NASCAR Truck Series at Pocono 2015 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction
Kyle Busch captured the checkered flag Saturday in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway. Kevin Harvick finished second in a race that included no shortage of late drama.
The race featured one of the most star-studded groups of the season for the Truck Series. Four Sprint Cup Series regulars—Busch, Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon—joined the field for a little extra work on the Tricky Triangle before the Sprint Cup race Sunday.
Let's check out the top 10 finishers from the 12th race of the 2015 campaign. For a complete list of results, visit NASCAR's official site.
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| 1 | 51 | Kyle Busch |
| 2 | 00 | Kevin Harvick |
| 3 | 19 | Tyler Reddick |
| 4 | 13 | Cameron Hayley |
| 5 | 33 | Austin Dillon |
| 6 | 98 | Johnny Sauter |
| 7 | 17 | Timothy Peters |
| 8 | 54 | Matt Tifft |
| 9 | 14 | Daniel Hemric |
| 10 | 4 | Erik Jones |
And here's a look at the updated standings as the season passes the halfway mark:
| 1 | Tyler Reddick | 479 |
| 2 | Matt Crafton | -11 |
| 3 | Erik Jones | -16 |
| 4 | Johnny Sauter | -59 |
| 5 | Cameron Hayley | -88 |
| 6 | John Wes Townley | -92 |
| 7 | Daniel Hemric | -97 |
| 8 | Timothy Peters | -99 |
| 9 | Gallagher | -113 |
| 10 | Ben Kennedy | -117 |
Pole-sitter Erik Jones surged away from the field almost immediately, quickly building his lead to over a second. Perhaps that shouldn't have been a surprise given his affection for the Pennsylvania track, as Scott Walsh of the Republican Herald noted.
"It's always been a fun place for me," Jones said. "The ARCA cars were a blast, and the truck race last year we ran pretty well. It's a fun track, but a pretty unique challenge."
It didn't take long for one of the Sprint Cup stars to make his presence felt. Keselowski and Matt Crafton crashed after just five laps, as it got tight going three-wide around the turn and they couldn't make it work.
Fox Sports 1 highlighted the damage to both trucks as they headed for the garage:
Crafton had some harsh words for the 2012 Sprint Cup champion, as Zach Sturniolo of the Pocono Record pointed out:
Keselowski downplayed any criticism directed his way:
Busch took the lead from Jones after the race returned to green. The polarizing veteran, who's scored 42 wins in the Truck Series despite being a mostly part-time driver, pulled away from the field as the clean air served as a major advantage.
As a one-stop race, most drivers came down pit road right after the midway point of the 60 laps. Jones made up a little time, as the No. 51 team had a little trouble with the right-side tires, but it wasn't enough to change the leader once the field cycled through their stops.
Just as it looked like Busch might cruise to the finish line, the caution flag waved with 12 laps to go due to debris on the track. The leader still set a new personal record while under yellow, as NASCAR Trucks spotlighted:
A second caution in quick succession was followed by a wild restart that saw a four-wide battle into a corner, and that led to another crash. Jones got tapped by Dillon and spun around as Timothy Peters tried to slip past him on the bottom of the track.
The wreck could have easily collected most of the field if not for a terrific piece of damage control from Jones and Peters, which Fox Sports 1 highlighted:
Busch finally pulled away from the field on the third attempt at a green-white-checkered finish to secure the victory. He did extremely well to maintain the top spot, despite some serious runs at him during the several restarts late in the race, and conserved enough fuel to cross the finish line first.
His latest celebration—and there have been plenty in recent weeks—was passed along by the Motor Racing Network:
Looking ahead, the crash is going to put extra pressure on Crafton to have a bounce-back performance at Michigan International Speedway in two weeks. One bad result doesn't ruin his season, but it decreases his margin for error moving forward.
Busch should receive a boost of confidence for the Sprint Cup race thanks to the win. He's been on an absolute tear at the higher level, with three wins in the past four races. But he must still gain two more spots in the standings (30th) to qualify for the Chase after missing time due to injury.
He's clearly got a good feel for Pocono, giving him a solid chance to make more progress toward that goal Sunday afternoon.
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