On a stormy Sunday that turned sunny at the triangular Pocono Raceway, Denny Hamlin was actually the eye of the hurricane. Taking the lead from Sam Hornish Jr. in 179 lap, nothing could stop him to win the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at the 2.5-mile triangular track when an eight-car pileup on the Long Pond straightaway caused a caution that froze the running order on the final lap of a green-white-checkered-flag finish.Hamlin's day was far calmer as he drove to his series-leading fourth victory of the year, his fourth win in nine starts at Pocono and the 12th of his career. Pole-sitter Kyle Busch finished second and trimmed Harvick's lead in the Cup standings to 19 points.
Tony Stewart was third, followed by Harvick and Jimmie Johnson who returned back in the top-5. Although Johnson set the faster time during the practice session, the malaise continued after slipping to 26th in qualifying. But it all changed Sunday, as he roared from 26th into the top 10 before 30 laps were run. From there, Johnson was a fixture in the top 10 for 100 laps before what's become a typical wild closing brought five cautions in the last 45 laps. At that point Johnson was third, but he pitted for fuel and four tires that let him finish a relatively satisfactory 5th.
"It was a great effort. We had a great race car and was able to deliver [a good finish]. I tried not to be too comfortable and take unneeded risks and it was the right call. I guess I've been living on the other side of the line for a few weeks and I made some mistakes... So I'm very proud of the effort -- a great race car. We're just fine, we're having fun and it was just nice to get a top-five."
Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Juan Montoya, Clint Bowyer and A.J. Allmendinger completed the top 10 in a race that saw a broad spectrum of pit strategies play into the finishing order.
Before the race, Hamlin wrote a note to himself on the dashboard of his No. 11 Toyota that said, "Conserve."
"I just knew I had to conserve my car the first half of the race, and we rode about third for most of the race up until the halfway point. Then we turned it up when we needed to, and it was just a great feeling. I hated to see that last caution [for Logano's spin] -- really got my nerves going."
"Conserve" was not the watchword, however, when Hamlin restarted 15th on Lap 172 of 204 behind 13 cars that had remained on the track under caution and behind Busch, who had beaten him out of the pits.
Hamlin made short work of the traffic in front of him. By the time NASCAR called a caution for debris in Turn 3 on Lap 174, he was eighth. Nine laps after the subsequent restart on Lap 179, Hamlin passed Sam Hornish Jr. for the lead with a strong run off Turn 3.
He celebrated his victory with a lengthy burnout and ended up nicking the wall in the process. He might want to take care of the car, which is 3-for-3 on the season.
Busch led four times for 32 laps but wasn't complaining after coming up short. He's never been a fan of the quirky eastern Pennsylvania track. That didn't change even after his best finish here.
"Denny has this place figured out. I did the best I could. I went from about an 'F' at knowing how to get around here [Sunday] to about an 'A,' and an 'A' didn't get it done."
After Harvick turned Logano to bring out the caution that rattled Hamlin's nerves, the race winner pulled ahead on the final restart on Lap 203 and was comfortably in front when Kasey Kahne's Ford slid into the infield grass, shot back across the track and collided with the Chevy of Mark Martin and the Ford of Greg Biffle.
Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, Ryan Newman and Elliott Sadler also sustained damage in the wreck.
None of the drivers were hurt, but tempers across the garage were frayed.
Kahne blamed Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Allmendinger for forcing him off the race track.
"I don't know what A.J. was doing there. I don't ever really talk to him much, but you can bet I'll be talking to him this week."
However, Allmendinger took the final responsibility for the incident.
"I'm not really sure what happened. Kasey had such a run on me, and I went to defend. By the time I defended, he was in the grass. That's my bad. I feel bad about that -- I really do. It is what it is, though."
Stewart, while admitting he didn't have enough car to chase down Hamlin, wasn't pleased either. He called the racing off the restarts "idiotic" and left little doubt that he'll seek payback starting in Michigan.
"I've seen some of the worst driving I've ever seen in my life in a professional series right here [Sunday]. So for anybody that's looking for drama for the next couple races, start looking because I can promise I'm going to start making the highlight reel the next couple weeks."
Stewart trails Bowyer by one point for the final Chase spot with 12 races left before the field is set at Richmond. Bowyer supplanted Ryan Newman, who finished 14th and dropped to 14th in standings, 18 points out of the 12th position.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
