Party in the Pocono’s 400 Race Review
The second caution of the day is thrown when oil is spotted on the track coming from the 56 car and all the cars come back together to head down pit row, except for Newman who once again stays out. A great stop by Hamlin sees him take four tyres and move up five place to second just behind Johnson. With 31 laps to go at the restart the cars are in full fuel saving mode turning their engines on and off as they sit behind the pace car. But there is no sign of fuel saving at the restart as Johnson again goes round the outside of Newman for the lead while behind them Greg Biffle and Kenseth have a coming together but they both keep the car pointing in the right direction but do lose a position to Tony Stewart who is now in 5th place.
Jun 9, 2013; Long Pond, PA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) leads Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) and Greg Biffle (16) on a restart during the Party in the Poconos 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
Two laps later Kenseth is again involved in an incident that brings out caution number three. This time though Kenseth is the unlucky one as Juan Pablo Montoya is on the inside of the 20 car when he gets loose and starts to slide up the track right into the side of the 20 and the two of them go spinning down the back straight. The caution eliminates the teams concerns about fuel mileage and can now fight hard to the end, as the leaders come to pit row and Newman once again stays out. No surprises though on the restart as Johnson continues his domination of the race by retaking the lead. It is a short lived lead as two laps later Dave Blaney gets tagged by Aric Almirola and gets sent spinning and once again the yellow flags are out. All these caution laps will be music to Newman’s ears as they are helping him save fuel which should mean he wont have to stop again.
Johnson could do these restarts in his sleep as he holds the lead on the restart but this time he has company in the shape of team mate Jr who made it three wide into turn one and unlike when he tried it before and failed, this time he was able to make it stick and hold Newman at bay to take second and sit right on Johnson’s rear bumper. It’s not just Jr who gets by Newman as it’s a poor start for the 39 car as he also looses places to Kyle and Hamlin. At the front Johnson just can’t get away from Jr and his lead of half a second remains the same for the next few laps until the 51 of AJ Allmendinger has a front left suspension failure and a caution is thrown. Nobody pits this time and on the restart the 48 and 88 are jostling for position all the way down the front straightaway until Johnson is just able to get in front as they enter turn one with the top three of Johnson, Jr and Kyle all together. But there is to be no fight for the win this time as on the very next lap Blaney again puts his car into the wall for caution number six.
Jun 9, 2013; Long Pond, PA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson celebrates in victory lane after winning the Party in the Poconos 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
A drama free restart for Johnson as he enters turn one in the lead from Biffle, who restarted in fourth, Jr, Stewart and Kyle Busch. While Stewart tries to find a way around the 88 car Johnson is off doing what he does best and that is putting clear air between him and second place. Kyle, Kurt and Newman battle hard for fifth place and Newman is able to take the inside line and take fifth place away from Kyle. Up front though there is no stopping Johnson and as many expected he takes the win for his third victory of the season and cement his place at the top of the standings.
In all honesty this was not the best race we have had this season. This race last year provided entertainment and close racing but the gen6 cars seem to have undone all that and when the most exciting thing about the race is the cars saving fuel than that indicates there wasn’t action from start to finish. If it wasn’t for the rash of cautions at the end than the field would have been very strung out, as it is Johnson had a winning lead of over a second achieved in only a few laps, I will say though that it was a good move last season to reduce the race to 400 miles as the race length of 2 hours and 45 minutes was in my opinion the perfect length for a race. Work still needs to be done to allow the cars to run better in dirty air and stick together but I don’t think it would have made any difference to the outcome as once again Johnson shows why he is a class above most other drivers and is fully on course to take title number six.