Kurt Busch Takes Rain-Delayed Pocono

(LONG POND, PA – JUNE 6, 2016 – RIS) Mileage wars determined the outcome of another NASCAR race at Pocono, with Kurt Busch leading the final laps and saving fuel for a big burnout celebration after taking the checkered flag ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano. Rookie Elliott led the most laps, at 51, until the final round of pit stops. Busch won the race with his regular crew chief Tony Gibson suspended for the weekend after a loose lugnut at the previous race and Johnny Klausmeier on the box as interim chief in his first time calling a race. "Well it's special anytime you win. For Tony Gibson (crew chief) to be out this week because of a lug nut issue we had to overcome a lot. Johnny Klausmeier our interim crew chief, our lead engineer, he stepped up and when you do that it makes you really feel about that team comradery, that team chemistry and that team effort," said Busch.

"It's tough to balance everything and when you have a fast car and an interim crew chief and the way that the fuel mileage played out, I didn't know if we were going to have enough fuel. But, thanks to everybody at Haas Automation, Monster Energy and Stewart-Haas. This is a wonderful win for us. We have been so close all year. It's a matter of just putting it all together, pit crew, engine, thanks to Hendrick engines, and Chevrolet and everybody that works on these bodies, the chassis' you name it. It's just so much fun to drive and to be competitive and to be up front."

The first of ten cautions came out for Matt DiBenedetto's spin in the last turn on the triangular track. DiBenedetto crashed in the first turn on lap 60, ending his day in the Catoctin Mountains track. Earlier, he and Charlotte winner Martin Truex Jr made contact in the pits. "We had a really rough start to the race in the first place. (Martin) Truex (Jr.) was pulling out of his pit stall and we were coming in and there was some sort of miscommunication there and I feel bad for him," said DiBenedetto. "We tore our car up there and tried to fix it – got it where it was drivable and going into one something broke or not sure what happened. It was probably something damage related and we went and killed the wall."

The jack handler on Keselowski's car leaned into the right-hand body during an early pit stop, denting the metal and drawing a penalty from NASCAR. "It was two NASCAR penalties and I'm not sure I really know what happened there. The team guys can probably give you a better answer, but we fought back really well," explained Keselowski. "I don't know what they saw so it is not really fair for me to say anything about that. I can tell you that every car I saw had some body modifications on it after pit stops out there today. I don't know if ours was more egregious or even if we had one. That is for the team guys to really answer. Of course it is frustrating.

"At the end I think we were capable of winning the race with a really fast car, even with the right side door torn up. I guess we had a little contact there when the 48 was spinning, so it shows how fast we were today. We had great pit stops, but just didn't bring home the win. But we're really close and been really strong and consistent lately, which is something we're proud of."

Keselowski was nearing Busch in the waning laps of the race but ran out of time before Busch could burn all the fuel in his Chevy. "We were awful strong we just needed some more laps and a little more time. I think we might have had a shot at it. It was a pretty strong weekend."

"It went straight – I don't know," said Austin Dillon just after his car had a right front brake rotor shatter, sending him into the wall and out of the race to bring out the ninth caution of the race. "Our brakes failed. We knew it was going to happen. We seen the No. 27 (teammate, Paul Menard) happen; we knew it was after Dover. That is the third time. Hopefully, we figure out how to fix it."

With the caution coming just 40 laps from the finish, some teams elected to take only fuel or two tires, dropping a dominant to this point Chase Elliott back to ninth as the pack exited the pits. Last week's dominant car, Martin Truex' No. 78 Toyota, had the inner valve stem knocked off, sending him back to the pits for another tire change.

On the restart after this caution, Jimmie Johnson dropped two tires onto the apron, got loose and spun, hitting the inside wall to send the No. 48 Chevy to the garage.

Kurt Busch used a side-by-side duel between Dale Earnhardt Jr and Chase Elliott to move out to the final lead, followed by Earnhardt, Elliott, Keselowski and Casey Mears.

Unofficial Race Results 35th Annual Axalta We Paint Winners 400, Pocono Raceway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Lap, Pts, BPts, TLd, LLd, Status
1) 9, Kurt Busch, No. No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet, 160, 44, 4, 1, 32, Running
2) 8, Dale Earnhardt Jr, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 160, 40, 1, 2, 4, Running
3) 1, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 160, 38, , , , Running
4) 13, Chase Elliott #, No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 160, 39, 2, 3, 51, Running
5) 2, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 160, 37, 1, 1, 17, Running
6) 11, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, 160, 35, , , , Running
7) 3, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, 160, 35, 1, 2, 31, Running
8) 5, Carl Edwards, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 160, 33, , , , Running
9) 4, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, 160, 33, 1, 1, 9, Running
10) 14, Ryan Blaney #, No. 21* Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 160, 31, , , , Running
11) 21, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 160, 31, 1, 1, 8, Running
12) 22, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Kalahari Resorts & Conventions Chevrolet, 160, 29, , , , Running
13) 24, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 160, 28, , , , Running
14) 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 160, 27, , , , Running
15) 25, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 160, 26, , , , Running
16) 32, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Bush's Grillin Beans Chevrolet, 160, 26, 1, 1, 2, Running
17) 26, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 160, 24, , , , Running
18) 23, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Visine Chevrolet, 160, 23, , , , Running
19) 17, Martin Truex Jr, No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota, 160, 22, , , , Running
20) 16, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 160, 21, , , , Running
21) 28, Ty Dillon(i), No. 95 BVT/Blake's Snow Shack Chevrolet, 160, 0, , 1, 3, Running
22) 35, Regan Smith, No. 7 APC Chevrolet, 160, 19, , , , Running
23) 34, David Ragan, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, 160, 18, , , , Running
24) 29, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 160, 17, , , , Running
25) 18, Chris Buescher #, No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford, 159, 16, , , , Running
26) 15, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 159, 15, , , , Running
27) 38, Josh Wise, No. 30* Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 159, 14, , , , Running
28) 40, Reed Sorenson, No. 98* Hilton Scranton & Conference Center Chevrolet, 159, 13, , , , Running
29) 39, Jeb Burton(i), No. 32 Rocky Ridge Custom Trucks Ford, 158, 0, , , , Running
30) 37, Cole Whitt, No. 55* Vydox Plus Chevrolet, 155, 11, , , , Rear Gear
31) 12, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's 75th Anniversary Toyota, 150, 11, 1, 1, 3, Running
32) 33, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Nature?s Bakery Chevrolet, 145, 9, , , , Running
33) 20, Paul Menard, No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet, 135, 8, , , , Running
34) 6, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet, 131, 7, , , , Running
35) 7, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 125, 6, , , , Accident
36) 31, Landon Cassill, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 121, 5, , , , Running
37) 19, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow (STEM) Chevrolet, 117, 4, , , , Accident
38) 36, Michael Annett, No. 46 All State Peterbilt Chevrolet, 102, 3, , , , Accident
39) 30, Brian Scott #, No. 44 Medallion Financial Ford, 81, 2, , , , Running
40) 27, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 E.J. Wade Construction Toyota, 57, 1, , , , Accident

Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led.
# = Rookie, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, * = non-charter team

Average Speed: 125.490 MPH
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 11 Mins, 15 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.126 Seconds
Fourteen lead Changes among ten drivers
Ten cautions for 40 laps