Joe Gibbs Racing Race Report Presented by Interstate Batteries
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Pocono 500
Date: June 8, 2008
Event: Pocono 500 (Round 14 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Winner: Kasey Kahne of Gillette Evernham Motorsports (Dodge)
JGR Finish: Denny Hamlin (Started 16th, Finished 3rd / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Tony Stewart (Started 12th Finished 35th / Running, completed 199 of 200 laps)
Kyle Busch (Started 10th, Finished 43rd / Accident, completed 95 of 200 laps)
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) contingent at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway by finishing third in Sunday’s Pocono 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. It was Hamlin’s fourth top-three finish in five career Sprint Cup races at Pocono, with his worst finish being a sixth-place effort in the 2007 Pocono 500.
Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for JGR, finished 35th in the Pocono 500 after leading 14 laps and running in the top-10 throughout the race. Stewart’s strong run took a turn for the worse when he was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road on lap 177. That forced him to return to pit road for a pass through penalty under green flag conditions, which dropped Stewart off the lead lap.
Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for JGR, finished 43rd after being involved in an accident on lap 48. After spending significant time in the garage for repairs, Busch eventually returned to the race, but was unable to gain any positions.
Despite the accident, Busch remains the lead JGR driver in the championship point race. He continues to be the series’ point leader, but his lead has been trimmed to just 21 markers over second-place Jeff Burton. Hamlin and Stewart occupy the fifth and 12th slots, respectively. Hamlin gained four positions while Stewart dropped one spot.
Kasey Kahne won the Pocono 500 to score his ninth career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Pocono. Brian Vickers finished 3.702 seconds behind Kahne in the runner-up spot, while Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Burton rounded out the top-five. Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 10 caution periods for 38 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the June 15 LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m. The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
