{"id":26350,"date":"2019-06-02T17:45:26","date_gmt":"2019-06-02T22:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=26350"},"modified":"2019-06-02T22:49:52","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T03:49:52","slug":"kyle-busch-cruises-to-second-straight-pocono-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/02\/kyle-busch-cruises-to-second-straight-pocono-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Busch cruises to second straight Pocono victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 02, 2019 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

With a dominating performance at a track he has learned to love, Kyle Busch<\/strong> cruised to his fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> victory of the season in Sunday\u2019s Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota, crosses the finish line to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 02, 2019 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Busch led a race-high 79 of 160 laps\u2014including the final 21 after a cycle of green-flag pit stops\u2014in collecting his second straight win at the 2.5-mile triangular track and his third overall, all three of which have come in the last four events after years of frustration at the Tricky Triangle.<\/p>\n

With his 55th victory in the series, Busch tied NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for ninth on the career win list. Next above him is the late Dale Earnhardt, who won 76 races. It was the ninth triumph in 14 races this season for Joe Gibbs Racing, equaling the organization\u2019s total from 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,\u201d Busch said in Victory Lane. \u201cEverybody that works there works so hard to build these awesome Camrys\u2026 We\u2019ve had an amazing roll this year here so far. We\u2019ve been doing well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we\u2019ve kind of given away a couple of wins that we thought we had a shot for, but overall, it\u2019s been awesome to get back to Victory Lane here. Pocono\u2019s been a struggle, but it\u2019s a lot better now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota, celebrates winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 02, 2019 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Not even a late caution on Lap 147, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pounded the outside wall in the Tunnel Turn, could interrupt the flow of Busch\u2019s race. After the subsequent restart on Lap 152, the No. 18 JGR Toyota gradually pulled away from Brad Keselowski, who shot past Erik Jones into the runner-up position on the restart.<\/p>\n

Busch crossed the finish line 2.224 seconds ahead of Keselowski\u2019s No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Jones held the third position, followed by Chase Elliott, who recorded his fifth consecutive top-five result. Clint Bowyer completed the top five.<\/p>\n

On an earlier restart on Lap 73, Bowyer charged past Busch into the lead, but two laps later, Busch surprised the Stewart-Haas driver with a pass to the outside in Turn 3. That move was emblematic of the superiority of Busch\u2019s car throughout the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI passed one guy on the outside of Turn 3, and that was the only guy I needed to pass, I guess,” Busch said. “It was hard otherwise. We kind of got stuck back in traffic a little bit earlier in the race, like in fifth or sixth, and couldn’t really do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota, celebrates winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 02, 2019 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The stellar work of Busch\u2019s over-the-wall crew, however, gained positions on pit road.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, my guys on pit road were awesome and picked up some spots there,\u201d Busch said. (\u201cCrew chief) Adam Stevens and some of his race calls got us up closer to the front. Cool to get a win at Pocono again.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also helped that Busch\u2019s closest competition, Kevin Harvick, had to serve a pass-through penalty for a tire violation, after the right front that came off the car rolled out of the No. 4 Ford\u2019s pit stall during a two-tire stop on Lap 123. A broken steering box compounded Harvick\u2019s problems and relegated him to a 22nd-place finish.<\/p>\n

Keselowski got the best possible finish out of a car that wasn\u2019t the equal of Busch\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota, races Clint Bowyer, driver of the #14 Haas Automation Ford, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 02, 2019 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have speed enough to pass guys, but we could run with them,\u201d Keselowski said. \u201cI think we had a pretty good Wabash Ford. We wanted a little bit more to be able to pass everybody, but you had to be so much faster that you just try to execute the best you can and hope things fall the right way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey fell decent, just not good enough to win today.\u201d <\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, pole winner William Byron and Aric Almirola completed the top 10. Kyle Larson won the first two stages but cut across the nose of Bowyer\u2019s Ford and bounced off the wall near the exit from Turn 1 late in the race. Larson finished 26th, one lap down.<\/p>\n

 <\/h3>\n

 <\/h3>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Kyle Busch – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PR1_MENCS_KyleWin_060219.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Winning crew chief Adam Stevens and Team Vice Chairman\/COO Coy Gibbs – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PR1_MENCS_JGR_060219.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race – 38th Annual Pocono 400<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pocono Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Long Pond, Pennsylvania<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, June 2, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

               1. (2)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 160.<\/p>\n

               2. (5)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               3. (4)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 160.<\/p>\n

               4. (12)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               5. (3)  Clint Bowyer, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               6. (6)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 160.<\/p>\n

               7. (16)  Joey Logano, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               8. (9)  Daniel Suarez, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               9. (1)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               10. (13)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               11. (21)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               12. (17)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               13. (23)  Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               14. (24)  Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               15. (15)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               16. (19)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               17. (22)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 160.<\/p>\n

               18. (14)  Paul Menard, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               19. (8)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               20. (28)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

               21. (26)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

               22. (11)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 159.<\/p>\n

               23. (29)  Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 159.<\/p>\n

               24. (32)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 159.<\/p>\n

               25. (34)  Bayley Currey(i), Ford, 159.<\/p>\n

               26. (7)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 159.<\/p>\n

               27. (25)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 158.<\/p>\n

               28. (35)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 157.<\/p>\n

               29. (36)  Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 157.<\/p>\n

               30. (27)  David Ragan, Ford, 156.<\/p>\n

               31. (31)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 154.<\/p>\n

               32. (18)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, Accident, 146.<\/p>\n

               33. (30)  Matt Tifft #, Ford, 128.<\/p>\n

               34. (37)  JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               35. (20)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, Engine, 91.<\/p>\n

               36. (33)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, Accident, 68.<\/p>\n

               37. (10)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 28.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  134.718 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 58 Mins, 9 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.224 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  8 for 28 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  13 among 9 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   W. Byron 1-22;K. Larson 23-51;B. Keselowski 52-55;K. Busch 56-72;C. Bowyer 73-74;K. Busch 75-94;C. Elliott 95-96;K. Larson 97-102;K. Busch 103-123;D. Hamlin 124;D. Suarez 125-133;W. Byron 134-136;D. Hemric # 137-139;K. Busch 140-160.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch 4 times for 79 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 35 laps; William Byron 2 times for 25 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 9 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 4 laps; Daniel Hemric # 1 time for 3 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 2 laps; Clint Bowyer 1 time for 2 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 10,12,19,2,21,22,24,4,41,42<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 1,2,22,24,37,41,42,43,6,8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service With a dominating performance at a track he has learned to love, Kyle Busch cruised to his fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in Sunday\u2019s Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway. Busch led a race-high 79 of 160 laps\u2014including the final 21 after a cycle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":26356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[59,16,605,252],"class_list":["post-26350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-kyle-busch","tag-nascar","tag-pocono-400","tag-pocono-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MENCS_PR1_Checkered_060219-e1559531724250.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-6R0","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26360,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350\/revisions\/26360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}