Matt Kenseth wins at Pocono on fuel mileage

Matt Kenseth surprised many people on Sunday when he stole the win in the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway, bringing the #20 Toyota to victory lane when first dominant Joey Logano in the #22 Ford and Kenseth's teammate Kyle Busch in the #18 Toyota, trying to win a fourth straight Cup race, ran out of fuel in the final laps while leading. After eight cautions in less than 100 of 160 laps, the last 63 laps went caution-free, setting up a sudden fuel-mileage situation similar to the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis one week ago (although that race relied heavily on fuel strategies almost from the start with the special rules package making its debut, only to be negated by a string of late cautions). Logano, who led 97 of 160 laps, had finished second at Indy to Busch, who had won four of the last five Cup races coming into Sunday following his May comeback from his Daytona injury in February. He had to settle for 20th place after pitting.

The first incident occurred on lap 6 when the #5 Chevrolet of Kasey Kahne spun onto pit road and hit the barrier separating it from the track, bringing out a red flag. There was then a competition caution on lap 15. Points leader Kevin Harvick then blew his engine, relegating the #4 Chevrolet to a 42nd-place finish and giving Harvick a mere three-point increase from last week. The Fords of Sam Hornish Jr. (#9) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#17) collided on lap 29, and on lap 66 Harvick's teammate Kurt Busch (#41) spun in turn 1 (the trouble spot throughout the day) and collected the #27 Chevrolet of Paul Menard. Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose #88 Chevrolet carried the race's title sponsor, and who swept both races at the 2.5-mile triangle last year, had a run-in with the #35 Ford of Cole Whitt on the ensuing restart, leaving Earnhardt fighting to stay on the lead lap. Alex Kennedy (#33) spun trying to get onto pit road on lap 93, causing the pit-bound #15 Toyota of Clint Bowyer to pass through pit road and return there when the field returned to the pit entrance one lap later, as Bowyer was just off pit road before the caution lights closed the pits. Bowyer wound up leading the field back to the restart.

Jeff Gordon was driving his #24 Chevrolet in his final appearance at the Tricky Triangle. He had a number of issues throughout the day, but the fuel mileage situation at the end gave Gordon a third-place finish, and his teammate Earnhardt, who ran about 20th during most of the second half of the race, a fourth-place. Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski (#2) was good on fuel and finished runner-up behind Kenseth. A.J. Allmendinger (#47) also snuck into the top ten. Other drivers who couldn't quite make it on fuel were Bowyer, Tony Stewart (#14) and Kyle Larson (#42). June winner Martin Truex Jr. finished 19th in the #78 Chevrolet. Harvick still maintains a 46-point lead over Logano heading toward Watkins Glen, the second of two annual road course stops for the series.

Race Results:

1. (7) 20-Matt Kenseth - Toyota - 160 laps, led 2 laps
2. (9) 2-Brad Keselowski - Ford - 160 laps, led 3 laps
3. (10) 24-Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet - 160 laps, led 2 laps
4. (15) 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 160 laps
5. (25) 16-Greg Biffle - Ford - 160 laps, led 2 laps
6. (12) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 160 laps
7. (22) 47-A.J. Allmendinger - Chevrolet - 160 laps
8. (19) 15-Clint Bowyer - Toyota - 160 laps
9. (5) 14-Tony Stewart - Chevrolet - 160 laps
10. (8) 19-Carl Edwards - Toyota - 160 laps