LONG POND, Pa. – Jeff Gordon joked that he was “probably the most shocked person out there on the racetrack” when the checkered flag waved and he finished third at Pocono Raceway.
But the fourth-place finisher was just as surprised at how the Windows 10 400 played out.
“In the booth up there, they turned the clock back to 1973 and let that thing play out a little bit and let everybody run out of gas,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “That was pretty cool. It’s kind of like some of the older races where you just can’t count on them to throw them cautions there at the end. And they didn’t today.”
The lack of caution flags was a surprise – “We always get yellows,” he said – but Earnhardt wasn’t complaining.
Like Gordon, he wasn’t expecting a top-five result midway through the race, but fuel mileage strategy played directly into the No. 88 team’s hands.
“We had good speed in the car. We needed to be a little bit better but I’m happy with how we finished,” Earnhardt said. “I was going to be disappointed to run 19th. So, we’ll take it.”
Overall, Earnhardt was pleased with the cars that Hendrick Motorsports brought to the track, as evidenced by three teammates finishing in the top six.
“I really enjoyed the power we had today,” he said. “We had great motors. I could tell down the straightaway I was as good as anybody, or better.”
In order to capitalize on the engines and continue to earn top-five finishes, Earnhardt said the requirement is simple.
“We’ve just got to work harder.”