Thanks to fuel-saving techniques and opportune late cautions, Kevin Harvick had enough gas to survive a green-white-checkered-flag finish in Sunday’s rain-delayed Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 and win the Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway.
The victory was Harvick’s first in three starts in the series this year and the 10th of his career.
Harvick, driving his No.2 Chevrolet, started on the pole and dominated the race by leading 44 of 53 laps. He gambled on fuel in the late going when he remained on the track while most lead-lap drivers came in for a last round of pit stops.
“The truck was so fast that I was able to get out there and really conserve fuel,” Harvick said. “It was a great day for everyone on the No.2 truck.”
Harvick relinquished the lead when he made his first and only pit stop right before rain halted the race Saturday. Parker Kligerman took over the top position then. Kligerman ran in front for nine laps before Harvick reclaimed the lead on lap 24.
The seventh and final caution for an incident involving Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. in the closing laps set up a green-white-checkered finish. Harvick quickly pulled away from the field on the last restart and then beat his fellow Sprint Cup Series competitor Busch to the finish line by 1.14 seconds. MiamiHerald.com
James Buescher finished third. Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon round out the top five.
Sauter, the points leader, failed the post-race inspection. The right rear was too high and penalties were expected this week.
Buescher, a Trucks regular, knew he couldn’t catch the Cup star on the overtime laps.
“I didn’t have anything for Kevin. He was in a league of his own,” Buescher said. “I didn’t have anything remotely close for him. We knew Kyle was coming fast. Maybe if it went green and not have that green-white checkered, we might have finished second. You hate losing to him, but you hate losing to anybody.” The Associated Press
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Pocono Raceway - Race Results
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