CRANDALL: Pocono is Kyle Busch's Kryptonite

What Daytona once was to Dale Earnhardt is what Pocono has become to Kyle Busch.

One of the most well-known tales in NASCAR is how Earnhardt tried for 20 years to win the Daytona 500. Year after year the sport's biggest race got away from him with some years being harsher than others. Eventually, in 1998, Earnhardt broke through to finally put that race on his resume.

This season is Busch's 13th year competing at Pocono. Sunday's Axalta presents the Pocono 400 was his 25th attempt at a victory, and Busch is now 0-25 as he was passed with 10 laps to go by Ryan Blaney. On older tires and with trash on the grille, Busch ultimately faded to a ninth-place finish.

This after Busch started on the pole – for the third time at Pocono – and led 100 of the race's 160 laps. Those laps were not only the most laps Busch has led in a single Pocono race, they were more than any of the combined laps he'd led in his previous 24 starts (86). But as soon as the final caution flew with 19 laps to go to bunch up the field, you couldn't help but have a familiar feeling creep up: How would Pocono bite Busch this time?

Sunday was the latest chapter in the book of bitter Busch Pocono defeats.

There was August 2015 when he ran out of gas on the last lap. He was leading at the time. In June 2010 and August 2011 Busch was the runner-up. In addition to his 10 top-10 finishes, crashing while running well has also happened. Busch has five DNF's.

So, yes, Pocono has now become Kyle Busch's Daytona. It's his Kryptonite. It remains one of two tracks where Busch is winless in the Cup Series (Charlotte being the other). And it's not hard to start wondering just how much longer – if ever at all – it will take Busch to knock it off the list.

Here's another pondering from Pocono:

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s retirement tour is turning into a horror film. Earnhardt finished 38th in the 39-car field at Pocono because of an engine issue. It was the second time during the weekend he had problems while shifting and Earnhardt put the blame squarely on his shoulders.

It has been a tough weekend for@DaleJr.#NASCARonFS1@PoconoRacewayhttps://t.co/aTlMyl8BVi— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX)June 11, 2017

"The shifter is not different, the handle is not different, the location, everything is the same," a dejected Earnhardt said. "I don't know. It's something about my motion that's not ... going in the wrong gear. I wish I could blame it on something else because this is awful. It feels awful."

Earnhardt now has four DNFs in 14 races. He's also finished 30th or worse in six of 14 races. However, what continues to stand out in the rough times is Earnhardt's attitude and how much he wants things to turn around. Not just for himself, but his fans and his team.

Some on social media have said Earnhardt has already mentally checked out and he's just mailing it in until the season is over. But those who follow him on Twitter again saw how serious he's taking his final year through a series of tweets he sent Sunday afternoon.

"Don't worry bout me, I can deal with the lowest of lows," Earnhardt said in one. "I only worry about my team. They deserve success and happiness."

In a follow-up he continued, "My belief is they will get what they deserved before the seasons end. I can't wait to be a part of that."

In another tweet, Earnhardt said he had talked to both his crew chief, Greg Ives, and teammate Jimmie Johnson for ideas on how to fix the No. 88 team's issues. That is not the tone of a man who doesn't care what happens between now and Homestead. Earnhardt wants to go out running well because he cares about the hard work his team puts in and how much it will mean for those who cheer for him.

But whatever black cloud has found Earnhardt needs to dissipate soon if there's going to be any kind of celebration before he sees his final checkered flag.

And one last thing ...

Who watched the Xfinity Series race Saturday afternoon? Fox went with a "Drivers Only" broadcast by replacing its professional on-air personalities with current Cup Series drivers. It was a winning move.

Kevin Harvick called the action with Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer in the booth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones were pit reporters. Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin, who haven't always seen eye-to-eye, were in the Hollywood Hotel. Each of these drivers seemed perfect for their roles.

In the booth, there was no talking over one another. No obnoxious yelling when something exciting happened. No, it was cool and professional with a nice mix of speaking from personal experience and having the right TV tone to speak in. Stenhouse, Blaney and Jones didn't hesitate to climb on a team's pit box to get answers to things developing. And Patrick had the perfect to-and-from commercial break observations while Hamlin was on top of the game when it came to race strategies.

In other words, if you want a broadcast team that can accurately explain how a race is playing out and what drivers are thinking, you need to go straight to the source. Hopefully, Pocono wasn't the first and last time it happens.