NASCAR: Winners And Losers From Pocono

Winner: Saving Fuel

Last August, we saw fuel mileage come into play at Pocono. In the final few laps, both Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, who had been running first and second, run out of fuel, leading to a late pass and a win for Matt Kenseth.

This time around, the race was setting up for more of the same.

With established positions after the final restart of the race, Kurt Busch sat in first place, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

As radio conversations became more tense towards the end, we learned that Busch, Elliott and Logano were all short, which led them to start saving fuel.

As the race died down and Keselowski made the only pass in the top-5, every contending car would go on to finish the race without running out of fuel. A few drivers, like Chris Buescher and Casey Mears, ran out in the closing laps, but we avoided the late-race drama that we saw last August, when two drivers lost out on wins.

must read: Updated Chase Standings After Pocono

As Kurt Busch made his way back to the finish line for a burnout, it was obvious that he had more than enough fuel to make it, further solidifying a great day with interim crew chief Johnny Klausmeier.