Kyle Busch won Sunday’s Pocono 400 to claim his fourth Cup win of the year and his third Pocono win in the last four races at the track.
Busch outran Brad Keselowski in a nine-lap shootout and beat him by two seconds. The top five was completed by Erik Jones, Chase Elliott and Clint Bowyer.
Though he didn’t win either of the first two stages of the race, Busch dominated by leading 79 of the race’s 160 laps.
“I passed one guy on the outside in Turn 3 (Bowyer in Stage 2) and that was the only guy I needed to pass I guess,” Busch told FS1. “It was hard otherwise. We kind of got stuck in traffic back there a little bit earlier in the race, we were about fifth or sixth and couldn’t really do anything. But overall my guys on pit road were awesome. Got some spots there.”
Busch broke a tie with Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. for most wins this year.
The final nine-lap shootout was set up by a caution for a Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wreck.
STAGE 1 WINNER: Kyle Larson
STAGE 2 WINNER: Kyle Larson
WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Erik Jones earned his fourth top-10 finish at Pocono. It’s tied with Kansas for his most on a single track ... Brad Keselowski has a top five in seven of his last eight races at Pocono ... Chase Elliott earned his fifth straight top five, the longest stretch of his career ... Pole-sitter William Byron led 26 laps and finished ninth. It’s his fourth top 10, matching his total from 2018 .. Denny Hamlin finished sixth for his first top 15 in the last five races.
WHO HAD A BAD DAY: Austin Dillon wrecked out on Lap 29 when he was tagged from behind by Paul Menard and backed into the Turn 3 wall … Corey LaJoie finished 36th after he cut a tire and hit the wall on Lap 18 of Stage 2 …. Martin Truex Jr.’s day ended near the end of Stage 2 when his engine expired ... After winning both stages, Kyle Larson slapped the wall on the final restart and had to pit. He finished a lap down in 26th.
NOTABLE: Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske have combined to win 13 of the 14 points races this year and had five of the top seven finishers Sunday, including the top three ... Hendrick Motorsports has had at least one car finish in the top five in the last five races, the longest active streak
QUOTE OF THE RACE: “It was a good run, we didn’t hit the wall, that’s the first (time) in about a month. Didn’t blow a tire, that’s about the first in a month.” - Denny Hamlin to FS1 after finishing sixth.
WHAT’S NEXT: FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway at 2 p.m. ET on June 9 on FS1