NASCAR Sprint Cup at Pocono: Playing Hurt Pays for Keselowski as Others Struggle

Only days ago, Brad Keselowski took a hard hit while practicing at Road Atlanta when his brakes failed and he crashed into a wall with no safety barrier in excess of 100 mph. He suffered an ankle fracture with heavy swelling and bruising to his left foot and cuts and bruises to his right foot.

Driving in pain from not only his feet, but his back as well, Keselowski took his No. 2 Penske Dodge to Victory Lane despite having to use all three pedals in his car on the 2.5-mile track at Pocono.

Keselowski dedicated his win to the American troops who were recently killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Kyle Busch was hot on his tail with a second-place finish in the race that was interrupted by nearly two hours for a rain delay.

Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson tangled in the final laps, but managed to finish third and fourth, respectively. After the race, Johnson was quick to get to Busch's car and the two engaged in a verbal exchange that likely included several expletives.

Denny Hamlin looked to be the car to beat, but like so many other races bad luck struck in one of the final pit stops when the crew had trouble with a right rear tire.

The driver of the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing has four wins at the track. He has only one win this season and is fighting to make the Chase. Hamlin was able to remain 11th in points with a 15th-place finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was confident with a car that ran in the top 10 most of the race. Junior finished in ninth and remains 10th in the point standings, but gained ground and is only one point behind ninth-place driver, Tony Stewart.

David Ragan, driver of the UPS Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, looked to be a leading candidate for the wild card slots, but a spin 20 laps into the race did heavy damage to the rear of his car.

Ragan who has one win, finished in 34th place and dropped three positions in the point standings from 16th to 19th place.

Carl Edwards remains on top of the points with a seventh place finish. Johnson is second in points followed by Kyle Busch and his older brother Kurt Busch in fourth.

1. Kurt Really Wishes He Had Won

Kurt Busch congratulates his Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, in Victory Lane.

2. Juan Pablo Continues Slide

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya continues his struggles with a 32nd place finish at Pocono and a drop out of the top 20 to 21st in the points.

3. Oops

It got worse from here as David Ragan continued his slide into the wall with heavy damage to the rear of his car. He just appeared to break loose on lap 20.

4. Rain, Rain Go Away

It would seem the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion would have someone holding that umbrella for him.

6. Told You It Got Worse

David Ragan really had high hopes for a good finish, but slides like this won't get him to the wild card slots.

6. Hope for Junior Nation

Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued to cling to the top 10 in points with five more chances to secure a spot in the Chase and reduce the angst of Junior Nation.

7. Not Another One

Brian Vickers pulled his No. 83 Toyota into the garage as yet another Toyota engine bites the dust.

There seems to be a problem this year with Joe Gibbs Racing suffering the most engine failures, especially with Denny Hamlin's Toyota race cars.