Unwrapped Sports

Harvick, Hamlin Get Doubleheader Wins at Pocono

by | Jul 4, 2020 | Nascar | 0 comments

For the first time ever, the NASCAR Cup Series had a double header at Pocono Raceway. The first race was the Pocono Organics 325, where strategy played a role, and some had to protect their cars for the Sunday race.  

Kevin Harvick has won the Pocono Organic 325 at Pocono Speedway for Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick’s 4 Busch To The Mountain Ford Mustang led 17 laps and got his first ever win at Pocono and his 52nd of his career.  

Harvick’s Stewart-Haas teammate, Aric Almirola, drew the pole for the race, won stage two and led 61 laps in the 10 Smithfield Ford. The team decided to take four tires, but lost valuable time, finishing third. Clint Bowyer was the third and final Haas car to finish in the top ten. Bowyer finished second in the 14 Mobil1 Mustang.  Rounding out the Haas cars was rookie of the year contender, Cole Custer, who finished 16th in the 41 HaasTooling.com Ford. 

Joe Gibbs racing had a pretty solid day finishing with three of their four cars in the top ten. Five time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin fought off a vibration to lead 10 laps and finish second in the 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry. Kyle Busch was up and down throughout the day, but rallied to finish fifth in the 18 M&M Minis Camry.  Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr led 14 laps and finished sixth in the 19 Sirius XM Toyota. The only car not to finish for Gibbs was Erik Jones after Jones and Richard Childress rookie Tyler Reddick wrecked on lap 72. Jones’ early season struggles continue finishing 38th in the 20 Craftsman Camry.  

Team Penske, at one point, had their cars battling in the top five. Later on, however, the cars ended up fading. Brad Keselowski finished ninth in the 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Mustang.  Last week’s winner at Talladega, Ryan Blaney, finished 12th in the Menards/Duracell Ford. Finally, Joey Logano led 11 laps and went on to win stage one in the 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford. Unfortunately, while running eighth with eight to go, Logano blew a left front tire, spoiling a great performance and finished 37th. 

Both the Roush Fenway cars led laps and finished in the top ten. Chris Buescher led three laps and finished 10th in the 17 Fastenal Ford. Teammate Ryan Newman finished 16th and led 13 laps in the 6 Progressive Insurance Mustang.  

Perhaps the biggest shocker of the day was Michael McDowell, driving for Front Row Motorsports, who led a lap and finished eighth in the 34 Dockside Logistics Ford. His rookie teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, finished 24th in the 38 Death Wish Coffee Ford. 

Ryan Preece will start on the pole for tomorrow’s Pocono 350 after finishing 20th in the 37 P&G Chevrolet Camaro, just beating Jimmie Johnson to the finish line.  

POCONO ORGANICS 350 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RODALE INSTITUTE RESULTS:

  1. Kevin Harvick 4 Busch Beer “Head for the Mountains” Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  2. Denny Hamlin 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  3. Aric Almirola 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  4. Christopher Bell (R) 95 Rheem/Procore Toyota Camry Leavine Family Racing
  5. Kyle Busch 18 M&M’s Minis Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  6. Martin Truex Jr. 19 SiriusXM Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  7. Clint Bowyer 14 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  8. Michael McDowell 34 Dockside Logistics Ford Mustang Front Row Motorsports
  9. Brad Keselowski 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang Team Penske
  10. Chris Buescher 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Roush-Fenway Racing
  11. Matt Kenseth 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro Chip Ganassi Racing
  12. Ryan Blaney 12 Duracell Optimum/Menards Ford Mustang Team Penske
  13. Matt DiBenedetto 21 Ford-Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Mustang Wood Brothers Racing
  14. William Byron 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  15. Ryan Newman 6 Progressive Ford Mustang Roush-Fenway Racing
  16. Cole Custer (R) 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro JTG-Daugherty Racing
  18. Kurt Busch 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro Chip Ganassi Racing
  19. Austin Dillon 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet Camaro Richard Childress Racing
  20. Ryan Preece 37 P&G “Equality” Chevrolet Camaro JTG-Daugherty Racing
  21. Jimmie Johnson 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  22. Bubba Wallace 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet Camaro Richard Petty Motorsports
  23. Corey LaJoie 32 Built Bar Ford Mustang Go Fas Racing
  24. John Hunter Nemechek (R) 38 Death Wish Coffee Company Ford Mustang Front Row Motorsports
  25. Chase Elliott 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  26. Ty Dillon 13 GEICO Chevrolet Camaro Germain Racing
  27. Alex Bowman 88 ChevyGoods.com Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  28. Daniel Suárez 96 COMMSCOPE Toyota Camry Gaunt Brothers Racing
  29. Brennan Poole (R) 15 Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech Chevrolet Camaro Premium Motorsports
  30. Tyler Reddick (R) 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro Richard Childress Racing
  31. J.J. Yeley 27 Red Rock Secured Ford Mustang Rick Ware Racing
  32. Josh Bilicki (R) 7 Insurance King Chevrolet Camaro Tommy Baldwin Racing
  33. Garrett Smithley 53 Rich Mar Florist Chevrolet Camaro Rick Ware Racing
  34. James Davison (R) 77 Oilfire Rye Whiskey/Tilson Chevrolet Camaro Spire Motorsports
  35. Timmy Hill 66 James Carter Attorney at Law/CrashClaimsR.us Toyota Camry MBM Motorsports
  36. Joey Logano 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Team Penske
  37. Joey Gase 51 Adkins Automotive LLC Ford Mustang Rick Ware Racing
  38. Erik Jones 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  39. B.J. McLeod 78 Koolbox Ice Chevrolet Camaro B.J. McLeod Motorsports
  40. Quin Houff 00 The Original Mane ‘N Tail Chevrolet Camaro StarCom Racing

 

For the second race, it showed that strategy was still in play and after a little rain delay, more chaos unfolded.

Denny Hamlin won the second race of the Pocono doubleheader for Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin’s 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry led 49 laps in and got his seventh win at Pocono. This is Hamlin’s 41st career victory, his fourth win of the season and ties Jeff Gordon for wins at Pocono.  

Gibbs was extremely fast for the rest of the day. Erik Jones had his best finish of third this season in the 20 Craftsman Toyota. Martin Truex Jr led five laps and finished 10th in the 19 Sirius XM Camry. The only car that finished outside of the top ten was defending champion Kyle Busch, who is yet to secure a win this year.  Busch led two laps in the 18 M&M Minis Camry, but a lap car forced him to slow down. Once he did, Ryan Blaney got in the back, taking him out of the race. Busch finished 38th. 

Kevin Harvick, who won on Saturday, led 11 laps, but was not able to catch up to Hamlin. The 4 Busch Beer “Head for the Mountains” Ford Mustang GT for Stewart-Haas Racing pit early, but the gap was too much as Hamlin pulled away. This time, Harvick finished second. Aric Almirola led four laps and finished fifth in another strong run for the 10 Smithfield Ford, while teammate Clint Bowyer traded paint with Alex Bowman racing side by side. Finally, the 14 Mobil 1 Ford was able to overtake Bowman, finishing eighth. Rookie Cole Custer, the last Haas car, finished 17th in the 41 HaasTooling.com Ford.

Keselowski was once again the top Team Penske car throughout the day, finishing 11th after leading 13 laps in the 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Mustang. Ryan Blaney led 21 laps, but was lapped later on, finishing 22nd in the 12 Richmond Water Heaters/Menards Ford. Joey Logano’s week continued to get worse as he finished 24th in the 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford. 

Kurt Busch led the first 35 laps of the race and claimed stage one. However, the 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro for Chip Ganassi Racing fell, finishing 13th. Matt Kenseth in the 42 Credit One Bank Chevy finished 12th, just one spot up in front of Kurt Busch.  

The next race is the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, or as some call it, the Brickyard, in which Kevin Harvick looks to get his third, and defend his 2019 win. 

POCONO 350 RESULTS:

  1. Denny Hamlin 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  2. Kevin Harvick 4 Busch Beer “Head for the Mountains” Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  3. Erik Jones 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  4. Chase Elliott 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  5. Aric Almirola 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  6. Matt DiBenedetto 21 Ford-Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Mustang Wood Brothers Racing
  7. William Byron 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  8. Clint Bowyer 14 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  9. Alex Bowman 88 ChevyGoods.com Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  10. Martin Truex Jr. 19 SiriusXM Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  11. Brad Keselowski 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang Team Penske
  12. Matt Kenseth 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro Chip Ganassi Racing
  13. Kurt Busch 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro Chip Ganassi Racing
  14. Austin Dillon 3 Symbicort Chevrolet Camaro Richard Childress Racing
  15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro JTG-Daugherty Racing
  16. Jimmie Johnson 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro Hendrick Motorsports
  17. Cole Custer (R) 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Stewart-Haas Racing
  18. Ryan Newman 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang Roush-Fenway Racing
  19. John Hunter Nemechek (R) 38 Death Wish Coffee Company Ford Mustang Front Row Motorsports
  20. Bubba Wallace 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet Camaro Richard Petty Motorsports
  21. Corey LaJoie 32 Built Bar Ford Mustang Go Fas Racing
  22. Ryan Blaney 12 Richmond Water Heaters/Menards Ford Mustang Team Penske
  23. Ty Dillon 13 GEICO Chevrolet Camaro Germain Racing
  24. Joey Logano 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Team Penske
  25. Ryan Preece 37 P&G “Equality” Chevrolet Camaro JTG-Daugherty Racing
  26. Daniel Suárez 96 COMMSCOPE Toyota Camry Gaunt Brothers Racing
  27. Brennan Poole (R) 15 Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech Chevrolet Camaro Premium Motorsports
  28. J.J. Yeley 27 Red Rock Secured Ford Mustang Rick Ware Racing
  29. Timmy Hill 66 James Carter Attorney at Law/CrashClaimsR.us Toyota Camry MBM Motorsports
  30. James Davison (R) 77 Oilfire Rye Whiskey/Tilson Chevrolet Camaro Spire Motorsports
  31. Quin Houff 00 The Original Mane ‘N Tail Chevrolet Camaro StarCom Racing
  32. Garrett Smithley 53 Rich Mar Florist Chevrolet Camaro Rick Ware Racing
  33. Joey Gase 51 Adkins Automotive LLC Ford Mustang Rick Ware Racing
  34. Josh Bilicki (R) 7 Insurance King Chevrolet Camaro Tommy Baldwin Racing
  35. Tyler Reddick (R) 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro Richard Childress Racing
  36. Chris Buescher 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Roush-Fenway Racing
  37. B.J. McLeod 78 Koolbox Ice Chevrolet Camaro B.J. McLeod Motorsports
  38. Kyle Busch 18 M&M’s Minis Toyota Camry Joe Gibbs Racing
  39. Christopher Bell (R) 95 Rheem/Procore Toyota Camry Leavine Family Racing
  40. Michael McDowell 34 Dockside Logistics Ford Mustang Front Row Motorsports

Ian O’Brien is a Contributor for the Unwrapped Sports Network. Follow him on Twitter @IanOBObrien.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *