.
( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)
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