Kyle Busch cruised to the top of the Pocono 400 on Sunday, the 14th chapter in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver now has four wins this season, the most of any car in the series, and this triumph ended a seven-race winless streak at Pocono. With Sunday's victory, Busch expanded his lead atop the standings.
Busch led for a race-high 79 laps after starting in third.
It was a good day overall for Joe Gibbs Racing as Erik Jones finished third and Denny Hamlin claimed sixth.
For the third straight race, William Byron, the race's pole winner, finished ninth after doing so in the All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600. The Hendricks Motorsports driver has three pole wins this season but has yet to convert those into a race victory. The No. 24 car led for 26 laps Sunday.
Kyle Larson won both Stage 1 and 2 to claim three playoff points but stumbled to finish in 26th after hitting the wall following a restart. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver led for 35 laps—the second-most behind Busch.
Pocono 400 Results
1. Kyle Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Erik Jones
4. Chase Elliott
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Joey Logano
8. Daniel Suarez
9. William Byron
10. Aric Almirola
Full results available at NASCAR.com.
Austin Dillon had similar luck to Larson. After starting the race in fourth position, he was ousted after 28 laps when he tangled with Paul Menard's No. 21 car, which caused his No. 3 to crash into the wall at Turn 3:
Similarly, reigning Pocono 400 champion Martin Truex Jr.'s day was done after 91 laps because of engine trouble. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was fresh off winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway last weekend. Truex entered Sunday at sixth place in the Cup Series standings, 80 points off the lead.
While the No. 19 car had won three of the last five races, Pocono marked his second "did not finish" this season—the other being at the Daytona 500.
Kevin Harvick finished the race, albeit in 22nd place. His race was derailed by an uncontrolled tire violation, and after he served his pass-through penalty, the No. 4 car couldn't recover. On the broadcast, Harvick was said to have a cracked steering box.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver is now a frustrating 0-of-37 all-time at Pocono.
Joe Gibbs Racing arrived to Pocono in first place with 528 points and will enjoy an extra boost thanks to Busch, Jones and Hamlin.
The field's next chance to close in on Busch will be the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.
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