Kyle Busch Wins With Excitement at 45th Annual Gander Outdoors 400

Now, both Six Time winners this season #18 Kyle Busch and #4 Kevin Harvick battle side by side earlier in the event at Pocono International Raceway. Dean Patton Photo.

Long Pond, PA - RIS - Kyle Busch completes a NASCAR sweep at Pocono International raceway with his win of the 45th Annual Gnder Outdoors 400. After taking his 51st win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win on Saturday, Kyle Busch wins his 49th NASCAR Monster Energy Drink Series event. Only his second win at Pocono International, but it appears that he has figured out how to handle the “Tricky Triangle” and do it with finesse.

Most of the event today was spent enjoying the great weather in Pennsylvania and just four Yellow Flag Cautions and with about twenty-eight laps remaining the bottom appeared to fall out and throw the entire ending of the event into shelter skelter. Kevin Harvick a Six Time NASCAR Monster Cup Series winner on the season was holding the winning cards; or so everyone though, but while Caution kicked in Harvick started ninth and was moving forward all that came to an end and he started to fade. Back to 13th. Kyle Busch was holding a four second lead over Daniel Suarex who started on the Pole in the #19 Stanley Toyota. There was contact with Harvick and I believe a teammate; Bowyer, as they exit pit stalls causing dents, scratches, and probably some bad feelings and Harvick was now running 28th with 28 laps remaining.

Now no one even think Harvick could pass one car per lap to challenge Kyle Busch. With 6 laps remaining Bubba Wallace had breaks blow up entering turn one causing all kinds of havoc and bringing out the Red Flag to actually remove car parts that had been embedded into the safer Barrier in the turn. Luckily the Safer Barrier did it’s job and Bubba Wallace walked, no limped away, and will race another day. He will race a little sore, and maybe a limp, but he was virtually unharmed and smiling as he exited the care center.

Racing to resume with six to go Kyle Busch and his teammate Daniel Suarez would start side by side in what appeared to be the last restart on the day. Busch would really put the petal to the metal and took off. Alas it was for naught as some contact back in the pack on the longest straight-away in the Series another bump and grind would bring out another Yellow setting up an Overtime Situation in NASCAR. Well while all this was taking place who do you think was making moves and could become a big factor again? Right, Kevin Harvick wheeling the #4 Mobile 1 Ford. 

Now on the restart he was totally within striking distance, but also sitting in the wings was Erik Jones in the #20 Reeses’ Toyota. This time Kyle Busch didn’t just jump out with fire, but Suarez, and Busch were side by side on the front stretch and Jones decided to make it three wide for the lead, and it truly was anybody’s game. Harvick may have had his shot, but when they went three wide Kyle Busch was not going to be denied. No, not this week. He powered into the lead and spanked them all. Yes my friends, the large number of fans at Pocono Raceway were all standing, screaming, crying, but enjoying it no matter how it rubbed out. The Kyle Busch Nation was alive…… if you missed this one, you missed one heck of a great finish, drama, excitement, and in the end, to me, the class of the field won out.

To round out the top five: #18 Kyle Busch takes the checkered, second went to the pole sitter #19 Daniel Saurez, third was #88 Alex Bowman, with hard charging #4 Kevin Harvick finishing 4th, and to round it out was fifth place finisher #20 Erik Jones. I wanted to get this out fast as the event sure did end on one exciting fast note.

In the end, the two titans on the season now have six wins apiece for the 2018 campaigns. At this point it is still unknown who will win the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Championship, but you goot a admit it is not only the Summer Heat that is hot. The dog days of Summer are going to lead into some great excitement for NASCAR fans.

See you at the track!

Unofficial Race Results for the 45th Annual Gander Outdoors 400 - Sunday, July 29, 2018 - Pocono Raceway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
28, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, 164, 4, , 2, 52, 5, 47, Running
1, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 Stanley Toyota, 164, 5, , 3, 29, , 41, Running
10, Alex Bowman, No. 88 AXALTA All-Pro Teachers Chevrolet, 164, 9, 4, , , , 43, Running
29, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 164, 2, 1, 2, 30, 1, 52, Running
3, Erik Jones, No. 20 Reser's Toyota, 164, , , 1, 11, , 32, Running
38, William Byron #, No. 24 AXALTA/IMRON Chevrolet, 164, , 10, 1, 10, , 32, Running
6, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 164, 1, 2, 1, 14, 1, 49, Running
9, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 29, Running
7, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 164, 8, , 1, 11, , 31, Running
2, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 164, 3, , 1, 5, , 35, Running
31, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas 30 Years of the VF1 Ford, 164, 6, 3, , , , 39, Running
33, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 PPG Ford, 164, 10, 9, , , , 28, Running
37, Austin Dillon, No. 3 American Ethanol e15 Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 24, Running
14, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 23, Running
8, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 164, , , , , , 22, Running
13, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford, 164, , , , , , 21, Running
35, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 164, , 6, , , , 25, Running
11, Matt Kenseth, No. 6 Roush Performance Ford, 164, , , , , , 19, Running
16, David Ragan, No. 38 A&W All American Food Ford, 164, , , , , , 18, Running
5, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Arctic Cat Chevrolet, 164, , 8, 1, 1, , 20, Running
36, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Libman Ford, 164, , , , , , 16, Running
17, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford Ford, 164, , , , , , 15, Running
32, Kyle Larson, No. 42 DC Solar/Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 164, , 5, , , , 20, Running
15, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 13, Running
34, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 164, , , , , , 12, Running
30, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 164, , , , , , 11, Running
18, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Dude Wipes Ford, 164, , , , , , 10, Running
20, JJ Yeley(i), No. 23 Steakhouse Elite Toyota, 164, , , , , , 0, Running
19, * Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 96 Xtreme Concepts Inc. Toyota, 163, , , , , , 8, Running
40, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 Procore Chevrolet, 162, , , , , , 7, Running
23, * Kyle Weatherman, No. 99 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 161, , , , , , 6, Running
25, * Reed Sorenson, No. 7 Chevrolet, 161, , , , , , 5, Running
39, Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 Mile 22 Chevrolet, 153, , , , , , 4, Accident
24, Landon Cassill, No. 00 Lock Haven University Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 3, Running
22, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Chevrolet, 146, , , , , , 0, Running
27, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Lehigh Valley Phantoms Toyota, 142, , , , , , 0, Running
12, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Scott Products Chevrolet, 123, , , , , , 1, Transmission
4, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford, 121, 7, 7, 1, 1, , 9, Accident
21, Corey LaJoie, No. 72 Monarch Chevrolet, 95, , , , , , 1, Accident
26, BJ McLeod(i), No. 51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 77, , , , , , 0, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non charter team

Total Race Length - 164 Laps - 410 Miles
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 05 Mins, 43 Secs.
Average Speed: 132.460 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.788 Seconds
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the 45th annual Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway, his 49th victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 95 (engine change), 15 (driver change) and 23 (unapproved adjustments).
Caution Flags: 7 for 29 laps: Laps: 52-56 (End of Stage 1 [34])
84-87 (No. 72 Incident Turn 3 [17])
102-105 (End of Stage 2 [23])
122-125 (No. 2 Incident Turn 2 [23])
127-132 (Fluid on Track from No. 00 [96])
155-157 (No. 43 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag 10:10] [23])
160-162 (No. 10, 17 Incident Turn 1 [22]).
Lead Changes: 13 among 10 drivers: 
D. Suarez 1-21
B. Keselowski 22
J. McMurray 23
Kurt Busch 24-34
D. Hamlin 35-39
C. Elliott 40-53
E. Jones 54-64
K. Harvick 65-77
D. Suarez 78-84
K. Harvick 85-101
W. Byron No. 102-111
Kyle Busch 112-121
D. Suarez 122
Kyle Busch 123-164.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Busch Pole Award: Daniel Suarez, No. 19 176.988 mph
Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 18
Moog Go the Extra Mile: William Byron, No. 24 crew chief Darian Grubb, 0.328 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, No. 24

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 2018, Issue 6, Posted 7:11 PM, 07.29.2018