NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie Chris Buescher won the Pennsylvania 400 on Monday after an ocean of fog saturated Pocono Raceway. NASCAR officials red-flagged the race on Lap 132 of a scheduled 160 due to the lack of visibility. The contest had been delayed from Sunday’s original starting time because of rain.
Chris Buescher stretched his fuel from his last stop at Lap 107. Furthermore, Buescher was staking his chances on staying out as his fellow competitors pitted to keep his position out front. As a result, Chris Buescher claimed his first Sprint Cup Series victory in his inaugural season.
The 2015 Xfinity Series champion was hoping that rain would fall during the red flag stoppage. Instead, a different act of mother nature worked in the speedsters favor. Front Row Motorsports, who Chris Buescher races for, had not won in 118 races. Veteran driver David Ragan was the last to win for the smaller operation at Talladega Super Speedway in 2013.
Chris Buescher only had a total of 27 starts in a Sprint Cup hot-rod. He won the 2015 Xfinity Series crown and was doled out of Roush/Fenway Racing for his racing experience. Buescher started the event 31st in the points standings. Therefore, he was not eligible for the playoffs just by winning a race. The triumph pulled him only six tallies out of 30th place with five races remaining.
“We’re in the hunt. We can definitely handle this now,” Buescher said after NASCAR called the race after a red flag of about 80 minutes. “We’ve been headed in the right direction. We can get into this Chase now. We’ve had a lot of momentum lately. We just need to get to a point where we’re more competitive at the end. “It doesn’t even feel real right now. It’s a tough way to end the race for a lot people but it’s pretty awesome for us.”
“It was stressful,” said Buescher, who lost a lap because of a pit road speeding penalty on Lap 94 and regained it as the highest-scored lapped car under caution on Lap 109. “I tried not to get my hopes up because I know how these things can play out. Mother Nature can be really nice sometimes and really mean. If that sun would have come out, it would have changed our whole day.”
Chris Buescher will receive a spot in the Chase if he completes the 26 race regular season in 30th place or better. Buescher is the first Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to win a Sprint Cup race since Joey Logano did it in 2009. Logano’s victory also came in a weather shortened race at New Hampshire Speedway.
Kevin Harvick, arguably the fastest car on the track at the time of the race’s stoppage, finished fourth. The 2014 Sprint Cup champion’s crew chief Rodney Childers kept an eye on the event from an outside location.
Childers was serving a penalty for a lug nut violation from last week’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch, who won this contest in June, had his crew chief Tony Gibson serving the same suspension during his trip to the Winners Circle at Pocono Raceway. Busch finished out the shortened day in 10th.
Martin Truex Jr. started the Pennsylvania 400 from the pole position from his qualifying efforts on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Joe Gibbs Racing’s new addition, crashed in the tunnel turn on a Lap 19. A failing lug nut was identified as the culprit when it broke the inner valve stem, flattening the tire. This was the second time the Furniture Row team had their day shortened by the same incident.
Martin Truex Jr.’s # 78 Toyota received major damage and limped around the 2.5 mile tri-oval straight to the garage. Truex Jr. relayed to his Furniture Row Racing crew that he could not turn the machine into the corner after the restart. Truex Jr. managed to get his car back onto the track to scoop up some much needed points but once again scraped the wall on Lap 99. The snake-bitten racer finished out the Pennsylvania 400 in 38th.
Final Running Order for the 43rd Annual Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway:
1. (22) Chris Buescher, Ford, 138.
2. (7) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 138.
3. (30) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 138.
4. (17) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 138.
5. (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 138.
6. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 138.
7. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 138.
8. (2) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 138.
9. (16) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 138.
10. (15) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 138.
11. (18) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 138.
12. (5) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 138.
13. (12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 138.
14. (13) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 138.
15. (23) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 138.
16. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 138.
17. (9) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 138.
18. (14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 138.
19. (31) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 138.
20. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 138.
21. (20) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 138.
22. (26) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 138.
23. (29) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 138.
24. (35) Brian Scott, Ford, 138.
25. (25) Greg Biffle, Ford, 138.
26. (28) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 138.
27. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 138.
28. (34) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 138.
29. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 137.
30. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 137.
31. (36) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 137.
32. (33) David Ragan, Toyota, 135.
33. (8) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 134.
34. (38) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 132.
35. (3) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 119.
36. (37) Jeb Burton, Ford, 117.
37. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 115.
38. (1) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, Accident, 82.
39. (27) Aric Almirola, Ford, Accident, 66.
40. (40) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Engine, 29.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 127.581 mph.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 42 Mins, 15 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 19 among 11 drivers.
