Race day Sunday brought clouds and threats of thundershowers - in other words, typical summer weather at Pocono...the forecast called for morning rain and afternoon storms. Somehow, despite the ugly clouds, the rain held off all morning. As race time approached, I made my way up to my seat in the grandstand, ready for anything - camera, sunscreen, sandwiches, rain coat, and radio.
The pre-race activities went off without a hitch, driver introductions, the invocation and National Anthem and then it was time to fire the cars up! The skies were still dark, but the field pulled away for a few pace laps before taking the green. Unfortunately, the rain beat the field to the green flag - coming out of Turn 3 to start the race, rain began to fall.
Trying to beat the rain to the green flag.
Clean up in Turn 3...
After a brief, intense, rain shower, the clouds blew out, and with the sun shining and the wind blowing, crews got the track ready to race in record time.
After the rain, officials found a patch of asphalt had come up at the exit of pit road. They filled it before the race began, but in the finest traditions of Pennsylvania highway construction, they placed orange cones around the repair and let the drivers race while the patch material cured.
Action in the pits is always intense.
The race was the usual Pocono blend of pit strategy, long green flag stretches, and some intense racing - two and three wide in the turns, and five and six wide on the front stretch. A late race caution set up a Green/White/Checker shootout, which led to a not-unexpected last lap crash on the Long Pond Straight.
When the smoke cleared, the results were familiar - Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane for the fourth time in the past five races.
One last bit of excitement after the checkered flag - Joey Logano wasn't happy with Kevin Harvick after Harvick spun him late in the race. Logano stopped at Harvick's pit to express his displeasure.
