LONG POND, Pa. – Rain once again played a factor in the race at Pocono Raceway as Sunday’s event was postponed until Monday afternoon and then called early due to impending storms.
Weather hovered over the Pennsylvania speedway all afternoon as rain brought out one caution while dense fog brought out a red flag with 22 laps remaining. After being placed in a holding pattern, NASCAR officials declared the race official.
The four Hendrick Motorsports drivers battled the weather and the field of cars to hold steady positions all day.
Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott both ran inside the top 10 the better part of the afternoon, although Elliott was involved in a mid-race incident.
“I came off of (Turn) 1 and those guys were three-wide,” Elliott recalled of the incident. “I thought Denny (Hamlin) had the best run so I elected to push him down the exit of (Turn) 1. I thought that would be a good move to get him past and hopefully he’d drag me by and I was just still next to him. I thought I slowed down enough to not get loose but we got loose and I collected Joey. I apologize to the No. 22 guys, completely my fault.”
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon went to work from the rear of the field at the start of the race and played strategy to get ahead.
Chris Buescher took home the win.
Take a look below to see how all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers fared Monday at Pocono Raceway.
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS
FINISHED: 15th
STANDINGS: 16th
RECAP: Starting in 23rd, Kahne made quick work of driving his No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS into the top 20 ahead of teammates Johnson and Gordon. A speedy pit stop by Kahne’s team under the Lap 15 competition caution gained the driver seven restart positions. Following the Lap 19 restart, Kahne maintained a solid top-10 position through the next 65 laps of the race, including a Lap 85 caution for rain. The driver was up to third when he pitted under a Lap 99 caution, which saw him restart 19th. Kahne was running 15th when the race was called under a red flag.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS
FINISHED: 33rd
STANDINGS: 13th
RECAP: Elliott led his Hendrick Motorsports teammates to the green flag in eighth and quickly settled into ninth position, running just inside the top 10 for the first several laps of the race. After falling back to 12th, Elliott broke back inside the top 10, running just ahead of teammate Kahne in seventh. Elliott held steady in the top 10 through a Lap 66 caution, where he restarted 11th. The rookie once again made it inside the top 10 but after a caution was brought out for rain just after the halfway mark, Elliott restarted in 22nd. It didn’t take him long to regain a top-15 position, however, and restart with 58 laps remaining saw Elliott restart in sixth. However, Elliott and a competitor made contact on Lap 106, bringing out the sixth caution of the race, taking his No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS to the garage for repairs. He rejoined the rear of the field for the restart on Lap 110 and took home a 33rd-place finish in the weather-shortened event.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS
FINISHED: 16th
STANDINGS: 7th
RECAP: After taking the green flag in 21st, Johnson drove inside the top 20 early, however, an extra trip down pit road for repairs under the competition caution had the driver restart at the rear of the field. Johnson made quick work of climbing back through the field however, and had the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS inside the top 20 once again by Lap 40. Johnson fluctuated between the top 10 and top 20 throughout the middle segment of the race before breaking back inside the top 15 with 49 laps remaining. When the red flag came out that ended the race 22 laps early, Johnson was scored with a 16th-place finish.
JEFF GORDON, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS
FINISHED: 27th
STANDINGS: 20th
RECAP: Gordon rolled off the grid in 24th and hovered just outside the top 20 for the first 15 laps of the race. He had made it inside the top 20 when he was required to serve a speeding penalty following his Lap 49 green-flag pit stop. Gordon went to work to regain positions and found himself inside the top 20 once again on a Lap 73 restart. Gordon continued to climb through the field, restarting in seventh on Lap 110. However, a loose seatbelt set Gordon back inside the top 30 as he worked to secure the belts inside the car. He had worked his way back up to 28th when the red flag came out that would eventually end the race.