2017 Axalta presents the Pocono 400
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The 2017 Axalta presents the Pocono 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
held on June 11, 2017 at Pocono Raceway in
Long Pond, Pennsylvania Long Pond is an unincorporated community in Monroe County in the Pocono Mountains region of Pennsylvania, a part of the Appalachian Mountains. Long Pond is located within the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed. Its ZIP code is 18334. Geography Long Po ...
. The race was contested over 160 laps on the triangular superspeedway, and was the 14th race of the
2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 69th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 46th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts ...
season.


Report


Background

The race was held at Pocono Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in
Long Pond, Pennsylvania Long Pond is an unincorporated community in Monroe County in the Pocono Mountains region of Pennsylvania, a part of the Appalachian Mountains. Long Pond is located within the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed. Its ZIP code is 18334. Geography Long Po ...
. The track hosts two annual Monster Energy
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
races: the
Axalta presents the Pocono 400 The Pocono Organics CBD 325 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The race was the first of two NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway, with the other being the Pocono 350, held ...
and the
Pennsylvania 400 The Unannounced Sponsor Pocono Cup race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Starting in 2022, it is the only Cup Series race at the track after the other Cup Series race at Pocono, the Po ...
, as well as one
Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
and Camping World Truck Series event. Since 2013, the track is also host to a
Verizon IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
race. Pocono Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or
International Speedway Corporation International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International ...
. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli. Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar
race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.


Entry list


First practice

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champi ...
was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 50.758 seconds and a speed of .


Qualifying

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
scored the pole for the race with a time of 50.237 and a speed of .


Qualifying results


Final practice

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 51.305 seconds and a speed of .


Race


First stage

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
led the field to the green flag at 3:22 p.m. Aside from an unscheduled pit stop by
Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Ser ...
for a flat left-rear tire on the sixth lap, nothing unusual happened in the early stage of the race. It proceeded in an orderly fashion, only interrupted by a cycle of green flag stops on lap 14. Busch pitted from the lead on lap 18, followed by
Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champi ...
pitted the next lap, and the lead moved to
Erik Jones Erik Benjamin Jones (born May 30, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS. His nicknames are EJ, his initials, and That J ...
. He pitted on lap 36 and the lead cycled back to Busch. During the pit cycle, Ryan Newman and Darrell Wallace Jr. were handed pass through penalties for speeding on pit road. Both served them, but Wallace was hit with a second penalty – a stop and go – for speeding while completing his pass through. Busch drove on to win the first stage and caution flew for the first time in the race on lap 50 for the culmination of the stage. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead under the caution by opting not to pit when the leaders did.


Second stage

When the race returned to green on lap 57, Jones – on fresher tires – took the lead from Stenhouse driving down the Long Pond Straightaway. At the start/finish line the following lap,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...
's engine blew up as a result of a mis-shift and transmission failure. Moments later,
Clint Bowyer Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...
tagged the wall with his right-rear corner exiting Turn 1. After those two events and Busch retaking the lead on lap 62, however, the second stage continued just as the first did. It was only broken up by a cycle of green flag stops on lap 91 when Busch pitted from the lead. Teammate
Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...
followed suite the subsequent lap, giving the lead to Larson. On the 96th lap,
Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
– running seventh – suffered brake failure hurdling down the frontstretch. He turned his car down into the grass to bleed off speed, which then turned up the track and slammed the wall hard in Turn 1. Moments later,
Jamie McMurray James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed Jamie Mac, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for '' Fox NASCAR''. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 to 2018 ...
suffered a similar brake failure going into Turn 1 and also pounded the Turn 1 wall. His car continued rolling down the Long Pond Straightaway when it caught fire in the engine compartment, prompting McMurray to park it on the apron and quickly exit the burning vehicle. These two events brought out the second caution, as well as a 23-minute and 25-second red flag to facilitate cleanup. Rather than run out the remaining four laps of the stage under caution, NASCAR decided to run a one-lap shootout to end it. It restarted on lap 99, Larson won the second stage and caution flew for the third time for the conclusion of the stage. Busch bypassed pit road under the caution, having just pitted a few laps prior, and took back the lead.


Final stage

Back to green with 55 laps to go, the race settled into an orderly procession. As was the case in the first and second stage, the race was only broken up when race leader Busch commenced a cycle of green flag stops with 36 to go.
Martin Truex Jr. Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
did so as well four laps later, handing the lead to
Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...
. He stayed out for 12 laps hoping to catch a caution, but didn't, pitted with 20 to go.
Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
suffered brake failure the following lap and belted the wall in Turn 1, bringing out the fourth caution. Busch opted not to pit and took the lead, as did Keselowski, while rest of the field pitted and Jones exited pit road first by taking two tires, followed by
Ryan Blaney Ryan Michael Blaney (born December 31, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blane ...
and everyone else taking 4 tires. On the ensuing restart with 13 to go, Busch bolted ahead as Keselowski faltered. Blaney quickly pounced on and took second from Keselowski. Blaney on his fresher tires closed the gap to Busch on worn tires coming to 10 to go. After crossing the start/finish line, Blaney dropped down to the bottom of the track to pass to give himself the preferred groove going into Turn 1, but Busch blocked his move on the frontstretch and the battle continued. Blaney got to Busch's inside exiting Turn 1 and made contact going down the Long Pond Straightaway, even took the battle onto the apron. Blaney backed out going into Turn 2, but Busch left the bottom open, letting Blaney get back to his inside exiting Turn 2 and lost the lead to him on the Short Chute. Blaney spent the remaining nine laps holding off a charging
Kevin Harvick Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick is the 2014 Cup Series champion, ...
to score his first ever victory and first for the Wood Brothers since
Trevor Bayne Trevor Mitchell Bayne (born February 19, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe ...
winning the Daytona 500 in 2011.


Race results


Stage results

Stage 1 ''Laps:'' 50 Stage 2 ''Laps:'' 50


Final stage results

Stage 3 ''Laps:'' 60


Race statistics

* Lead changes: 9 among different drivers * Cautions/Laps: 4 for 18 * Red flags: 1 for 23 minutes and 25 seconds * Time of race: 2 hours, 48 minutes and 40 seconds * Average speed:


Media


Television

''
Fox NASCAR ''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox television network in the United States since 2001. Speed, a motorsports-focused cable chan ...
'' televised the race in the United States on
FS1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...
for the third consecutive year.
Mike Joy Michael Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer and who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analyst is Clint Bowyer. Counting 2022, Joy has been part of the live broadcast ...
was the lap-by-lap announcer, while six-time Pocono winner,
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
and four-time winner Darrell Waltrip were the color commentators.
Jamie Little Jamie Little (born April 9, 1978) is an American pit reporter for NASCAR coverage on Fox. Little is a former pit reporter for ESPN/ABC coverage of the Indy Racing League, although she returned to her pit reporting duty for the 2007 and 2008 I ...
,
Chris Neville Chris Neville is a NASCAR pit road reporter who most recently worked for Fox Sports, not to be confused with Garwood Lanes Thursday night league president, Chris Neville. He is best known for his work with Fox, as well as formerly calling the Ro ...
and
Matt Yocum Matthew Yocum (born April 8, 1968) is a long-standing reporter in motorsports, best known for being a NASCAR pit reporter. He works for CBS as a pit reporter to cover the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) as of 2021. He most recently worked in tha ...
reported from pit lane during the race.


Radio

Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by
Motor Racing Network Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of ...
(MRN) and simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and four-time Pocono winner
Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...
announced the race in the booth while the field was racing on the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 1 when the field was racing through turn 1 while
Mike Bagley Mike Bagley is an American motorsports commentator who works for the Motor Racing Network. He is the secondary turn announcer for MRN and has worked for the radio network since 1992 and became a turn announcer in 1998. Since 2008, Bagley has bee ...
called the race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turn 2. Kyle Rickey reported the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field was racing through turn 3. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post reported from pit lane during the race.


Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Manufacturers' Championship standings *Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. *. – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.


References

{{2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup
Axalta presents the Pocono 400 The Pocono Organics CBD 325 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The race was the first of two NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway, with the other being the Pocono 350, held ...
Axalta presents the Pocono 400 The Pocono Organics CBD 325 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The race was the first of two NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway, with the other being the Pocono 350, held ...
Axalta presents the Pocono 400 The Pocono Organics CBD 325 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The race was the first of two NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway, with the other being the Pocono 350, held ...
NASCAR races at Pocono Raceway