Jimmie Johnson started on the pole. Qualifying was rained out on Friday so the line up was set based on 2013 Owner Points, which put Johnson on the pole with Carl Edwards to his outside. The race went green and Edwards jumped out to a quick lead, but a championship contender had immediate trouble. On the first lap coming out of turn 1, Kasey Kahne began to slow. He made it to pit road and reported that he was having drivetrain troubles. The crew brought him to the garage and he lost twenty laps while they fixed the problem. The race entered a long stretch of green flag racing which led to the first round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 25. The race continued on until the second round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 55. This led to the first caution of the race on lap 66.
The first caution of the race waved due to debris spotted on the track in turn 1. Danica Patrick received the lucky dog. The race entered another long green flag run that continued on until the third and final round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 98. This set of stops would be very troublesome for one driver. Kevin Harvick, who was running in the top 5, made a routine pit stop, but he was found to be too fast exiting pit road. This resulted in a pass through penalty and Harvick lost a lot of track position. He would make his way back to the top 10, but his chances for a top 5 were lost. Shortly after this, the second caution of the race came out on lap 125. Fluid suspected to be from Martin Truex Jr.'s car was spotted on the track. A.J. Allmendinger received the lucky dog. The race went back green and it was an extremely short time before the third caution of the race came out on lap 132 that would cost a championship contender.
Coming into turn 2 on lap 132, Juan Pablo Montoya made a move underneath Matt Kenseth. Montoya got loose and went up the track. He made contact with Kenseth, which caused the two to spin. Both drivers prevented their cars from hitting the wall and they continued on, but both drivers chances were dashed. Travis Kvapil received the lucky dog. The race went back green and two more contenders had trouble on the restart. Brad Keselowski got loose under Tony Stewart coming into turn 2. The two made contact and slid up the track, but they made incredible saves and were able to continue on. It was a short time before the fourth caution of the race on lap 138. Aric Almirola made contact with Dave Blaney coming out of turn 1. Blaney went for a spin and made slight contact with the inside wall, but he was able to drive away with minimal damage. David Gilliland received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and continued on until the fifth caution on lap 147. A.J. Allmendinger blew a left front tire going down the frontstretch. David Stremme received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and continued on until the sixth and final caution on lap 153. Dave Blaney went up the track in turn 3 while in a three wide situation and slammed the outside wall. David Reutimann received the lucky dog. Now, the final mad dash to the finish was set and it was sure to be a dandy.
The race went green and Jimmie Johnson jumped out to a quick lead. Greg Biffle was able to make it by Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second and flex his muscles for the first time in the race. He made it up to Johnson, but his car was too tight and he fell back. On the last lap, Paul Menard blew a tire in turn 2, but the caution did not wave. Johnson cruised to the finish for his third win this season and his sixty third career win. It was a pure show of domination and now we know that the TNT Summer Series should provide us with good races and constant point changes.
Jimmie Johnson once again proved why he is a five time champion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Love him or hate him, the man can drive the wheels off a racecar. Right now, he holds a 51 point lead ahead of second place Carl Edwards. These next few races will definitely tell if Johnson can hold that spot with races at Infineon, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Michigan, and the always crazy Daytona International Speedway. The series heads to Michigan next week for the Quicken Loans 400. Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. repeat after his win at Michigan last year, will Kasey Kahne redeem himself after a bad race at Pocono, will Jimmie Johnson go back to back or will another driver spark his championship hopes? We will have to wait and find out next Sunday.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 66- Debris was spotted on the track in turn 1.
2nd Caution: Lap 125- Fluid suspected to be from Martin Truex Jr.'s car was spotted on the track.
3rd Caution: Lap 132- Juan Pablo Montoya got loose underneath Matt Kenseth in turn 2. Montoya drifted up the track and made contact with Kenseth causing the two drivers to go for casual spins.
4th Caution: Lap 138- Aric Almirola made contact with Dave Blaney in turn 1 causing Blaney to spin and make contact with the inside wall.
5th Caution: Lap 147- A.J. Allmendinger blew a tire going down the frontstretch.
6th Caution: Lap 153- Dave Blaney went up the track in turn 3 and made hard contact with the outside wall.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Danica Patrick
2nd Caution: A.J. Allmendinger
3rd Caution: Travis Kvapil
4th Caution: David Gilliland
5th Caution: David Stremme
6th Caution: David Reutimann
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Jimmie Johnson
2nd: Greg Biffle
3rd: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4th: Tony Stewart
5th: Ryan Newman
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Kyle Busch
8th: Denny Hamlin
12th: Jeff Gordon
25th: Matt Kenseth
29th: Danica Patrick
36th: Kasey Kahne
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Special thanks to besweeet47 for streaming the race on his justin.tv channel. Without his stream, I wouldn't have been able to watch the race because my cable has been extremely fuzzy due to the terrible weather in my area. Once again, a big thanks to him.
http://www.justin.tv/besweeet47#/w/5868161536/5
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Party_in_the_Poconos_Presented_by_Walmart/W
-Image:
http://www.trbimg.com/img-51b4fa74/turbine/5pocono16-jpg-20130609/580/580x510
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