Who… Gets the shout-out of the race?
Kyle Busch may have won the battle Sunday, earning his first victory of the year in Sunday’s Overton’s 400. But Clint Bowyer put himself in position to win the war.
Just one week after a devastating wreck at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, dropping himself out of playoff position, Bowyer and his No. 14 team fought back hard. Pit strategy near the end of stage two by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz left Bowyer out in front, keeping him on track while a number of leaders came down pit road. That resulted in a crucial 10-point bonus for a guy who sat 33 points outside the playoffs entering Sunday’s race.
The move did cost the team track position entering the final 60 laps. But Bowyer fought through it, making passes on a near-impossible day to do so at Pocono Raceway. In the end, the sixth-place finish closes his gap to just 17 points for the final playoff spot now held by Matt Kenseth. In a month, we may look back on this race as the one that pushed him into the field.
What… Got Kyle Busch Over The Hump This Time?
A little help from on top of the pit box. Crew chief Adam Stevens made a brilliant call to stay out up to nine laps later than rivals Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. The strategy left Busch further behind after the stop but with fresher tires to mow down the field.
When all was said and done, Busch blew by those top three cars like they were stopped. His 6.1-second margin of victory, built over the final 17 laps was easily the largest in the Cup Series this season. Just like that, the No. 18 team’s year-long drought came to an end as a team effort.
I think that’s important for Busch’s momentum going forward. When Stevens got suspended in June, interim head wrench Ben Beshore stumbled a bit. Including at the last Pocono race, his calls appeared to cost Busch track position at exactly the wrong time.
Stevens hasn’t been a saint lately, either but this time he made the right choice. For a moody driver, suffering through tough luck that’s the best way to get them back on the same page.
When… Will rookie Daniel Suarez get his due?
Five months ago, Suarez looked over-matched once Carl Edwards’ retirement left him sitting in the No. 19 Toyota a year early. But this rookie has been the biggest benefactor of Joe Gibbs Racing correcting their early-season woes.
Suarez was a solid seventh Sunday, his seventh top-10 finish this season. That leads NASCAR freshmen and has helped build him a small lead in a competitive Rookie of the Year race over pseudo-teammate Erik Jones and Ty Dillon. It’s also the third straight week he’s finished higher than he started.
It’s the latest chapter in a level of consistency we’ve seen from early in the year. Suarez has a whopping 18 top-20 finishes in 21 starts and only one DNF, February’s Daytona 500. Considering the surge in DNFs this year his ability to make laps (5,766 completed, second most this season) will translate to experience that helps down the road.
Where… Were the Chevrolets all day at Pocono?
Sure, Jimmie Johnson got wrecked by Kasey Kahne while Kyle Larson dropped a driveshaft. But losing their top two contenders isn’t enough of an excuse for Chevrolet. 10th place was the best they could do, sophomore Chase Elliott ahead of Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his final race at the 2.5-mile triangle. Overall, they led just two laps (Austin Dillon during a debris caution) while looking inferior to Ford and Toyota.
Is there reason to be concerned? Chevy has won just once in the last six races (Kahne’s upset Indy win) and has seen rival Joe Gibbs Racing win twice. Toyota overall is getting its act together as Truex’s lead over Larson now sits at 85 points.
Johnson, who stayed relaxed after his teammate tussle has rebounded from these summer slumps before. But with just six cars in the playoffs as of now (and two of those on the bubble) notching a win or two this August might help ease some anxiety.
Why… Didn’t more people try weird pit strategies down the stretch?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to win. It’s really that simple; it’s impossible for NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver to make it in on points. So why was the No. 88 team pitting for four tires like everyone else late in the race? For that matter, why was everyone else from fifth to 15th?
Look, there were four cars Sunday who clearly had a leg up on everyone else: Busch, Harvick, Hamlin, and Truex. But we saw how different pit strategies jumbled the running order for large parts of the day. Why not take fuel only or two tires if you’re the No. 88? What do you have to lose? Sure, it probably wouldn’t have worked but 12th does absolutely nothing for a driver in the midst of his final season.
It would have been nice to see the risks teams like lap 1 spinner-turned-stage 2 leader Kenseth, Bowyer and others took earlier in the day. A call like that from Busch won him the race but the No. 18 team didn’t have to be the only one.
How… Does the playoff picture look with five races left?
Busch’s win gives us 13 playoff-eligible race winners (sorry, Joey Logano) with five regular season races remaining. Kahne and Dillon sit the lowest among that group but only a crazy ending (four or five new winners) could leave them at risk of losing a spot.
With three spots open on points, there appear to be just four drivers able to claim them. Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Kenseth and Bowyer are separated by just 39 points. Rookie Jones, the next driver in line is another 108 points back and would need a Hail Mary to make it without a victory.
But one quick look at the drivers not on that list shows how much the playoffs could tighten. Hendrick should be working overdrive to give Earnhardt a win to get in. Logano also needs a victory, capable of getting it over the final five races along with Jones, sleeper Trevor Bayne (who almost stole Indy) and Watkins Glen expert AJ Allmendinger. A spot stolen by any one of them makes for a lot of sleepless nights for the points-only crowd.
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.