A Joe Gibbs Racing car won for the fourth straight week, but it wasn’t Kyle Busch celebrating in Victory Lane. Instead, Matt Kenseth used superior fuel mileage to prevail Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
NASCAR Pocono 2015 results: Matt Kenseth wins Windows 10 400
When Kyle Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap, Matt Kenseth capitalized.
Joey Logano, Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Kenseth were holding the top four positions with four laps remaining in the Windows 10 400. They, all with many of the frontrunners, were attempting to make it to the finish without stopping.
Truex was the first to have his fuel tank hit empty with three circuits left around the 2.5-mile track left. That same lap Logano ran dry relinquishing what had been a sizable lead to Busch, who had won three races in a row and four of the past five entering Pocono.
But Busch’s fortune changed on the white flag lap, as his No. 18 Toyota began slowing. That allowed Kenseth to catch and pass Busch off Turn 2, and he coasted to win for the second time in 2015, the 33rd of his career and first ever at Pocono.
“It feels good to get one today,” Kenseth said. “There’s nothing like wins. I never thought I’d ever win at Pocono and I never thought I’d win a fuel mileage race, so we did both today.”
Brad Keselowski finished second, followed by Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle.
Truex fell to 19th, Logano 20th and Busch 21st.
“We were so close,” Logano said. “You are counting down the laps in your head thinking you are going to make it, but I just didn’t do it.”
Because Logano -- who led a race-high 95 laps -- Truex and Kenseth are virtually locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, their respective gambles carried little consequence.
That rational didn’t apply to Busch. Because he missed 11 races due to injury and needs every point to advance inside the top 30 in the standings to be playoff eligible, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver still has to race somewhat conservatively.
Had Busch not ran out of fuel, he would’ve moved inside the cutoff NASCAR mandated he meet to qualify for the Chase. But by finishing 21st he remains outside the threshold, trailing 30th-ranked David Gilliland with five regular season races remaining. Busch reduced his deficit by 10 points Sunday.
“We got greedy, I don’t know how greedy but that’s the position we’re in,” Busch said. “If it came down to other things and we haven’t had the success that we’ve had here lately, we would’ve had to have pitted and just made the best finish that we could. But, we went for broke today and come up a little bit short so can’t fault the team.”
Busch was bidding to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to register four consecutive victories, and the ninth in NASCAR’s modern era (1972 to present).
With Busch’s teammate Kenseth taking the checkered flag, however, JGR did extend its streak to four straight wins and five in the past six races.
“The 20 [car] (Kenseth) were really good and they obviously deserve to win this race,” Busch said. “They played it right and we didn’t. It’s definitely good for Joe Gibbs Racing. Everybody at home can continue to celebrate even though it wasn’t the 18.”
Johnson, AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards completed the top 10 finishers.
Defending Sprint Cup champion and current series points leader Kevin Harvick lost an engine 20 laps into the 160-lap race. He finished a season-worst 42nd.
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