In what was one of the calmest races in recent memory, Jeff Gordon drove his familiar DuPont Chevrolet into victory lane at Pocono Raceway. This was Gordon's fifth win at the "Tricky Triangle" and the 84th of his illustrious career, tying him with legends Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third (that's right, THIRD) on the all time wins list. Jeff Gordon has only been driving a Cup series car since 1992 and has been winning in them since 1994, but the things he has accomplished have been nothing short of astounding. I'm really not a Jeff Gordon fan, but the guy can wheel a race car and he proved that to us once again on Sunday.
The No. 24 started the race in third, right behind polesitter Kurt Busch. This was the second week in a row the No. 22 Dodge led the field to green, this time flanked by Paul Menard's No. 27 Chevy. But the race was at Pocono, so it didn't come as a surprise when Denny Hamlin's FedEx Toyota grabbed the lead and set sail. There were only four cautions over the 500 mile event, so there were very few opportunities for teams to regroup and make a charge at the No. 11 car. The only spin of the day came late in the event when Greg Biffle looped his 3M Ford off turn three, however the race remained under the green flag.
But just because there was very little on track action, that doesn't mean that the race was short on story lines. Probably the biggest one was the No. 18 and No. 29 cars getting into it again on the race track. Early on, fans saw Harvick run Busch's Toyota all the way down to the pit wall down the frontstrech and later falling in behind and pushing the younger Busch the length of that same straightaway. Busch and his crew chief Dave Rogers were not pleased, Busch later saying "It's not my fight. He's trying to turn it into one." Harvick saw things a little differently. "He knows he's got one coming" the RCR driver said. "I just wanted him to think about it." Harvick was also asked if he thought Busch got the message. "Of course he did" Harvick said. "It's all a free game now. Probation's over."
The race saw a few different leaders in Kurt Busch and Juan Montoya, but it looked as if Hamlin was going to run away with the victory. That is, however, until the field made some late race pit stops. Hamlin had the valve stem sheared off his left rear tire, causing the tire to immediately go flat. He rode around the 2.5 mile triangle back to pit road which caused some minor damage to his left rear quarter panel, but also allowed the rubber from the flat tire to wrap around the Toyota's rear end housing, knocking a brake line loose.
With the king of Pocono, Hamlin, down and out of contention, the door opened for the DuPont team to charge. Gordon had laid back in the weeds all day long and pounced when the right time came. Nobody is better at saving equipment and using it when it matters than Jeff Gordon. So when he took the checkers and pulled into victory lane for the 84th time, it wasn't a surprise to anyone. The No. 24 team will try and repeat in Michigan this weekend and keep Denny Hamlin from winning his second spring Michigan race in a row. It will also be interesting to see what happens between Busch and Harvick in the Irish Hills as well. Judging by how exciting this season has been so far, this weekends race in the Motor City should be a great one.
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