NASCAR: Fuel tactics carry Kurt Busch at Pocono

Kurt Busch seized victory in Monday's delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono. The Stewart-Haas racer put in an economy drive at the end of the race to narrowly hold off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski, with the latter the only one of the three drivers not saving fuel.

It was an incident-packed race with 10 cautions flown, the last of which came with around 40 laps to go. With fuel mileage estimated to be somewhere between 33-37 laps, it was a close call between stopping for a top-up, or lifting and coasting to maintain track position.

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Informed by interim crew chief John Klausmeier (standing in for Tony Gibson, who was suspended for a lug nut violation at Charlotte) that he was two laps short on fuel, Busch began coasting, even going so far as to push his clutch in through Turn 1. The strategy worked and, despite Earnhardt's best efforts behind him, Busch crossed the finish line just over a second ahead.

"We just had to balance everything," Busch, who got to the stripe 1.126 seconds ahead of Earnhardt, told the NASCAR Wire Service "We had a fast car, a (suspended) crew chief, and the way the fuel mileage played out, I didn't know if we would have enough fuel. 

"It's a wonderful win for us. We have been so close all year. It was just a matter of putting it all together – pit crew, engines and everybody who works on these bodies, chassis, you name it. It was so much fun to drive and be competitive and be up front."

Busch admitted he was taken aback when told how much fuel he had to save.

"I was like, ‘Whoa, how many laps shy are we?’" Busch said. "They said two. These are really long straightaways at Pocono, and you have to manage saving fuel as well as maintaining lap time. So many thoughts can go through your head, but I just stuck with the checklist.

"I just stuck with saving fuel and watching the No. 88 (Earnhardt) behind us."

Rapid rookie Chase Elliott led a large portion of the race, heading the field for 51 laps, eclipsing his previous laps led total (32) over the previous 18 races. He eventually finished fourth behind Keselowski (left), whose top-three finish was quite a feat in itself.

The Penske driver had run high in the order early in the race, but during the competition caution on lap 16 a pit crew member deliberately dented the side of his car in an attempt to create better airflow, and the punishment was a mandatory stop to fix it as well as a drive-through, which dropped him to 39th.

Another driver who appeared at both ends of the field was Kevin Harvick. He led the race on old tires up until lap 60 of 160, at which point Matt DiBenedetto spun, prompting Harvick to pit, and rejoin way down the order. He eventually finished ninth.

The race had initially been scheduled due to be run on Sunday, but rain forced the postponement of the event until noon local time on Monday.

With his win, Busch joins Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and last week's winner Martin Truex Jr. in the provisional Chase field.

RESULTS - 160 LAPS:

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

PROVISIONALLY INTO CHASE SO FAR

Kyle Busch (3 wins), Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski (2 wins), Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch (1 win)

Originally on Autosport.com