Lap-by-Lap: Pocono
Lap-by-Lap: Pocono
By NASCAR.COM
August 3, 2008
07:47 PM EDT
CHECKERED FLAG: Carl Edwards uses a great pit strategy to win his fourth race of the season. Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon all run out of gas on the final lap.
Lap 199 -- WHITE FLAG: Carl Edwards takes the white flag.
Lap 198 -- Kyle Busch gives up fifth and hits pit road for a splash of gas. Kyle Busch is out of gas and is stuck on pit road.
Lap 197 -- Tony Stewart has cut into Carl Edwards' lead as the No. 99 tries to save fuel.
Lap 195 -- Kasey Kahne is up to 11th.
Lap 194 -- Bob Osborne tells his driver Carl Edwards to save fuel as it could be an issue for the No. 99 team.
Lap 193 -- Matt Kenseth is currently in 17th and if the race ends in this current order, he will fall to 13th in the point standings.
Lap 190 -- Ten laps to go and Carl Edwards has a six second lead.
Lap 187 -- LEAD CHANGE: Mark Martin hits pit road giving the lead to Carl Edwards. The top five currently:
1. Carl Edwards
2. Tony Stewart
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Kyle Busch
Lap 185 -- LEAD CHANGE: Mark Martin takes the lead as Kasey Kahne makes his final pit stop. Kahne takes two tires and fuel.
Lap 184 -- Matt Kenseth gives up fourth position for two tires and fuel.
Lap 181 -- Sam Hornish Jr. makes his final pit stop.
Lap 180 -- Carl Edwards passes Matt Kenseth for third. Kenseth will come in for fuel around Lap 185.
Lap 178 -- Greg Biffle gives up third and makes his final pit stop.
Lap 177 -- Carl Edwards in fifth and Tony Stewart in sixth are the top-two cars that should be able to stay out without making a pit stop.
Lap 174 -- Denny Hamlin gives up fifth and is on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 173 -- The top five after green flag stops. All might have to stop one more time.
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Mark Martin
3. Greg Biffle
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Denny Hamlin
Lap 171 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kasey Kahne is back out front as Bill Elliott pits completing a long round of green flag stops. Now the question is can the top five cars make it without another stop.
Lap 170 -- LEAD CHANGE: Bill Elliott leads for the first time today as Jamie McMurray and Travis Kvapil hit pit road for tires and fuel.
Lap 168 -- LEAD CHANGE: Jamie McMurray leads as David Ragan hits pit road. Jeff Burton with a pass-through penalty for an uncontrolled wheel during his stop.
Lap 167 -- LEAD CHANGE: David Ragan takes the lead as Jimmie Johnson hits pit road. Johnson with four tires and fuel.
Lap 166 -- LEAD CHANGE: Jimmie Johnson takes the lead as Carl Edwards hits pit road. David Gilliland is out of gas and on pit road along with Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and a handful of others.
Lap 165 -- Kyle Busch is on pit road making what should be his last stop of the day.
Lap 164 -- Reed Sorenson is out of gas and is coasting to pit road.
Lap 163 -- LEAD CHANGE: Carl Edwards is out front as Matt Kenseth makes his stop. Kenseth with four tires and an air pressure adjustment. Brian Vickers also on pit road.
Lap 162 -- LEAD CHANGE: Matt Kenseth takes over the lead after Kurt Busch runs out of gas.
Lap 161 -- Scott Riggs gives up third and makes his pit stop. Kurt Busch runs out of gas and is coasting to pit road.
Lap 160 -- Sam Hornish Jr. hits pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 158 -- Scott Riggs has the come back of the race. After starting at the rear of the field for an engine change, he is currently third.
Lap 157 -- LEAD CHANGE: Greg Biffle pits giving the lead to Kurt Busch. Bobby Labonte also on pit road.
Lap 155 -- LEAD CHANGE: Greg Biffle takes the lead as Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin all hit pit road. Martin with a wedge adjustment and four tires. Kahne with no changes and four tires and Hamlin also takes four tires.
Lap 154 -- Jimmie Johnson moves to ninth and Carl Edwards is 10th after both pass Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Lap 152 -- Jeff Gordon has fallen all the way to 24th.
Lap 150 -- Carl Edwards is up to 11th. Kevin Harvick has moved up to 23rd.
Lap 148 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is up to ninth and Jimmie Johnson is up to 10th as the top cars who pitted before the red flag.
Lap 147 -- Leader Kasey Kahne says there is definitely oil on the track but the race remains green.
Lap 146 -- Juan Montoya blows his engine and will take his Dodge to the garage. The race stays green as he doesn't drop anything on the track. Sam Hornish Jr. into the wall and he falls to 11th but continues on.
Lap 145 -- GREEN FLAG: Kasey Kahne brings the field to the green.
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Mark Martin
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Greg Biffle
Lap 144 -- The track is dry, the rain has stopped and the race will go green next time by.
Lap 142 -- NASCAR has called off the start of the race due to rain falling in Turn 3. The cars remain on the track under caution as it is a light rain.
Lap 139 -- Pit road is open and none of the leaders decide to make a stop.
Lap 138 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 7: Joe Nemechek and Paul Menard get together in Turn 2 damaging both cars. Robby Gordon gets the free pass and will now be one lap down.
Lap 136 -- Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin pass Matt Kenseth for second and third.
Lap 135 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is up to 15th and Jimmie Johnson to 16th.
Lap 134 -- GREEN FLAG: Kasey Kahne brings the field to the green.
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Greg Biffle
5. Mark Martin
Lap 133 -- Pit road is open and none of the leaders hit pit road. A.J. Allmendinger, Juan Montoya and Casey Mears among those to pit.
Lap 131 -- YELLOW FLAG: The cars are back on the track with Kasey Kahne in the lead. The length of the red flag was 41 minutes 06 seconds.
5:32 p.m. -- The drivers have fired up the engines and are ready to roll off pit road.
5:24 p.m. -- Drivers have been called back to their cars and it's time to go back racing.
5:19 p.m. -- The track is pretty much dry and racing could resume shortly.
5:01 p.m. -- It has stopped raining at Pocono and track drying has begun. Officials report that the track is wet from the start/finish line all the way to the entrance to Turn 3.
Lap 131 -- RED FLAG: The cars are going down pit road and the race is halted for rain.
Lap 130 -- The rain is coming down hard in the Tunnel Turn but NASCAR says they haven't lost the track yet. The top 19 cars stayed out. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was first off pit road and currently scored 20th.
Lap 129 -- The new top five after pit stops:
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Greg Biffle
5. Mark Martin
Lap 128 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kasey Kahne stays out to take the lead as Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit pit road. Gas only for Earnhardt while Johnson and Edwards take two tires. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and David Gilliland also hit pit road.
Lap 126 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 7: Rain is falling on part of the track bringing out the caution. Chad McCumbee gets the free pass meaning 41 cars are on the lead lap.
Lap 123 -- The top five after green flag stops:
1. Carl Edwards
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Kasey Kahne
5. Jeff Gordon
Lap 122 -- LEAD CHANGE: Green flag stops have cycled through as Carl Edwards is back out front.
Lap 121 -- Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers all on pit road.
Lap 120 -- LEAD CHANGE: Matt Kenseth takes the lead as Dale Earnhardt Jr. hits pit road. Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte also on pit road.
Lap 119 -- LEAD CHANGE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes the lead as Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson give up the top-two spots. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin also on pit road.
Lap 118 -- David Gilliland, Juan Montoya and Kyle Busch are on pit road.
Lap 117 -- Greg Biffle gets around for Tony Stewart for eighth. Kasey Kahne completes the pass of Jeff Gordon for fourth.
Lap 114 -- Kasey Kahne is challenging Jeff Gordon for fourth.
Lap 113 -- A.J. Allmendinger on pit road to begin green flag pit stops.
Lap 112 -- Bob Osborne, crew chief for leader Carl Edwards tells his driver that the rain is about 15 minutes away.
Lap 111 -- LEAD CHANGE: Carl Edwards passed Jimmie Johnson between Turns 1 and 2 to retake the lead.
Lap 109 -- Carl Edwards has caught the bumper of leader Jimmie Johnson.
Lap 106 -- Greg Biffle gets around Kyle Busch for ninth. Clint Bowyer, Juan Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr. get three-wide for position and Montoya releases giving up the spots.
Lap 105 -- Carl Edwards has cut into Jimmie Johnson's lead as he now trails by less than a second.
Lap 103 -- All the teams are looking at their radar screens as weather now seems imminent.
Lap 101 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. passes Jeff Gordon for third.
Lap 100 -- At the halfway point, Jimmie Johnson is the leader.
Lap 99 -- Carl Edwards passes Jeff Gordon for second.
Lap 96 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. moves up to fourth, passing Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.
Lap 95 -- Chad Knaus is telling his driver Jimmie Johnson that it looks like a shower is heading to the track, although he doesn't think it is big enough to end the race.
Lap 94 -- Carl Edwards is already up to fourth on his four tires.
Lap 93 -- Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart got three wide between Turns 2 and 3 but the running order remains the same.
Lap 92 -- GREEN FLAG: Jimmie Johnson brings the field to the green.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Tony Stewart
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Matt Kenseth
Lap 90 -- LEAD CHANGE: Jimmie Johnson wins the race off pit road and takes the lead.
Lap 89 -- All the leaders hit pit road.
• Matt Kenseth with an air pressure adjustment and four tires
• Mark Martin with four tires and a slow pit stop
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes four tires and makes a slight adjustment
• Carl Edwards with four tires and no adjustments
• Jimmie Johnson with two tires
• Jeff Gordon with two tires
• Tony Stewart takes two tires
• Martin Truex Jr. takes two tires
Lap 88 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 5: Debris in Turn 3 brings out the caution. Regan Smith gets the free pass and will return to the lead lap.
Lap 87 -- Kevin Harvick, currently in 20th, says his engine sounds a bit off.
Lap 83 -- Tony Stewart is up 11 spots since the last restart currently running 14th.
Lap 81 -- David Ragan falls to ninth as Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson pass him.
Lap 79 -- Thirty-nine cars are on the lead lap. Chad McCumbee, Regan Smith and Robby Gordon are one-lap down. Michael Waltrip is out of the race.
Lap 76 -- Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne have opened up a two-second lead on the rest of the field.
Lap 75 -- Kyle Busch is up to 12th after passing Ryan Newman.
Lap 73 -- Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Denny Hamlin have worked their way up to seventh, eighth and ninth on four tires.
Lap 72 -- Jimmie Johnson picks up three spots in Turn 2 and moves up to eighth.
Lap 71 -- There is a lot of three-wide racing on the restart as the two-tire cars are a little slower than the four-tire cars.
Lap 70 -- GREEN FLAG: Carl Edwards brings the field to the green as the top nine cars are on two tires.
1. Carl Edwards
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Greg Biffle
Lap 69 -- LEAD CHANGE: Scott Riggs hits pit road and Carl Edwards takes the lead as he wins the race off pit road.
Lap 68 -- LEAD CHANGE: Scott Riggs continues to stay out and finally gets the five bonus points.
Lap 67 -- Pit road is open and all but one lead-lap car takes advantage. Scott Riggs stays out and tries to lead a lap but Mark Martin crosses the line first.
• David Gilliland with four tires and an air pressure adjustment
• Mark Martin with a wedge adjustment and four tires
• Denny Hamlin with a track bar adjustment and four tires
• Jimmie Johnson with four tires
Lap 65 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 4: Debris in Turn 2 brings out the caution. Michael McDowell gets the free pass and will return to the lead lap.
Lap 64 -- Jeff Gordon continues to fall as Carl Edwards passes him for sixth.
Lap 61 -- Kasey Kahne passes Jeff Gordon for fifth.
Lap 57 -- Green flag stops are complete and Mark Martin has a 5.8 second lead. The top five after green flag stops:
1. Mark Martin
2. David Gilliland
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Jeff Gordon
Lap 55 -- Joe Nemechek has to serve a pass-through penalty. Chad McCumbee and Tony Raines on pit road.
Lap 54 -- LEAD CHANGE: Mark Martin is back out front as Carl Edwards hits pit road. Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Travis Kvapil and Bobby Labonte also on pit road.
Lap 53 -- LEAD CHANGE: Carl Edwards takes the lead for the first time today as Mark Martin hits pit road for tires and fuel. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman also on pit road.
Lap 52 -- Robby Gordon is on pit road for tires and fuel. Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart and David Gilliland all on pit road.
Lap 51 -- Kyle Busch is on pit road beginning this round of green flag pit stops.
Lap 50 -- Jeff Gordon falls to eighth after trying to pass Matt Kenseth for fifth.
Lap 48 -- Carl Edwards up to seventh after passing Greg Biffle. Dale Earnhardt Jr. says his car is so loose he could crash at any minute. Green flag pit stops should begin in about five laps.
Lap 47 -- David Gilliland has caught the bumper of second-place Jimmie Johnson and is challenging for second.
Lap 46 -- Juan Montoya has worked his way up to 20th.
Lap 43 -- Points leader Kyle Busch is in 11th with his hands full with a loose racecar.
Lap 40 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. passes Greg Biffle for seventh. The top-six cars are single file with a lot of space between each.
Lap 38 -- Michael Waltrip is out of the race with engine problems.
Lap 37 -- Denny Hamlin is on the move as he is up to fifth.
Lap 36 -- LEAD CHANGE: Mark Martin finally passes Jimmie Johnson in Turn 1 to retake the lead. David Gilliland, currently in fourth, is complaining of a vibration.
Lap 34 -- Jimmie Johnson and his two tires have been able to hold off Mark Martin on four tires but how much longer is the question.
Lap 31 -- Mark Martin has caught Jimmie Johnson and is challenging for the lead.
Lap 30 -- Michael Waltrip takes his No. 55 Toyota to the garage.
Lap 29 -- Kyle Busch gets loose in Turn 1 but is able to save it and falls to eighth.
Lap 28 -- Mark Martin gets around Matt Kenseth in Turn 3 and takes over the second position.
Lap 27 -- Michael Waltrip is still on pit road and is currently three laps down.
Lap 26 -- Mark Martin on the move as he passes Jeff Gordon for third.
Lap 25 -- Mark Martin up to fourth after passing Kyle Busch.
Lap 24 -- GREEN FLAG/LEAD CHANGE: Michael Waltrip hits pit road and Jimmie Johnson brings the field to the green.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Greg Biffle
5. Kyle Busch
Lap 23 -- LEAD CHANGE: Michael Waltrip stays out to lead a lap and collect five bonus points. Clint Bowyer and Michael McDowell hit pit road.
Lap 22 -- Forty cars hit pit road. Clint Bowyer stayed out to lead a lap but Mark Martin crossed the line first and continues to lead. Michael McDowell and Michael Waltrip also stay out.
• David Gilliland with a track bar adjustment
• Mark Martin with four tires and no changes
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. with an air pressure adjustment and four tires
• Jimmie Johnson with two tires and wins race off pit road
• Matt Kenseth with two tires
Lap 21 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 3: The competition caution is out. Everyone is on the lead lap so no free pass will be given.
Lap 20 -- Mark Martin has a 1.3 second lead on second-place Jimmie Johnson. Kasey Kahne is up to fourth after passing Ryan Newman.
Lap 17 -- Michael Waltrip could have an engine problem as he is well off the pace in 43rd.
Lap 16 -- Jeff Burton is the day's biggest mover up 16 spots, sitting in 23rd after starting 39th.
Lap 15 -- Juan Montoya is up to 38th after being a lap down. Kevin Harvick has worked his way to 32nd after his Lap 1 spin.
Lap 14 -- Jeff Gordon is down to sixth. Kasey Kahne is up to seventh.
Lap 13 -- Tony Stewart is up to 12th after starting the race in the 20th position.
Lap 12 -- David Gilliland passes Jeff Gordon for third.
Lap 11 -- GREEN FLAG: Mark Martin brings the field to the green.
1. Mark Martin
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. David Gilliland
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Lap 9 -- Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Chad McCumbee, Michael McDowell, J.J. Yeley, Juan Montoya, Robby Gordon and Casey Mears all visit pit road but can not take any fuel.
Lap 8 -- Joe Nemechek hits pit road.
Lap 7 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 2: Kurt Busch spins on the frontstretch bringing out the caution. Juan Montoya gets the free pass and is back on the lead lap.
Lap 6 -- David Gilliland falls to fifth as Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch move up to third and fourth.
Lap 5 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. moves up to seventh after passing Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth.
Lap 4 -- GREEN FLAG: Mark Martin brings the field to the green.
1. Mark Martin
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. David Gilliland
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Ryan Newman
Lap 3 -- Juan Montoya is still on pit road and will go one lap down. Michael Waltrip will start at the tail end of the longest line due to speeding on pit road.
Lap 2 -- Juan Montoya, Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip and Regan Smith hit pit road for adjustments. They are not allowed to top off on fuel due to the scheduled competition caution on Lap 20.
Lap 1 -- YELLOW FLAG/LEAD CHANGE: Kevin Harvick spins after Joe Nemechek clips the rear of Harvick's No. 29 Chevy but doesn't hit anything. Mark Martin passes Jimmie Johnson in Turn 1 to take the lead.
2:21 p.m. -- GREEN FLAG: Jimmie Johnson brings the field to the green and the 200-lap Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 is under way.