Sometimes, you pull it off and you’re on your way to winning four races in a row.
Sometimes, something happens to your tire.
The Winner
Alex Bowman. Still a Hendrick guy. But not that Hendrick guy. Not this time.
A thing that won it for Bowman was a why-not? decision to lead the inside line out of a restart when that hadn’t been working for anyone all day. Another thing that won it for Bowman was making one hell of a restart himself out of that position and grabbing the lead, which then put him in the waiting room once Larson did finally pass him.
The Race
It was a strategic one. Fuel mileage was big from the get-go, but when that had sorted itself out, it was just Bowman, Kyle Larson, and Kyle Busch in the event something went wrong. Larson took a long time. Bowman wasn’t giving an inch. But when Bowman finally gave and Larson got past him with the side draft, it wasn’t even over then. Because coming through the final turn, Larson’s tire went down. And coming out of the final turn, Larson hit the wall. And coming towards the finish line, Bowman and others came zooming past Larson, who was left having to say they’ll try to start another streak tomorrow.
Notable Names
Kyle Busch was 2nd, his team having gone with an aggressive pit strategy that required him to hang in there on two tires. For a while, it was looking like this was the story—Busch’s team’s creativity versus Larson’s automotive superiority. Debris had other plans.
William Byron was 3rd, having navigated the thick of it and raced hard with Larson and Busch and Denny Hamlin and others at times.
Hamlin was 4th.
Ryan Blaney was 5th, having gotten into it a bit with Byron, who dates his sister.
Kurt Busch was 6th, having won the second stage.
Joey Logano was 7th.
Kevin Harvick was 8th.
Larson came in 9th.
Brad Keselowski caused some trouble early but got away with it, finishing 10th.
Tyler Reddick was 11th.
Chase Elliott got tagged at the green flag but hung in there and managed a 12th-place showing. I believe I saw that he isn’t going to go with a backup car tomorrow, which means he’ll be starting ninth as the field flips from 20th to 1st.
Daniel Suárez had another nice day, coming in 13th.
Bubba Wallace was around the fringes again, coming in 14th.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has successfully avoided becoming full-on notorious for spinning people, avoiding it enough in recent weeks that he could probably get away with one again. 15th place.
Aric Almirola had a sad, fine day. Sad because it would be fine were his season not what it is. 16th.
Christopher Bell was 17th.
Martin Truex Jr. was 18th.
Michael McDowell was 19th.
Chris Buescher was 20th and will start on the pole tomorrow.
Austin Dillon was 21st.
Erik Jones was 22nd.
Ryan Preece was the guy who hit Elliott on the jump. He came in 23rd.
Chase Briscoe was 24th.
Matt DiBenedetto got the rare double pit penalty, in which he broke a rule while completing his penance for breaking another rule. 32nd.
Ross Chastain was around the front early but started to lose his car and then really lost his car, finishing 33rd and torpedoing a lot of recent progress in the standings.
Ryan Newman had a spin and came in 37th.
Cole Custer was the recipient of Keselowski’s mistake and came in 38th.
Standings
Eight races left before the playoffs, so lots of time still.
1. Larson (4 wins)
2. Truex (3 wins)
3. Bowman (3 wins)
4. Byron (1 win)
5. Logano (1 win)
6. Elliott (1 win)
7. Kyle Busch (1 win)
8. Blaney (1 win)
9. Keselowski (1 win)
10. Bell (1 win)
11. McDowell (1 win)
12. Hamlin (320 points ahead of first driver out)
13. Harvick (143 points ahead of first driver out)
14. Dillon (85 points ahead of first driver out)
15. Reddick (35 points ahead of first driver out)
16. Kurt Busch (last driver in, 4 points ahead of first driver out)
17. Buescher (first driver out, 4 points behind last driver in)
18. Stenhouse (42 points behind last driver in)
19. Suárez (55 points behind last driver in)
20. DiBenedetto (62 points behind last driver in)
21. Chastain (67 points behind last driver in)
22. Wallace (75 points behind last driver in)
23. Newman (101 points behind last driver in)
24. Jones (108 points behind last driver in)
25. Preece (113 points behind last driver in)
26. Briscoe (115 points behind last driver in)
27. Almirola (151 points behind last driver in)
28. Custer (152 points behind last driver in)
Thoughts, Implications, Up Next
Gonna be some exciting races as those fifteen behind Hamlin and Harvick try to make something happen. Would guess Austin Dillon’s safely in the playoff field, but you just don’t know. Say Buescher wins from the pole tomorrow—suddenly Dillon’s sweating.
And speaking of tomorrow, that’s the next race. Pocono Round 2. Preview below the videos.
Videos, Fun Stuff
Elliott/Preece:
Keselowski/Custer:
Keselowski’s reaction:
Kyle Busch was unhappy with Denny Hamlin and asked the spotters to hash it out:
Newman/Newman:
LaJoie/Alfredo:
Chastain/His Vehicle:
Blaney/Byron:
Beef?
Bowman’s restart magic:
Larson’s pass:
The finish:
The finish, view of Larson (watch him pull his hands off to avoid getting hurt, and watch how hard that hit is, and think about how much worse those walls used to be—goodness):
***
Now, the Sunday race:
Where It Is
Well, Pocono again.
When It Is
3:49 PM EDT
How to Watch
NBCSN (credit to NBC—I liked the broadcast better than theirs last year, where it seemed like they never had camera angles of things that were happening)
Who to Watch
I mean, the Hendrick cars again and probably the Joe Gibbs cars, right? But also track position and pit strategy again, because evidently those are a big, big deal.
How NASCAR Should Script It
This could be where things slow down for Larson. It’s hard to win races. Little things can happen and you can look up and be off your mojo. But also, this could be where Larson races from the back to win and we are all quite impressed. In other words, there are options. Personally, I say you give us a wildcard winner. Get the playoff pressure building. Put it on Hamlin and Harvick, even.
Trucks, Xfinity
I think I thought there wasn’t an Xfinity race this weekend and said that yesterday in the weekend schedule, so my apologies if I did that. If I didn’t, well, ignore this. Xfinity race is still on before the Cup Series one.
John Hunter Nemechek won another truck race.
SRX
Tony Stewart won on his own dirt, and I’m assuming he leads in their standings, which is a thing they have!
