Mileage master: Kurt Busch saves enough fuel to win at Pocono

Kurt Busch held off both a virtually empty gas tank and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win Monday’s weather-delayed Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Busch, initially told by his team he was two laps short on fuel, repeatedly toggled his engine to conserve fuel in the final 10 laps.
Still, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver aptly worked his way to the checkered flag and had enough fuel to do a celebratory burnout. Busch led the final 32 laps en route to his 28th career Sprint Cup victory and third at Pocono’s 2.5-mile triangle (his last win there was in 2007).
Team engineer John Klausmeier served as Busch’s interim crew chief and earned his first career win in that role. Klausmeier replaced Tony Gibson, who was on NASCAR suspension after a lug nut violation last weekend.
It was Busch’s first win since Michigan last June (34 starts). It was also a big breakthrough victory for the driver of the No. 41 Chevrolet: Busch leads all drivers in 2016 with 12 top-10 finishes in 14 races.
Earnhardt finished second, followed by Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney.

HOW BUSCH WON: This wasn’t Busch’s first rodeo when it comes to fuel mileage. He’s one of the best when it comes to saving fuel when he needs to most. He apparently wound up saving more than 5 miles worth of fuel to reach the finish line and then victory lane.
WHO ELSE HAD A GOOD RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. rallied late for his fourth second place of the season (Atlanta, Texas, Bristol, Pocono). … Chase Elliott led a race-high 51 laps – including at the halfway point of the 160-lap event – and finished fourth. “I feel like we had a car that could do it today,” Elliott told Fox Sports 1. “We had a super fast car that could lead all day.” … Brad Keselowski rallied from two NASCAR penalties to finish third.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Kyle Busch wrecked with Ryan Newman with 50 laps to go. While Newman was able to continue and finished 12th, Busch was forced to take his car to the garage for repairs. Busch finished 31st. … Tony Stewart had his best starting spot of the season but wrecked with teammate Danica Patrick (32nd) and finished 34th. … Others having rough days included Jimmie Johnson (35th), Austin Dillon (37th), Michael Annett (38th), Brian Scott (39th) and Matt DiBenedetto (40th) – particularly DiBenedetto, who was involved in three incidents before his day came to an end.
NOTABLE: This marked the first race of the season – and the first time since this race a year ago (a 35-race stretch) – where at least one Toyota failed to finish in the top five. Matt Kenseth was the top Toyota driver (seventh), followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards (eighth).
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I was like, ‘Whoa, how many laps shy are we?’ They said, ‘Two.’ These are really long straightaways at Pocono, and you have to manage saving fuel as well as maintaining lap time. So many thoughts can go through your head, but I just stuck with the checklist. I just stuck with saving fuel and watching the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) behind us.” – Kurt Busch in a postrace interview on Fox Sports 1.
WHAT’S NEXT: Sunday, June 12, 1 p.m. ET, Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

KURT BUSCH STRETCHES FUEL TO WIN AT POCONO

Monitoring a dwindling fuel tank and powerful cars in his rearview mirror, Kurt Busch held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski for his first win of the 2016 season in Monday's Axalta 'We Paint Winners' 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Busch took the lead at Lap 128 and immediately began playing a fuel-milege game -- holding in his clutch throughout the turns to save fuel -- as all the leaders worked to conserve fuel.

"It's going to be a game over who can go the fastest and save the most," No. 24 crew chief Alan Gustafson said via in-car radio around Lap 134 of 160.

Earnhardt stretched his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet across the start/finish line for a runner-up spot, while polesitter Keselowski passed rookie Chase Elliott in the final 20 laps for third in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Elliott, who led 51 laps, finished fourth, while Joey Logano rounded out the top five in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

Keselowski ran into trouble early at The Tricky Triangle: The No. 2 Team Penske Ford was black-flagged at Lap 24 for unapproved body adjustments and thus, was forced to pit under caution and serve a pass-through penalty under green. The penalty caused Keselowski to drop back to 38th in the field.

WATCH: Keselowski forced to pit for body modifications

Keselowski's teammate and outside polesitter Logano also encountered hurdles early in the 400-miler, as Ryan Newman hit the No. 22 from behind several times, crunching in Logano's bumper and causing him to fall back in the field momentarily.

WATCH: Newman bumps Logano out of the way

Tony Stewart's day at The Tricky Triangle ended prematurely, as the No. 14 got loose at Lap 92, hit the wall and teammate Danica Patrick, who then collided with Landon Cassill. Stewart returned to the track after a trip to the garage, finishing 34th.

RELATED: Stewart, Danica wreck at Pocono

The Sprint Cup Series returns to the track next weekend at Michigan International Speedway for the FireKeepers Casino 400 (June 12, 1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

SPRINT CUP POCONO RACE POSTPONED TO MONDAY DUE TO RAIN

RELATED: Today's photos at rainy Pocono | Updated schedule for Monday

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Axalta 'We Paint Winners' 400 at Pocono Raceway has been postponed due to inclement weather.

The race, originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start time on Sunday, was delayed for weather initially. Equipped with 20 Air Titan dryers and 10 conventional jet dryers, NASCAR officials were prepared to dry the track, but were unable to find a dry window through persistent rain, fog and mist.

Officials eventually made the decision to call the race and the series will run the 400-miler on Monday, June 6 at noon ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"We kind of anticipated that it might be a rainout today," said Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota driven by third-place starter Matt Kenseth. "Right now, the forecast that we had for tomorrow looks very similar to what we had in practice yesterday, so we kind of based our set-up on what we thought we needed, thinking that the chances of racing on a Monday afternoon -- mid-70s, partly sunny -- were probably greater than racing on Sunday.

"The biggest thing for us is just the hassle, having to adjust your schedule, which is part of it. Now what you'd typically do on a Monday, you're going to try to cram into this afternoon or it's going to be a long Tuesday. But it's the same for everyone. We'll just have to adjust."

Weather has created hurdles for the teams throughout the weekend, as rain and fog ended Friday Cup practice prematurely and canceled a pair of XFINITY Series practices the same day. The XFINITY Series Pocono Green 250 was called just past the halfway point at Lap 53 of the 250-mile event, as rain continued to fall during a red flag. Kyle Larson, who was leading at the time of the red flag, was declared the winner.

This race, the 14th of 36 races on the Sprint Cup circuit, marks the first Cup event of the season that been postponed to the following day.

It's also the first Sprint Cup postponement at Pocono Raceway since August 2009, a Monday race won by Denny Hamlin.

MORE: Larson wins rain-shortened Pocono XFINITY race

Pit stall assignments for today’s Sprint Cup race at Pocono

As a result of his pole for today’s Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway, Brad Keselowski will have the No. 1 pit stall at the exit of pit road.

Pitting directly behind him is Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.

Matt Kenseth has the last pit stall. The first three pit stalls near the pit entrance are not in use.

Sprint Cup race at Pocono in rain delay

The Sprint Cup Series’ Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway, which was set to start at 1:01 p.m. ET, is officially in a rain delay.

The weather website wunderground.com has chances of rain in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, above 80 percent until 7 p.m. ET

Check back for more…

Social Roundup: Inconvenient beauty of Pocono Raceway rain delay

Unfortunately, there won’t be any racing at Pocono Raceway today thanks to constant rain, thick fog and the fact Pocono doesn’t have lights.

But the wet elements have provided some memorable visuals from the track in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Here’s some of the best shots of the rain soaked Pocono that have been shared on social media.

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