The race was quiet until the last thirty laps. Drivers turned up the aggression and there was plenty of excitement at the end.
Qualifying
Qualifying was rained out on Friday so the starting lineup was set by car owner points. This gave the top five starting spots to Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards.
Tony Stewart didn't start from the pole because he wrecked his primary race car during practice on Saturday and had to switch to a backup. This caused him to have to start from the back. He wasn't too concerned though because he had to start in the back in June too and he won that race.
Drop Of The Green
Rain pushed the start from Sunday to Monday but blue skies and sunshine met drivers and fans when we finally went green nearly 24 hours late.
Jimmie Johnson won the race into turn one from the outside lane and lead lap one. There was a lot of give and take early on as the leaders settled into a single-file line and put some laps in the books.
Storylines
As the race neared the end the long green flag runs were replaced with cautions as drivers visibly turned up the intensity. The David Stremme car received a five lap penalty for aggressive driving and Robby Gordon received the same five lap penalty for hitting Stremme under caution.
It looked to me like Robby Gordon plowed into the back of Stremme's car in the middle of turn one and then pushed him down the straight. Stremme pulled over and let him pass and then spun Robby Gordon coming off of the tunnel turn.
This kind of driving has no place at Pocono. You can get away with this at Bristol or Martinsville but it is too dangerous for stupid games like this on a superspeedway. The speeds are just too high and someone could get hurt.
I was happy to see NASCAR take a strong stand against this.
Chasing The Checkers
Sam Hornish was making his final pit stop under green when the yellow flag flew. He was able to return to the track on the lead lap along with Clint Bowyer, Scott Speed, and Juan Montoya. Those four stayed out while the rest of the field pitted putting them into the lead for the restart with 30 laps to go.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart took fuel only which moved them to the top top of the standings behind the top four.
The level of aggression was through the roof and there were more cautions keeping the field bunched together. The multiple late race double-file restarts let Bowyer get past Hornish for the lead.
The final restart came with 13 laps to go. Bowyer got a great start and lead the field into turn one but it was bedlam behind him. Drivers were racing three and four wide for position with lots of pushing and shovng.
Denny Hamlin got clear of the pack and was able to run Bowyer down for the lead. Montoya was in third and closed in to make it a three horse race for the win.
Denny Hamlin made the pass for the lead with ten laps to go. Montoya was able to get past for second but the lead was never again in doubt.
Top Ten
- Denny Hamlin
- Juan Montoya
- Clint Bowyer
- Sam Hornish Jr.
- Kasey Kahne
- Brian Vickers
- Mark Martin
- Jeff Gordon
- Kurt Busch
- Tony Stewart
The Points
Tony Stewart continues to lead and the top four positions didn't change as a result of today's race.
At the other end of the top twelve Greg Biffle slipped one spot to twelfth overall but he remains in a Chase spot. Kyle Busch is now thirteenth overall 99 points behind Biffle.
The top twelve are now:
- Tony Stewart
- Jimmie Johnson -197
- Jeff Gordon -199
- Kurt Busch -437
- Denny Hamlin -475
- Carl Edwards - 523
- Kasey Kahne -546
- Juan Montoya -557
- Ryan Newman -561
- Mark Martin -566
- Matt Kenseth -624
- Greg Biffle -625
