NASCAR Sprint Cup: 5 Good, 5 Bad at Pocono

The boys of NASCAR took to the Tricky Triangle this weekend. The series headed to the newly-repaved Pocono Raceway for the first of two summer stints at the 2.5-mile facility.

Some drivers took kindly to the track's changes. One young driver put together a potential job-saving performance on Sunday, while another showed he's still a contender at the ripe old age of 53.

Not everyone found home in the mountains. Several drivers were plagued by pit road problems while others could not escape carnage, including one driver who can't seem to buy a break and a low-budget team who can't afford to.

Who was good and who was bad Sunday at Pocono? We've got you covered.

Good: Joey Logano

Pressure has been calling Joey Logano's name all season. On Sunday, the 22-year-old finally responded with a win.

Racing in a contract year, nobody knows better than Logano the importance of going out and contending for wins. At Pocono, Logano did more than just contend.

After starting from the Pole, Logano led a race-high 48 laps, including the final three after pulling an old-fashioned bump-and-run move on mentor Mark Martin with just a few laps to go.

The win marks Logano's third top 10 in four races and moved him into a dead-lock for the final Chase wild card berth with Ryan Newman.

If Logano's hot streak continues, he may be able to race his way in without it—and keep his job in the process.

Bad: Kyle Busch

It may not be time to hit the panic button for Kyle Busch, but it may be time to get it ready.

After earning four consecutive top five finishes, including a win at Richmond in April, Busch has suffered back-to-back engine failures. His most recent resulted in a 30th-place finish.

Busch's latest result has undone all the progress he and his No. 18 team had made in the four weeks leading up to Dover. After marching from 13th to eighth in the standings during his hot streak, Busch dropped to 12th after Sunday's disaster.

Busch does have a win under his belt and is likely to earn a few more before the Chase begins, especially with another race at Bristol and Richmond on the schedule.

In order to win another race, Busch first has to finish.

A feat which could prove difficult if he continues to have engine failures.

Good: Mark Martin

At 53 years old, Mark Martin came within four laps of becoming the oldest winner in Sprint Cup Series history.

As it were, Martin would be nudged out of the way by the very man he scouted out far before he could drive a Sprint Cup car and would be forced to finish second to Joey Logano.

It was Martin's seventh runner-up finish at Pocono—a track where he's never reached Victory Lane.

While Martin's strong run didn't do him any favors in the standings—he's racing a limited schedule so points are of little relevance to him—it did show that Martin is still far from being irrelevant at NASCAR's top level.

Not to mention the fans enjoy seeing him compete for wins.

Bad: Jeff Gordon

On the other side of the spectrum, one of NASCAR's senior members continued his year of struggles at the Tricky Triangle.

Despite running in the top 10 for a good portion of the day, Gordon would have to settle for another uninspired result on Sunday as he wound up in 19th.

Among Gordon's troubles on Sunday was a pit road speeding violation and an unfortunate pit strategy at the end of the race, which ultimately did him in.

After earning an eighth-place finish at Charlotte two weeks ago, Gordon has finished 13th and 19th in the last two races, respectively.

At 22nd in the standings, Gordon's latest results have done him no favors and the possibility of him missing the Chase looms larger.

Good: Tony Stewart

One struggling veteran who needed a good run got one at Pocono.

That vet came in the form of Tony Stewart who. off the heels of back-to-back 25th-place efforts, earned a third-place finish after running in the top 10 most of the day.

Stewart's result on Sunday marked just his third top five since his last win at Auto Club nine races ago, which would be impressive for some drivers, but is uncharacteristically low for the defending champ.

Still, a rebound day for Stewart was in order and, like the champs, their team No. 14 rose to the occasion.

Bad: AJ Allmendinger

Another week, another visit here from "The Dinger."

AJ had another typical AJ day Sunday at Pocono. After being fast in testing and practice, Allmendinger suffered from an unfortunate qualifying draw and started 19th.

The mid-pack starting spot put him in a position to be caught up in a Lap 1 accident. Allmendinger would also accrue a pair of pit road speeding penalties and crash hard in the tunnel turn before the race was over.

Allmendinger took home a 31st-place finish, marking it his third finish worse than 30th in the last four races.

Allmendinger also dropped to 25th in the standings. It may be safe to say he is out of Chase contention at this point.

Good: Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth's day at Pocono was really quite pedestrian.

At least, for Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth methodically worked his way from the 14th starting spot into the top 10. Then the top five.

Then, for a few moments, the lead.

At the end of the day, Kenseth found himself with a seventh-place result. And, with teammate Greg Biffle finishing the day in 24th after engine trouble, Kenseth found himself with the points lead.

Don't look now, but Kenseth has been on a tear as of late. Driver No. 17 has eight top 10s in the last nine races with five top fives.

He's had no finishes worse than 11th during that span.

They say it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Right now, you'd better watch out for Matt Kenseth.

Bad: BK Racing

There's a cardinal rule young NASCAR drivers and teams are to abide by: stay out of trouble and run all the laps.

Lately, Landon Cassill and the boys of BK Racing have had a difficult time of that.

After totaling both cars nine laps into last week's race at Dover, BK Racing's flagship car driven by Cassill did not complete a lap at Pocono.

Cassill's hard Lap 1 accident relegated him to a 43rd-place finish and left the low-budget BK Racing team with three mangled cars in two weeks.

Without doubt, Cassill and crew are doing all they can. Their 15th-place qualifying effort at Pocono proves that they're making gains.

Still, this is one team that cannot afford to be wrecking so many cars.

Good: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

For much of Sunday's event at Pocono, it looked as though it was going to be the day.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 36 laps in Sunday's 400-miler and, at times, it appeared as though he had the fastest car on the track.

As it always seems to happen, Junior was kept out of Victory Lane. This time by either poor fuel mileage or a questionable call by crew chief Steve Letarte to bring Earnhardt in to pit during a late caution period.

Still, Earnhardt finished eighth and jumped to second in the standings heading to the track where he won last back in 2008.

If only his post-race interview could have gone a wee bit better.

Bad: Pit Road Speeding Penalties

Sunday's race at Pocono made history.

No fewer than 15 drivers combined for a record 22 pit road speeding penalties at the Tricky Triangle, 20 of which came exiting after a stop.

Five-time champ and contender Jimmie Johnson was nabbed twice, while David Reutimann got nailed three times.

After the race, drivers were vocal about their displeasure with the timing lines, or their lack of knowledge regarding the positioning of the lines.

Regardless of where they feel the blame should be placed, the responsibility of the violations rests squarely on the drivers.

After all, they are the ones who broke the rules.