For years, the "P" in Pocono Raceway stood for predictable. NASCAR's 2.5-mile, triangular-shaped track just 100 miles west of New York City is part superspeedway, part road course and, for the majority of the past two decades, part snoozer when it came to Cup Series competition.
Not this past weekend.
The second year of condensing the track's two races delivered in a big way over the weekend. Saturday saw Kyle Larson's month-long win streak end in spectacular fashion: a blown tire entering the final turn, handing the checkered to Alex Bowman.
Larson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, who just signed a contract extension through 2023, earned his third win of the year in spectacular fashion. He hasn't been the dominant car in any of them, but this year-long habit of right place, right time has cemented his role as a spoiler championship contender.
"This is the strangest win I've ever been a part of," Bowman said. "I've never been in a situation like that. I was literally keyed up, apologizing for burning the front tires off the thing. Saw the crush panel fly out, [Larson] have a flat. I can't believe it."
Neither could Kyle Busch on Sunday, who was simply trying to nurse his car to the finish with a broken clutch. First, the car popped out of fourth gear, then stuck completely during the race's final caution on lap 94. NASCAR forced the team to make an extra stop to cover up a shifter boot they were utilizing to correct the problem.
"When we came down that last time," Busch said. "That was it. The clutch was gone when I left. It was smoking, it was burned up."
The issue left Busch at the rear of the field but also led to one advantage: he had a lap more fuel in the tank than anyone else. As the race played out, strategy took over the finish as most of the field tried stretching their gas mileage without stopping. Nearly all of them, from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin to Kyle's brother Kurt, ran out.
That left Busch taking the white flag in front with a healthy lead over Larson. He nursed it to an 8.6-second win with a car that might never have finished at all if forced to make one more stop.
"We're fortunate," said Busch's crew chief Ben Beshore. "We had just enough clutch to finish the race. It sort of fell into our favor there with it going green, us being able to save enough to have enough to actually push the guys in front of us out of gas."
Two unpredictable wins in two days? What a boost for a Pocono track that, entering the weekend, posted a lead change over the final two laps just twice in the last 20 years.
This weekend? It happened in back-to-back races!
It's a shocker for a track and series that's watched Larson run circles around the competition for weeks on end. Turns out a little unpredictability at Pocono exists after all, as it taught us a little Racing 101: the fastest car doesn't always win.
"Sometimes," Busch said. "You have to have a little bit of luck on your side."
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Green: Bubba Wallace -- With boss Michael Jordan in attendance, Wallace earned the first top-5 finish in 23XI Racing history. A fifth-place effort by stretching the fuel mileage leaves him on the outside fringes of playoff contention, some 54 points behind Kurt Busch for the final spot. "We know that we are in a hole," Wallace said afterward, "But… today shows what we can do."
Yellow: Kurt Busch -- Busch gained 87 points in just three races, an incredible charge to blow by Chris Buescher Saturday and get on the right side of the postseason bubble. Yet an ill-fated decision Sunday to stretch it on fuel turned a possible second-place finish for Busch into 20th. Those are 18 points he might regret leaving on the table with Wallace, Daniel Suarez and others building their own momentum.
Red: Cole Custer -- As the 2020 Cup Rookie of the Year said Sunday night, if he didn't have bad luck, he'd have none at all. A wreck on Saturday was followed up by damage from in-race contact Sunday, producing an average Pocono finish of 31st. A playoff driver last year, Custer has three DNFs in his last eight races and sits a lowly 28th in the standings, ahead of only four others who've started all 18 races this season.
Speeding Ticket: Chase Elliott-Christopher Bell-Ross Chastain -- Chastain started the whole mess in Sunday's race by making inadvertent contact with Bell. Moments later, Chase Elliott played bumper cars himself and sent the No. 20 hard into the Turn 3 wall.
All three drivers wound up with flat tires, damage that destroyed their days. Even worse was NASCAR's decision not to throw the yellow even with heavy wall contact from Bell. You can imagine his frustration when this Bell "spin" caused a caution two weeks earlier in the All-Star Race.
Where's the consistency from NASCAR officiating? Hard to explain this one.
Oops!
Kyle Busch let loose with a little impromptu karaoke Sunday, paying tribute to Steve Miller Band after fighting his way to the front.
Hall of Fame race car driver? Check. "American Idol"-level singer? Needs improvement.
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June 29, 2021 at 01:15AM
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NASCAR Crash Course: Pocono doubleheader delivered in a big way - CBS Sports
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