Menard was one of two drivers at DEI that had a full sponsor, but he will be taking that with him to Yates. Now, only Martin Truex, Jr. is left at DEI with a full sponsor. Menard has gone 68 career races with reaching the winner’s circle and posted only one top 10 finish in his career at DEI. Menard’s first race for Yates will be in 2009.

Speed will be joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup series after running in the Craftsman Truck Series. Speed will begin running the No. 84 car on Oct. 19 at Martinsville. Speed was able to run a test on the Red Bull car at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last week. However, Mike Skinner will run the next two races in the No. 84 car, including at Lowe’s Speedway, before Speed takes the wheel.

Post from: EveryJoe

Speed and Menard make headlines in changes

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 01 car
- Penske Racing – No. 12 car
- Stewart Haas Racing – No. 4 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 15 car
- Joe Gibbs Racing – No. 20 car
- Wood Brothers Racing – No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing – No. 22 car
- Yates Racing – No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing – No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports – No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing – No. 41 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- JJ Yeley
- Johnny Sauter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton
- Dario Franchitti

Post from: EveryJoe

Silly Season Tracker – Updated 8/8

Martin Truex Jr. finally put an end to the many rumors that surrounded a potential move for him to Stewart-Haas Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Penske Racing in 2009 when he and the suits at Dale Earnhardt Inc. finally inked a deal on Wednesday that will have him returning to the no. 1 car next season.

It was reported over a week ago that Truex and DEI had reached a verbal agreement that would extend Truex with the organization through the 2010 racing season. Those rumors have not come to fruition, as Truex’ future beyond next year remains unclear, but several sources are reporting that both sides are still working on a longer term deal.

The deal will also put Bass Pro Shops back on the hood as the primary sponsor for Truex. They are currently committed to DEI through 2010. DEI has already signed Aric Almirola to replace Mark Martin in the no. 8 car full-time next year, and they are still working on a long-term deal with Paul Menard.

Post from: EveryJoe

Martin Truex Jr. to Return to DEI in 2009

Rain played a large part in pretty much anything NASCAR tried to accomplish this weekend, and Sunday’s race at Pocono was no different. It was also one of the more interesting weekends in Carl Edwards’ professional racing career, that’s for sure. He had to squeegee the rain off his own windshield under caution during Saturday’s Nationwide Series race in Montreal (in which he finished 6th). Then, after both of the Sprint Cup practice sessions were rained out on Saturday, his team unloaded off the hauler on Sunday with a car that Crew Chief, Bob Osbourne, described as “experimental.” Then, they had to weed their way through a slieu of pit strategies that overcame the field when rain crept its way back into Pocono a little over past the halway point in the race, and in the end, it was Carl Edwards stretching his fuel en route to his fourth win in the Sprint Cup Series this season.

Jimmie Johnson was looking to continue his current hot streak when he started the day out on the pole, but it was Mark Martin from the 2nd spot that led the first 21 laps of the race, which saw three caution periods. The first came on the very first lap of the race when Kevin Harvick was spun by Joe Nemecheck, and then just 7 laps later, it was Kurt Busch going around in a single car spin. The third caution was brought out by NASCAR on lap 21 as a competition caution due to the teams not having the opportunity to run Saturday’s practice sessions as a result of inclimate weather.

The field pitted during the lap 21 caution, and Johnson was able to take advantage of a slow stop by the no. 8 team and came out front to take the lead. But, Mark Martin was able to comeback up through the field to take the lead on lap 36 and stayed out front all the way until lap 66, minus a few laps in which he surrendered the lead during a round of green flag stops. The fourth caution was brought out on lap 66 for debris, and this time it was Carl Edwards jumping out to the front.

Edwards held onto the lead until the next caution on lap 87 – also for debris, but it was again Jimmie Johnson’s team getting him out up front off of pit road followed by Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr, and Matt Kenseth. Edwards came out of the pits in 7th, and Mark Martin came out 17th. Carl later passed Johnson for the lead under green on lap 111.

Things started to get a bit more interesting when the race fell under caution on lap 127 due to rain – about 7 laps after the field cycled its way through a round of green flag stops. With pit road open, all but 19 cars decided to pit for fuel, including Edwards, Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Tony Stewart who led the field down pit road.

Kasey Kahne, the winner of the June race at Pocono, was handed the lead for the first time on the day by virtue of the leaders’ decision to pit, followed by Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, and Kurt Busch when the race was red flagged on lap 131 when the rain began to pickup.

The race restarted about a half hour later, and Joe Nemecheck and Paul Menard were the first to find out where the slick spots on the track were as they wrecked on lap 137 to bring out the 7th caution. Juan Pablo Montoya then blew his engine about 8 laps later, but NASCAR decided not to waive the caution. Kurt Busch inherited the lead on lap 158 when some of the cars in front of him started to make their scheduled green flag stops, but he was the next to work his way toward disaster after stretching his fuel out a bit too far, eventually running out of gas on lap 161. He was able to make it to pit road, but lost a ton of time on the track as a result.

Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson both found themselves back out in front momentarily as the 19 cars that stayed out during the rain caution all worked their way to the pits, but it was eventually Kasey Kahne back in the lead with 30 to go once they made their stops as well. Kahne continued to run the next 15 laps out front praying for the caution that never came, knowing that he would be forced to make one more pit stop while some of the other cars claimed that they could run the rest of the way without stopping.

Kahne and Mark Martin both made their final stops with 15 laps to go, handing the lead over once again to Carl Edwards as they watched their premonition come true. Edwards run out to more than a 6 second lead over Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson as he crossed the line to pickup his fourth win of the season.

Knowing that he couldn’t catch Edwards for the lead, Stewart backed off the throttle in the closing laps to conserve fuel, but still ran it hard enough to finish 2nd. Johnson ran out of gas right as he crossed the finish line in 3rd, and from there, things started to get ugly as a ton of cars behind him started to bobble as they ran out of gas as well. Kevin Harvick – who worked all day long to rebound from his spin on lap 1 – kept enough fuel in the tank to finish 4th, and 5th place went to one of the guys chasing him in the points, David Ragan.

Clint Bowyer overcame a long day of struggles to walk away with a 6th place finish. Behind him in 7th and 8th were Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin, both of whom made up a ton of ground despite having to make earlier stops under the green. In 9th was Jamie McMurray, who now has back-to-back top-ten finishes to his credit. And, 10th place went to Jeff Gordon, who ran out of gas after crossing the line and had to be pushed around the track by his Hendrick teammate, Casey Mears.

Other Notables:
Matt Kenseth finished in 11th. He made his final stop with 16 laps to go after he and Crew Chief, Chip Bolin, originally planned on trying to stretch their fuel out ….. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 4th coming going through the final turn, but ran out of gas just before the line and had to coast his way to the finish. He wound up 12th ….. Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman finished 13th and 14th ….. Denny Hamlin had previously finished no worse than 6th in his first five trips to Pocono, but wound up 23rd after his car got away from him late in the race. He was running 9th when he made his final stop of the day with 26 laps to go ….. Brian Vickers fell victim to a disappointing 28th place finish after running up in the top-15 for most of the day ….. The no. 18 team for Joe Gibbs Racing appeared to have finally gotten the flat track program turned around for Kyle Busch, as he ran inside the top-five late in the race. But, he ran out of gas and was forced to pit with just two laps to go, and they were unable to get his car restarted. He finished 36th.

Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. remain 1st and 2nd in the points standings, but Carl Edwards’ win moved him up two spots to third overall.  Jimmie Johnson held onto 4th, while Jeff Burton’s 21st place run dropped him down to 5th. Kevin Harvick came into the race 2 points out of the final Chase spot, but his top-five effort was enough to move him up to 11th in the standings, while Matt Kenseth gave up two spots and now finds himself on the outside looking in. He’s no 11 points behind 12th place Clint Bowyer.

the Grades:
the Race:  84%
the Drama:  94%
Coverage:  92%
Pre-Race:  90%

Overall Grade:  88.2%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

Recommended Reads:
- Carl Edwards Captures 4th Victory of the Season in Pocono (Racing for the Win)
- Live on Type Delay: Pocono II, Part One (Rev Jim’s Rants ‘n’ Raves)

Post from: EveryJoe

Rating the Race: Pocono – Pennsylvania 500

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 01 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 1 car
- Penske Racing – No. 12 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 15 car
- Joe Gibbs Racing – No. 20 car
- Wood Brothers Racing – No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing – No. 22 car
- Yates Racing – No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing – No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports – No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing – No. 41 car
- Stewart Haas Racing – No. 66 or No. 70 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- Johnny Sauter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton
- Dario Franchitti

Post from: EveryJoe

Silly Season Tracker – Updated 7/19

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 01 car
- Penske Racing – No. 12 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 15 car
- Joe Gibbs Racing – No. 20 car
- Wood Brothers Racing – No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing – No. 22 car
- Yates Racing – No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing – No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports – No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing – No. 41 car
- Stewart Haas Racing - No. 66 or No. 70 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Marcos Ambrose
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- Johnny Sauter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- Brad Keselowski
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton
- Dario Franchitti

Other Potential Rides & Drivers that Could Become Available
(Pending variable circumstances):
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 1 Car – Current Driver: Martin Truex Jr.
- Gillette-Evernham Motorsports – No. 10 Car – Current Driver: Patrick Carpentier
- Roush Fenway Racing - No. 26 Car – Current Driver: Jamie McMurray
- Penske Racing – No. 77 Car – Current Driver: Sam Hornish Jr.

Post from: EveryJoe

2009 Silly Season Tracker – Updated 7/14

*Credit photo to Sporting News 

Kyle Busch won his sixth race of the Sprint Cup season and picked up the second Cup restrictor plate win of his career, much to the dismay of the crowd on-hand at Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400. But, whether or not you like Kyle Busch is irrelevent – what you cannot deny is that the action at Daytona was exciting once again and should be considered another victory for the Car of Tomorrow.

Paul Menard led the field to green after winning the Coors Lite Pole Award during Friday’s qualifying session, and he held onto the position for the first 19 laps of the race, before finally surrendering it over to former DEI teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. The lead for Junior was short-lived, however, as AJ Allmendinger brought out the first caution of the evening on lap 20 after he cut down a right-side tire and smacked the wall, and it was Kyle Busch leading the field off of pit road. Earnhardt and Busch then swapped the lead back-and-forth a few more times and controlled the position between them until Jimmie Johnson finally took over on lap 75, and then Jeff Gordon moved to the front on lap 79.

Tony Stewart had been moving towards the front and easily had one of the best cars in the field, but some flu-like symptoms finally caught up with Smoke, and after a lap 71 caution involving Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya, Stewart called upon his former Joe Gibbs Racing ‘mate, JJ Yeley, who failed to qualify for the race and was standing by in the no. 20 pits as a relief driver. It took the team two pit stops, but they made the driver change and got Yeley out on the track at the tail end of the field. For Stewart, this was the second time he needed a mid-race substitute in his career, the last time coming at Dover in 2006 when the team used Ricky Rudd to relieve Stewart, who was recovering from a shoulder injury.

Matters then appeared to be getting worse for the Gibbs camp when Denny Hamlin got Kyle Busch loose on lap 82. Busch got so loose, in fact, that he was forced down onto the apron and sank all the way back to 37th place, near his new teammate, JJ Yeley. A caution on lap 110 helped Busch make up some ground, though, after Elliott Sadler hit the wall and bunched the field back up. Busch was amongst a handful of cars charging up to the front of the field, in a group that included Yeley, Martin Truex Jr. and Kasey Kahne who started in the back of the field, and Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman, who was recovering from an earlier spin with Jamie McMurray back on lap 44.

Under the caution, Carl Edwards stayed out on the track to collect 5 bonus points for leading a lap, and then it was Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin swapping the lead back and forth for several laps. Busch had worked his way back into the top-ten by lap 110, and it’s a good thing for him, because the final 40 laps of the race brought out seven more cautions.

The fifth caution of the evening came with just 37 to go when David Gilliland got loose and hit the wall, bringing Ryan Newman with him and setting off a chain reaction behind them which also resulted with Jeff Burton in the wall. Gilliland had been running inside the top-five for most of the race until a pit road misque during the previous caution shuffled him back to 14th and in what would become the danger zone.

The mele’ continued just 7 laps later when Jamie McMurray couldn’t clear the no. 83 car of Brian Vickers and got spun out as a result, and then five laps after that, Ryan Newman was involved in his third accident of the day, this time spinning along with Denny Hamlin. Then, on lap 139, JJ Yeley – who had been making steady progress working his way up inside the top-15 and flirting with the top-ten – got turned sideways by David Ragan, and Jeff Burton and Casey Mears ended up in the wall behind them.

The 9th caution of the race came on lap 149 when Boris Said was spun by Joe Nemechek, and with the field bunched up together, Kyle Busch re-assumed the lead when he passed Jeff Gordon on lap 155. Another caution came out a lap later with a big spill involving Dave Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard, Regan Smith, JJ Yeley, David Reutimann, and Denny Hamlin, amongst others.

The field lined up for the sixth green-white-checkered finish of the season. Kyle Busch was out front, followed by Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards. A slow restart caused Edwards to get into the back of the no. 24, turning Gordon around onto the apron, but NASCAR chose not to waive the caution flag. Then, Edwards and Matt Kenseth ducked out of line and pulled up next to the race leader, but Kenseth’s car “couldn’t hold it down” on the high line.

In an unlikely turn of events, the race turned into Carl Edwards running side-by-side with Kyle Busch, but Carl’s teammate – Matt Kenseth – was pushing Kyle, and Kyle’s brother – Kurt Busch – was pushing the no. 99. As the two cars took turns pulling their nose ahead of the other, the cars started piling up behind them, and NASCAR finally brought out the caution. Officials then turned to video replay to decide who was in front when the caution flag actually came out, and it was determined that Kyle did in fact pull ahead of Edwards right at the last moment, naming him the winner.

Edwards went onto finish 2nd – his best Daytona finish – with his Roush teammate, Matt Kenseth in third, and Kurt Busch in 4th, despite starting all the way back in the 36th position. David Ragan recovered nicely from a pit road penalty that put him at the end of the field on lap 113, and he went onto finish 5th. Robby Gordon had a very solid race and even led a lap at one point, and he finished 6th. Kasey Kahne appeared to be headed for disaster when he was forced to pit with less than 10 to go due to a right fender rub, but he rebounded into the 7th position. After leading the most laps in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car faded in the latter stages, as he settled for 8th. 9th place went to Clint Bowyer, who had a very quiet day as he worked his way up from 25th. And, Mark Martin rounded out the top-ten finishers after starting from the outside pole. There was also a point in the race where Mark got the opportunity to run up front with his three Hendrick teammates for next season.

Other Notables: Kevin Harvick finished the race in 12th, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the top-12 in points, as he now sits 13th in the standings ….. Polesitter, Paul Menard, finished 15th ….. Driving in relief of Tony Stewart, JJ Yeley finished 20th, which was just enough to keep Stewart two points in front of Harvick ….. Jimmie Johnson finished 23rd ….. After appearing as though he might be in line for the victory on the final restart, Jeff Gordon plummeted to a 30th place finish ….. Last year’s race winner, Jamie McMurray, finished 32nd ….. Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman, finished 36th ….. Jeff Burton wound up 37th, ending his 23-race streak of top-15 finishes.

Grades:
the Racing - 95%
the Drama – 96%
Coverage – 92%
Pre-Race – 89%

Overall Grade: 94%

Recommended Reads:
- Kyle Busch Captures Win in Exciting Finish at Daytona International Speedway – (Racing for the Win)
- Live on Type Delay: Firecracker (Coke Zero) 400 – (RevJim’s Rans ‘n’ Raves)

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

Post from: EveryJoe

Rating the Race: Daytona – Coke Zero 400

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 01 car
- Hendrick Motorsports – No. 5 car
- Penske Racing – No. 12 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 15 car
- Wood Brothers Racing – No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing – No. 22 car
- Yates Racing – No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing – No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports – No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing – No. 41 car
- Haas CNC Racing – No. 66 car
- Haas CNC Racing – No. 70 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Marcos Ambrose
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- Johnny Sauter
- Mark Martin
- Jeremy Mayfield
- Brad Keselowski
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton

Other Potential Rides & Drivers that Could Become Available
(Pending variable circumstances):
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 1 Car – Current Driver: Martin Truex Jr.
- Gillette-Evernham Motorsports – No. 10 Car – Current Driver: Patrick Carpentier
- Joe Gibbs Racing – No. 20 Car – Current Driver: Tony Stewart
- Roush Fenway Racing - No. 26 Car – Current Driver: Jamie McMurray
- Penske Racing – No. 77 Car – Current Driver: Sam Hornish Jr.

Post from: EveryJoe

2009 Silly Season Tracker

After smashing the field during qualifying, and then establishing himself as the car to beat throughout the practice sessions over the weekend, Kasey Kahne backed it all up in convincing fashion as he won Sunday’s Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Kahne, who started Sunday’s race from the pole position, ran up front during the early portions of the race, though he didn’t lead for the first time until lap 17, but a pit road mishap on lap 57 put him in the back of the field. Crew Chief, Kenny Francis, originally called for a four-tire stop, but then changed his mind and wanted to change only two, but the tire changer had already begun loosening the lugnuts, and Kahne drove off with the lugs still loose. They were forced to call him back into the pits, thus giving Kahne some catching up to do, but the car was so dominant that he had made it back to the front by lap 129.

Kasey surrendered the lead when he came into pit under green on lap 154, but re-assumed command once the field had cycled itself through the stops. Kahne again lost the lead after making his final stop for the day on lap 175. The tenth and final caution flag of the day came out one lap later, and Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had used a bit of pit strategy to work their way up ahead of the no. 9 car. Kahne struggled momentarily to get around the two cars on older tires, but after disposing of Earnhardt, he finally made his way around Vickers for the lead on lap 184. It appeared briefly that Denny Hamlin might have had a fast enough car to contend with Kahne, but he was never able to find a line to get around Vickers, and Kahne pulled away from the field and sprinted to his second win of the season.

Vickers used quite a bit of strategy throughout the day to earn his second place finish. He put himself on a completely different pit cycle than the majority of the field, and it allowed him to lead the race on three different occasions. After making his final stop of the day with 35 laps remaining, he didn’t pit under the final caution and was able to stay up towards the front of the field despite running on older tires.

Denny Hamlin had an interesting run en route to his third place finish. After a red flag halted the action on lap 71 for rain, Hamlin made some extra pit stops to fix the damage he’d incurred earlier in the day from contact on pit road, sending him to the back of the field and forcing him to work his way back through the pack. He, too, briefly put himself on a different pit schedule than everyone else as he and five other cars elected to remain on the track after a lap 81 caution. The yellow was brought out when Clint Bowyer got loose trying to get under Paul Menard, sending Bowyer into a spin that collected Juan Pablo Montoya in the process. Staying out later enabled Hamlin to lead his only laps on the day when he wrestled the lead away from Elliott Sadler on lap 90.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed a solid run that saw him up near the front for the better part of the day as he came home in fourth, while Jeff Burton continued his consistent streak with a fifth place finish after a relatively quiet day. The two drivers battled fiercely for position in the closing laps of the race, but in the end, it was Junior edging Burton to the line despite running on older tires (Earnhardt was on the same pit sequence as Vickers, whom last pitted with 35 laps to go).

Sixth place went to Jimmie Johnson, whose car looked very strong in the early goings, but slipping back in traffic about halfway through the event seemed to hinder the car’s performance. Crew Chief, Chad Knauss, was forced to use some strategy by keeping Johnson on the track when the rest of the field pitted on lap 122. The move handed Johnson – who was running 8th at the time of the caution – the lead for the fifth time of the day, but in the end, the gamble didn’t pay off and Johnson had to settle for a top-ten finish.

Matt Kenseth had a solid and consistent day of running in the top-ten, and it netted him a seventh place finish as he continues to climb through the standings in his quest to make the Chase. Kurt Busch managed to hang onto 8th place after overcoming near catastrophe. A spin through the infield back on lap 39 broke several of the struts and splitters underneath the car, but after several repairs, Pat Tryson and crew were able to keep Busch on the lead lap, resulting in a much needed top-ten.

Carl Edwards overcame a late-race flat tire and was forced to make two stops under caution with less than 25 laps remaining, but battled his way back to a 9th place finish. Mark Martin rounded out the top-ten with a fairly silent tenth place run.

Disaster struck late in the race for two of the stronger cars at the time – and, two of NASCAR’s unluckiest drivers as of late. As the field cycled their way through their final green flag stops of the day with less than 35 laps to go, both Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart – both of whom ran up around the top-five for most of the race – were caught exiting their pits too fast and were forced to make drive thru penalties. Biffle was able to rebound to a 15th place finish, but Stewart got caught a lap down in 35th.

After wrecking his car during Saturday’s practice session, things only got worse for points leader, Kyle Busch. Mired back in traffic for the start of the race, Busch tried to slide in front of Jamie McMurray on lap 45. He clipped McMurray’s front end, and the 18 car went sailing into the wall. The crew spent quite a bit of time trying to repair the car, and eventually got him back out on the track. After spinning again on lap 176, Busch eventually finished dead last, 105 laps down. McMurray went onto finish 20th.

Bobby LaBonte matched his best finish of the season with an 11th place run, while his brother, Terry LaBonte, made his first start of the season and finished 30th. AJ Allmendinger had a career-best 12th place run after qualifying 8th and running inside the top-ten all day long. Kevin Harvick changed batteries before the race after the team left the ignition on in the car overnight, forcing him to start in the back of the field, but he slowly climbed his way up through the field and finished in 13th.

Kahne’s victory makes him the third multi-race winner on the season and moves him up to 9th in the standings. The disappointing runs for Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart have now put them on the Chase bubble in 11th and 12th, with 13th place David Ragan now just 7 points behind Stewart. Kyle Busch retains the points lead, now just 21 points ahead of Jeff Burton.

Pocono Grades:
the Race: 86%
the Drama: 85%
Coverage: 81%
Pre-Race: 75%

Overall Grade: 83.7%

*Credit photo to Newscom.

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):