NASCAR Cup Series race
Motor car race
The 2021 Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 27, 2021, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania . Contested over 140 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) triangular racecourse, it was the 19th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
Chris Buescher was awarded the pole for the race as determined by the top 20 from Saturday's finishing order inverted.[4]
Starting Lineup
Race
Stage Results
Stage One
Laps: 30
Pos
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Points
1
19
Martin Truex Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
10
2
10
Aric Almirola
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
9
3
2
Brad Keselowski
Team Penske
Ford
8
4
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford
7
5
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota
6
6
34
Michael McDowell
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
5
7
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
JTG Daugherty Racing
Chevrolet
4
8
8
Tyler Reddick
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
3
9
99
Daniel Suárez
Trackhouse Racing Team
Chevrolet
2
10
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford
1
Official stage one results
Stage Two
Laps: 55
Pos
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Points
1
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
10
2
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
9
3
2
Brad Keselowski
Team Penske
Ford
8
4
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
7
5
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
6
6
19
Martin Truex Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
5
7
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
4
8
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
3
9
10
Aric Almirola
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
2
10
42
Ross Chastain
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chevrolet
1
Official stage two results
Final Stage Recap And Results
Before the final stage break at lap 74's pit stop it was discovered that Kyle Busch got stuck in 4th gear. During the stage break pit stop his team discovered he had lost his clutch so he was forced to leave it in 4th gear for the remainder of the race. With one lap before the restart he topped off on fuel, gambling that there would be no further caution flags to the end, however there was one final caution on lap 94 for debris with the final restart on lap 96. This led to a 44 lap green flag run. Kyle Busch was able to get enough good fuel milage to win the race, passing the leader, teammate Denny Hamlin who was coming to pit lane for fuel as they were about to take the white flag.[7] [8]
Stage Three
Laps: 55
Pos
Grid
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Laps
Points
1
19
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
140
44
2
12
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
140
38
3
11
2
Brad Keselowski
Team Penske
Ford
140
50
4
13
4
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
140
33
5
7
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota
140
38
6
16
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford
140
38
7
20
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
140
30
8
23
37
Ryan Preece
JTG Daugherty Racing
Chevrolet
140
29
9
10
8
Tyler Reddick
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
140
31
10
14
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford
140
28
11
3
19
Martin Truex Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
140
41
12
18
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
140
35
13
21
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
140
24
14
17
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
140
32
15
8
99
Daniel Suárez
Trackhouse Racing Team
Chevrolet
140
24
16
5
10
Aric Almirola
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
140
32
17
2
34
Michael McDowell
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
140
25
18
32
21
Matt DiBenedetto
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
140
19
19
1
17
Chris Buescher
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
140
18
20
15
1
Kurt Busch
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chevrolet
140
17
21
24
14
Chase Briscoe (R)
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
140
16
22
37
6
Ryan Newman
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
140
15
23
36
7
Corey LaJoie
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
139
14
24
38
41
Cole Custer
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
139
13
25
27
77
Justin Allgaier (i)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
139
0
26
33
42
Ross Chastain
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chevrolet
139
12
27
9
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
139
16
28
25
51
Cody Ware (i)
Petty Ware Racing
Chevrolet
139
0
29
30
78
B. J. McLeod (i)
Live Fast Motorsports
Ford
138
0
30
28
15
James Davison
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet
137
7
31
22
43
Erik Jones
Richard Petty Motorsports
Chevrolet
136
6
32
4
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
135
12
33
31
00
Quin Houff
StarCom Racing
Chevrolet
135
4
34
26
38
Anthony Alfredo (R)
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
134
3
35
34
52
Josh Bilicki
Rick Ware Racing
Ford
132
2
36
29
53
Garrett Smithley (i)
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet
122
0
37
35
66
Timmy Hill (i)
MBM Motorsports
Toyota
113
0
38
6
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
JTG Daugherty Racing
Chevrolet
111
5
Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 12 among 10 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 4 for 15
Red flags: 0
Time of race: 2 hours, 26 minutes and 49 seconds
Average speed: 143.036 miles per hour (230.194 km/h)
Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen , Jeff Burton , Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns , Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast handled the pit road duties from pit lane. Jac Collinsworth handled the features from the track.
Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio . Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform inside the backstretch when the field raced down the backstretch. Kyle Rickey called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 4 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Steve Post and Kim Coon worked pit road for the radio side.
MRN Radio
Booth announcers
Turn announcers
Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Alex HaydenAnnouncer: Jeff Striegle
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Backstretch: Mike Bagley Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey
Steve Post Kim Coon
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings
Note : Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs .
References
^ "2021 schedule" . Jayski.com . Jayski's Silly Season Site . Retrieved May 18, 2021 .
^ "Pocono Raceway" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2021 .
^ "Entry List" (PDF) . Jayski.com . Jayski's Silly Season Site . June 21, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021 .
^ a b "Starting Lineup" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Media Group, LLC. June 26, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021 .
^ "Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 Results" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR . June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021 .
^ "Points standings" (PDF) . Jayski.com . Jayski's Silly Season Site . June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021 .
^ Busch, Kyle (27 June 2021). "Kyle Busch Pocono 2 Race Recap" . kylebusch.com . Retrieved 27 December 2021 .
^ Al-Khateeb, Zac (27 June 2021). "NASCAR at Pocono race results: Kyle Busch overcomes transmission issues, low fuel to win" . sportingnews.com . Retrieved 27 December 2021 .