Kyle Busch Ends Year Long Winless Drought With 44th Annual Overton’s 400 Win At Pocono

Kyle Busch and team use Pit to set up and run away with a win at Pocono. Dean Patton Photo.

Long Pond, PA - RIS - Kyle Busch ends a year long Win Drought with class, speed, and pure power. Busch and his team take some strategy with a four tire, and two fuel can Pit Stop and finds himself 6 seconds behind with about 36 Laps remaining. Within seven laps he has caught the leaders and was about to put a spanking on them….. He makes the pass for a lead and goes on to beat Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex, Jr by half the straight away lead at Pocono International…. If you know anything about that straight away you know just how much of a spanking he put on two of the hottest drivers in NASCAR today.

In the end, not only did Kyle Busch end a draught that goes back to Indy from 2016, he takes his first win at Pocono, and that leaves only Charolette Speedway on his list of tracks to win at. Now let’s see, this win makes it Toyota’s 100th Monster NASCAR Cup win, the first coming back in 2008, and guess who was the chauffeur then? Yep, you guessed it, Kyle Busch. Not bad for a team and driver who regularly receive the largest, and loudest BOOs from the fans. This never discourages the team, as Kyle really enjoys his Bows to the fans when he wins, and that in of itself is always fun to watch no matter how you feel about this driver.

This win also puts the team in the Playoffs, which begin in just 5 weeks. So what does this mean to the rest of the field? Is this win a statement so to speak, a statement that Kyle Busch has hit his stride, that Kyle Busch has put all the bad luck behind him? No, I believe it was only a matter of time that this team would win, you can never keep a good driver, a solid team, and in truth, a set of teammates on mission from their goal, another Championship!

Here’s how it shook out in the end of a fine weekend at Pocono…

Unofficial Race Results for the 44th Annual Overton's 400 - Pocono Raceway - July 30, 2017

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Laps, Status
1) 1, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, 1, , 5, 74, 6, 50, 160, Running
2) 6, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 3, , , , , 43, 160, Running
3) 2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, 2, , 2, 31, , 43, 160, Running
4) 4, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 7, , 2, 18, , 37, 160, Running
5) 11, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford, 4, 2, 1, 6, , 48, 160, Running
6) 7, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Nature's Bakery/Feeding America Ford, 8, 1, 1, 5, 1, 44, 160, Running
7) 8, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota, , , , , , 30, 160, Running
8) 9, Erik Jones #, No. 77 SiriusXM Toyota, , , 2, 4, , 29, 160, Running
9) 15, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota Care Toyota, , , 2, 9, , 28, 160, Running
10) 13, Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 10, , , , , 28, 160, Running
11) 12, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips/Shark Week Chevrolet, , 6, , , , 31, 160, Running
12) 23, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, , , , , , 25, 160, Running
13) 18, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, , 4, , , , 31, 160, Running
14) 20, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, , 5, , , , 29, 160, Running
15) 22, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Code 3 Associates/One Cure Ford, , 3, , , , 30, 160, Running
16) 21, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, , 7, 1, 11, , 25, 160, Running
17) 30, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, , , , , , 20, 159, Running
18) 17, Michael McDowell, No. 95 FDNY Foundation Chevrolet, , 9, , , , 21, 159, Running
19) 27, Paul Menard, No. 27 Moen/Menards Chevrolet, , , , , , 18, 159, Running
20) 19, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, , 8, , , , 20, 159, Running
21) 26, Austin Dillon, No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet, , , 1, 2, , 16, 159, Running
22) 33, David Ragan, No. 38 Overton's Ford, , , , , , 15, 159, Running
23) 28, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, , 10, , , , 15, 159, Running
24) 32, Cole Whitt, No. 72 Unique Pretzels Chevrolet, , , , , , 13, 159, Running
25) 34, Corey LaJoie, No. 23 Lehigh Valley Phantoms Toyota, , , , , , 12, 159, Running
26) 3, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald's Chevrolet, 6, , , , , 16, 159, Running
27) 10, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, , , , , , 10, 159, Running
28) 24, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Clorox Chevrolet, , , , , , 9, 159, Running
29) 31, Landon Cassill, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, , , , , , 8, 158, Running
30) 5, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 5, , , , , 13, 158, Running
31) 35, Gray Gaulding #, No. 15 LaColombe Chevrolet, , , , , , 6, 157, Running
32) 36, * Stephen Leicht, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota, , , , , , 5, 153, Running
33) 16, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Energizer Chevrolet, 9, , , , , 6, 148, Running
34) 37, * Derrike Cope, No. 55 Sundance Vacations Toyota, , , , , , 3, 85, Transmission
35) 14, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, , , , , , 2, 57, Accident
36) 38, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Hulu Chevrolet, , , , , , 1, 24, Engine
37) 29, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Dick Stevens Jerky & Trail Mix Ford, , , , , , 1, 1, Accident
38) 25, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, , , , , , 1, 0, Accident
 (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) Non-charter team

Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 50 Mins, 07 Secs.
Average Speed: 141.080 MPH
Margin of Victory: 6.178 Seconds
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the Overton's 400 at Pocono Raceway, his 39th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. Before the start of the event, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: Nos. 33 (unapproved adjustments) and No. 55 (missed drivers meeting).
Caution Flags: 5 for 21 laps: Laps: 2-7 (No. 3, 10, 20, 27,  32, 37, 43, 95 Incident in Turn 3 [None]); 52-55 (Stage 1 Conclusion [27]); 59-61 (No. 5 and 48 Incident in Turn 3 [88]); 71-74 (Debris in Turn 1 from No. 42 [95]); 102-105 (Stage 2 Conclusion [37]).
Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers: Kyle Busch 1-21; E. Jones No.  22-24; R. Stenhouse Jr. 25-35; M. Kenseth 36-41; Kyle Busch 42-52; M. Kenseth 53-55; Kyle Busch 56-71; A. Dillon 72-73; D. Hamlin 74-89; M. Truex Jr. 90-96; C. Bowyer 97-101; M. Truex Jr. 102-125; Kyle Busch 126-134; B. Keselowski 135-140; E. Jones No.  141; D. Hamlin 142-143; Kyle Busch 144-160.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award:  Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Coors Light Pole Award:  Kyle Busch, No. 18 179.372 mph
Ingersoll Rand Power Move:  Kasey Kahne, No. 5 3 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 18 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Moog Go the Extra Mile:  Matt Kenseth, No. 20 crew chief Jason Ratcliff, 0.583 seconds
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap:  Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Daniel Suarez, No. 19

Remember, results are unofficial until NASCAR Officials make their final examinations. See you at the track.

Dean Patton

I have been a Photojournalist for RIS-news for the past ten years more or less. I was a shooter for a Minority Publication here in Reading, PA. Unfortunately the publisher passed away ending the publication. Mike took me onboard the following February while covering Daytona freelance. I also shoot Football, Professional Boxing, and Pennsylvania Dirt Track Racing. Hailing from Reading, Pennsylvania what else would I do. In my real life I am also a sitting Magisterial District Judge... sports coverage is my escape!

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Volume 2017, Issue 7, Posted 8:48 PM, 07.30.2017