2014 Gobowling.com 400

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2014 Gobowling.com 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 21 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Gobowling.com 400 logo.png
Date August 3, 2014 (2014-08-03)
Location Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Weather Mostly cloudy with chances of thunderstorms with temperatures up to 71 °F (22 °C); wind out of the southeast at 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h)
Average speed 127.411 mph (205.048 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Chip Ganassi Racing
Time 49.063
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 63
Winner
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN & MRN
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree (Television)
Joe Moore and Jeff Striegle (Booth)
Dave Moody (1), Mike Bagley (2) and Buddy Long (3) (Turns) (Radio)
Nielsen Ratings 2.8/7 (Final)
2.6/7 (Overnight)
4.374 Million viewers[11]

The 2014 Gobowling.com 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 3, 2014, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5 miles (4.023 km) triangular superspeedway, it was the 21st race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the race, his third win of the season, completing the first season sweep of Pocono since 2006. Kevin Harvick finished second while Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (11th), Austin Dillon (15th), and Justin Allgaier (16th).

Previous week's race

The previous week at the Brickyard 400, Jeff Gordon took the lead on the final restart and took the checkered flag for the 90th time in his career, to guarantee a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano also clinched spots in the Chase.[12] Kasey Kahne fell to fifth on the restart, and ran out of fuel on the final lap, finishing sixth.[13] Gordon described his race win as "nothing better, especially in a big race, coming to Victory Lane with your family here", while he "was trying so hard with 10 to go not to focus on the crowd". Kahne reflected on his position at the final restart, stating that he should have picked the outside line, also stating "pretty much let Jeff control that restart. I took off and never spun a tire and the inside had been more grip throughout the race and I started on the inside and I thought it was a great decision. But I didn't spin a tire and Jeff drove right by me."[14]

Report

Background

Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.

Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[15] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°.[15] However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.[16] The front stretch at Pocono Raceway is 3,740 feet long, the longest at the track.[16] The back stretch, is 3,055 feet long, while the short stretch, which connects turn two with turn three, is only 1,780 feet long.[16] The defending race winner from 2013 is Kasey Kahne.

Entry list

The entry list for the Gobowling.com 400 was released on Monday, July 28, 2014 at 9:28 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered for the race.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
16 Greg Biffle Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford
33 Alex Kennedy Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
66 Joe Nemechek (i) Identity Ventures Racing Toyota
78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota
87 Timmy Hill Identity Ventures Racing Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
93 Johnny Sauter (i) BK Racing Toyota
98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet
99 Carl Edwards Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
Official entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

Practice

First practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 49.902 and a speed of 180.353 mph (290.250 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.902 180.353
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 49.957 180.155
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 50.058 179.791
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Rookie Kyle Larson won the pole, his first at Sprint Cup level, with a new track record lap time of 49.063 and a speed of 183.438 mph (295.215 km/h). Larson reflected on recent extensive running at the circuit, in testing and also racing in other events – ARCA and the Camping World Truck Series – since the previous Cup race in June, stating that "for whatever reason I feel like I've adapted pretty well to this track even though it's not a track where you maneuver around and can move from the bottom to the top". Joey Logano qualified alongside Larson on the front row, praising his performance and stating that he "liked tough race tracks and this is one of them". Logano had felt that Kurt Busch had been favorite for pole position, but also commented on Larson's performance, stating "Kyle definitely laid down a good one because I thought my lap was (darn) near perfect and then I got beat, so it's a little frustrating, but, overall, it's a good starting spot".[17]

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 49.669 49.429 49.063
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 49.505 49.364 49.071
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 49.694 49.851 49.261
4 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.538 49.459 49.272
5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.695 49.568 49.285
6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.638 49.571 49.426
7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.774 49.549 49.445
8 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 49.892 49.580 49.446
9 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.754 49.629 49.521
10 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.722 49.635 49.547
11 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.125 49.625 49.558
12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.585 49.571 49.647
13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.915 49.680
14 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 49.929 49.681
15 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 50.005 49.765
16 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.757 49.802
17 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.224 49.861
18 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.001 49.924
19 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 50.070 49.963
20 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 50.112 50.004
21 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.104 50.034
22 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 49.921 50.164
23 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.220 50.194
24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 50.123 50.260
25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.232
26 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.280
27 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.303
28 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.304
29 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.318
30 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 50.548
31 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 50.646
32 40 Landon Cassill Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 50.654
33 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 50.687
34 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 50.733
35 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 50.746
36 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 50.991
37 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 51.012
38 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.017
39 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 51.109
40 37 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.487
41 66 Joe Nemechek Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 52.239
42 33 Alex Kennedy Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 52.265
43 93 Johnny Sauter BK Racing Toyota 54.164
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 50.319 and a speed of 178.859 mph (287.846 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.319 178.859
2 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.440 178.430
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.449 178.398
Official second practice results

Final practice

Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 50.407 and a speed of 178.547 mph (287.344 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.407 178.547
2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.410 178.536
3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.492 178.246
Official final practice results

Race

First half

Start

The race was originally scheduled to start at 1:18 P.M. EDT, but with the threat of thunderstorms in the forecast, NASCAR moved the start of the race up by around 10 minutes, with rookie Kyle Larson leading the field. At the second turn of the first lap, Brad Keselowski made contact with Kurt Busch and almost spun out, but saved his car and dropped back to 12th, while Joey Logano took the lead from Larson on lap 3. Jimmie Johnson's car suffered a cut tire and made contact with the wall on the front stretch on lap eight, bringing out a debris caution a lap later. Logano led the field to the restart on lap 12. On lap 16, Danica Patrick brushed the wall on the exit of turn 2, and after a tire blowout, she hit the same wall the following lap, to bring out the second caution. As the first driver who was a lap down in the field, Johnson was the recipient of the free pass, allowing him to return to the lead lap.

Logano continued to lead as the race resumed on lap 20. On lap 24, Kyle Busch's day ended early with a blown engine; he described the problem as "something between the frame rails doesn't seem to operate correctly right now" to reporters after he had exited the car. He also expressed his disappointment about having to exit the race so early: "It's unfortunate, I thought we had a good car today. Our car has been good this weekend in practices and stuff like that. Obviously you hope for better days, and this M&M's Camry team deserves better days but this ain't one of them".[18] The third caution flag came out on lap 28 when Landon Cassill hit the wall in the same position as Patrick had done so, previously; Patrick profited from the free pass at the caution. Brian Vickers won the race off pit road but Kurt Busch, and ten other cars, stayed out when the leaders came in to pit and assumed the lead for the restart, on lap 34.

Busch's different pit cycle saw him onto pit road ten laps later, at which point Jeff Gordon took the lead. On lap 50, the fourth caution flag came out when Joe Nemechek got turned loose by Kasey Kahne and hit the wall in turn 3. The race restarted on lap 56, with Gordon holding the lead until his next pit stop, on lap 66, returning the lead to Busch. Busch pitted on lap 75, giving the lead to A. J. Allmendinger. Allmendinger made his stop on lap 78, at which point Aric Almirola and David Gilliland each led a lap before making green flag pit stops, while Gordon reclaimed the lead. On lap 84, Gordon officially became the first driver in track history to lead over 1,000 laps. He led until his next green flag pit stop on lap 95 and gave the lead to Kevin Harvick. Harvick made his stop on lap 97 and gave the lead back to Busch. Harvick dropped to the tail end of the field as he was caught speeding on pit road. Busch hit pit road on lap 103 and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth led for four laps before returning the lead back to Gordon.

Second half

The fifth caution came out on lap 111, when Johnson – after going a lap down early in the race and getting up as high as fifth – hit the wall in turn 2. He described his incidents as "I got tight off Turn 1 off the fence" for his first scrape with the wall, and later deemed himself "clueless" at the second hit, stating that "It didn't act like a tire went down. It just went straight. Hopefully we can get a reason why".[19]

The Big One

The race restarted on lap 116, but before the end of the first complete lap after the restart, the sixth caution flag came out for a large crash involving 13 cars on the Long Pond Straightaway. It started when Denny Hamlin got sucked around by air off of Clint Bowyer's car in an outside line of cars and started to spin out. Hamlin saved his car, but Brian Vickers collided with Matt Kenseth while checking up to avoid Hamlin, and collected Aric Almirola, Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Tony Stewart, Justin Allgaier, Harvick, Michael Annett, Martin Truex, Jr. and Carl Edwards. While Harvick, Allgaier, and a couple of others continued, many of the cars involved were knocked out of the race; Harvick would later manage to pick his way through to a second-place finish. There were only 15 cars on the lead lap after the crash. Hamlin referred to his part in the incident as being "stuck three-wide" and that he was "sucked around" when Bowyer was passing him. Kenseth expressed his frustration at being involved in the crash, stating that his car had "been in all the big wrecks this year", and that "it seems like you're always in the wrong place at the wrong time".[20]

While under caution – on lap 119 – Gordon achieved his 24,000th career lap led,[21] and led the field to the restart on lap 127. Gordon made his final stop and handed the lead to Harvick on lap 133, before Greg Biffle took the lead two laps later. On lap 138, the seventh caution came out when Allmendinger, laps down with damage from the lap 117 crash, hit the wall in turn 1. The race restarted with 17 laps to go.

Final laps

On lap 147, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. passed Biffle for the lead, and had managed to build up a 3.5 second lead on Harvick by lap 153, when it was erased after the eighth caution of the race came out, after Busch hit the wall exiting turn 2. The final restart came with four laps remaining, with Earnhardt, Jr. restarting on the prevailing outside lane. He assumed the lead, with Harvick running about a car length behind and Logano just behind them. Earnhardt held off the chasers for the last three laps to win the race, completing the first Pocono sweep since Hamlin in 2006. Earnhardt, Jr. reflected on the sweep, stating that his team "definitely went home from the last race and made our car better" and that's what I'm proud of this team for". He also praised the strategy of his crew chief, Steve Letarte. Harvick was impressed with his car's speed in both Pocono races, and that his team "were able to capitalize on it and get a good finish".[22]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 9 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 47
2 6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 160 43
3 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 160 42
4 14 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 160 40
5 25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 160 40
6 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 40
7 8 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 160 37
8 21 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160 36
9 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160 35
10 12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 34
11 1 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 160 33
12 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford 160 32
13 4 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 160 32
14 27 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 160 30
15 11 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160 29
16 22 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 160 28
17 30 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 160 28
18 23 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 159 26
19 39 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 159 25
20 37 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 159 24
21 33 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 159 23
22 38 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Ford 159 22
23 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 159 21
24 31 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 159 20
25 34 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 158 19
26 40 37 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 158 18
27 35 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 158 17
28 42 33 Alex Kennedy Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 158 16
29 26 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 157 15
30 10 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 156 14
31 36 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 154 13
32 19 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 144 12
33 29 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 143 11
34 20 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 137 11
35 28 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 125 10
36 16 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 124 8
37 15 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 116 7
38 18 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 116 7
39 17 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 111 5
40 41 66 Joe Nemechek Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 88 0
41 32 40 Landon Cassill Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 28 0
42 7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23 2
43 43 93 Johnny Sauter BK Racing Toyota 11 0

Race statistics

  • 15 lead changes among different drivers
  • 8 cautions for 38 laps
  • Time of race: 3:08:22
  • Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won his third race

Media

Television

ESPN
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Allen Bestwick
Color-commentator: Dale Jarrett
Color commentator: Andy Petree
Jerry Punch
Dave Burns
Vince Welch
Jamie Little

Radio

MRN Radio
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Turn 1: Dave Moody
Turn 2: Mike Bagley
Turn 3: Buddy Long
Winston Kelly
Steve Post
Alex Hayden
Woody Cain

Standings after the race

References

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Previous race:
2014 Brickyard 400
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2014 season
Next race:
2014 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen