As we have come to expect, Dave Rogers brought Carl a fast Stanley Camry for the second Pocono race of the season. All of the practices and qualifying rounds saw the 19 team in the top ten: 4th and 9th in the two practice sessions; and 1st, 2nd, and 2nd in the three qualifying rounds. So they looked ahead to the race with a front-row starting position.
Mother Nature decided to throw a monkey wrench into the weekend schedule with stubborn Sunday rain. The race was delayed until Monday morning, meaning that many of us (yours truly included) had to hide from social media and the news until we could watch a recording of the race.
Carl started out strong, running in the second position until the competition caution on lap 15. His team opted for 4 tires when most other teams took 2, so he restarted in 14th. Other than a quick caution for Truex putting his car into the outside wall, the race ran green for quite some time. By the time the next caution flag waved on lap 60, Carl had moved his Toyota up to 6th. He came off pit road in 3rd, but restarted 9th because a half a dozen cars did not pit.
On the restart, he fell back to 13th place. During the next 35 laps, he ranged between 10th and 15th place. Truex brought out the caution again on lap 99. This time we did not pit, finally get back up near the front of the field in 4th place.
Mother Nature was not yet done with NASCAR, though. On lap 131, with Carl in 8th place, the fog rolled in. It was so thick you could not see across the raceway. For several laps the cars continued to circle the track. But as the raindrops started to fall, the race was red flagged and the cars were covered. NASCAR waited some time before finally giving up and calling the race on lap 138 of 160.
During an interview after the race, Carl was disappointed that they could not complete the race, as he felt he had a car capable of better than an 8th place finish. Coincidentally, that is the same finish he earned when the Cup series visited Pocono earlier this season. He maintained the 3rd spot on the Chase grid, and moved up one position in the drivers' standings, from 6th to 5th.
While we always would prefer that Carl take the checkered flag and give us a backflip, it was fun to see that the race was won by Chris Buescher, a former teammate of Carl from his Roush days. And Chris has Carl's former crew chief, Bob Osborne, sitting atop the pit box. It was good to see him in victory lane once again.
This was Chris' first Cup win, and the first win by a rookie this season. He is currently on loan from Roush to Front Row Motorsports, one of the underdog teams who try to battle with the big boys on a much smaller budget. They do not get to taste victory very often, so it is especially sweet for them. And the win is huge for their bottom line, both for the prize money as well as the increased interest from sponsors.
Chris' team now sits 6 points out of the top 30 in points. If they can claw their way into the top 30, they will make the Chase. If they do, that will have big repercussions from the bubble drivers trying to point their way into the playoffs, because one fewer spot will be available. Carl may be safely in the Chase, but there will be plenty of storylines to watch between now and the middle of September.
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