NASCAR at Pocono 2016 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

Chris Buescher won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway's Pennsylvania 400 on Monday. And he certainly had Mother Nature to thank, at least in part, for his victory.

With a dense fog settling over the race track and more rain threatening a race that had already been postponed Sunday, race officials called the race with 22 laps to go around 4 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon.

That made Buescher, who waited to take a pit stop and was in first place when the race was called, the winner.

FS1 provided the race highlights:

"It's a tough way to end the race for a lot of people," Buescher said, per Joe Menzer of Fox Sports. "But it's a great way for us."

He and his crew certainly enjoyed their win, regardless of the context, after the race, per NASCAR:

And Buescher got to usher in the win in style, per XFINITY Racing:

Brad Keselowski finished second, while Regan Smith came in third. The full results are below:

POS	DRIVER	MAKE	CAR #	LED	LAPS	START
1	Chris Buescher	Ford	34	12	138	22
2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	2	8	138	7
3	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	7	0	138	30
4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	4	7	138	17
5	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	14	0	138	6
6	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	42	37	138	11
7	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	11	0	138	4
8	Carl Edwards	Toyota	19	0	138	2
9	Kyle Busch	Toyota	18	1	138	16
10	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	41	0	138	15
11	Ryan Blaney	Ford	21	0	138	18
12	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	31	1	138	5
13	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	3	3	138	12
14	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	47	1	138	13
15	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	5	0	138	23
16	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48	0	138	21
17	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	20	0	138	9
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	17	0	138	14
19	Trevor Bayne	Ford	6	0	138	31
20	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	1	0	138	19
21	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	13	0	138	20
22	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	10	0	138	26
23	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	95	0	138	29
24	Brian Scott	Ford	44	0	138	35
25	Greg Biffle	Ford	16	14	138	25
26	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	15	0	138	28
27	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	88	0	138	24
28	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	83	0	138	34
29	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	46	0	137	39
30	Landon Cassill	Ford	38	0	137	32
31	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	98	0	137	36
32	David Ragan	Toyota	23	0	135	33
33	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	24	0	134	8
34	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	30	0	132	38
35	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	27	0	119	3
36	Jeb Burton	Ford	32	0	117	37
37	Joey Logano	Ford	22	38	115	10
38	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	78	16	82	1
39	Aric Almirola	Ford	43	0	66	27
40	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	55	0	29	40

Buescher's big win could have a major impact on the Chase, per the Associated Press (via Fox News):

"

Buescher is on the brink of becoming the first Chase for the Sprint Cup championship bracket buster. Led by four-time winners Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, there are 11 slots seemingly set for race winners, and Buescher would make 12. Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson are the [five] winless drivers battling for the final four spots.

"

It was certainly a wildly surprising result, as Jeff Gluck of USA Today noted:

Meanwhile, a few other racers were left lamenting lost opportunities on the day.

As Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer noted, "Joey Logano might have had the fastest car in the field when Chase Elliott got loose and pushed Logano into the wall with about 57 laps remaining."

That spoiled what looked to be a very promising afternoon for Logano.

Just before that crash, Larson and Dillon spent five laps battling for first place. They were eventually passed by Logano, who made a brilliant move underneath the pair as Larson and Dillon collided around the turn, but Elliott would eventually ruin Logano's brilliant pass move by nudging him into the wall.

But Larson, Dillon, Keselowski and many of the other racers at or near the lead decided to take a pit before the fog descended. Buescher decided to wait, and that strategic decision ultimately won him the race.

"This is gonna change our whole year right here," Buescher said, per Menzer.

Indeed, he's now in the running for the Chase, though he'll still need to finish in the top 30 of the points standings to qualify. He's currently six points outside of 30th place, so his spot is hardly guaranteed.

But he now has hope. Before the rain and the fog, that wasn't the case.

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