Austin Dillon, in the No. 3 Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet, took the checkered flag after a ten-lap overtime shootout in the Pocono Mountains 150. Dillon also brought Chevrolet back to Victory Lane, the first time since brother Ty Dillon won the race in Texas last year.
This was Dillon’s first victory of the year and his first victory at Pocono Raceway. This was also the first time that the iconic No. 3 has been in Victory Lane since 1993.
“This is very special for us to run a Truck race with Yuengling Light,” Austin Dillon said. “I circled this race at the beginning of the year and wanted to win it.”
“We had fun today. It was a good day.”
The weekend did not start out so stellar, however, as Dillon recounted his ‘Pop Pop’ Richard Childress being a bit unhappy when they practiced two seconds off the pace. But crew chief Nick Harrison made some good adjustments and Dillon was able to calm his grandfather down enough to make the needed adjustments.
“Then we put it all together to be in Victory Lane,” Dillon said.
In contrast to Dillon’s ebullient reaction after the race, runner up driver Johnny Sauter seemed shocked and surprised after finishing second at a track that he has deemed his worst.
“I’m very, very happy to be sitting in here,” the driver of the No. 98 Nextant Aero Space/Curb Records Toyota said in the media center after the race. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in here at Pocono before if that gives you any indication on how well I don’t run at this race track.”
“It was a crazy day,” Sauter continued. “That extra ten laps really made this race that much more exciting. At one point, I didn’t even know where I was running.”
“This is like a win,” Sauter said. “We did everything we could do and kept the truck in one piece. It’s a great day for us.”
Sauter is second in the point standings, just seven points behind leader Ryan Blaney, who finished in the fifth spot.
Joey Coulter, in the No. 21 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, finished in the third position and unlike Sauter, Coulter practically gushed over his affection for Pocono, posting his fourth top-10 finish in four races at the Tricky Triangle.
“It was a great day for us,” Coulter said. “I can’t thank Chevrolet enough for all the support they have given us.”
“I’m really pumped about our team and what we’ve accomplished.”
Kyle Larson, who sat on the pole and looked strong throughout the race, had an engine issue and finished a disappointing 18th.
In addition to the deep disappointment of Larson, there was also controversy on and off the track between German Quiroga Jr. and Tyler Reddick, who got into each other resulting in the latter driver being parked for the remainder of the race.
“I just tried to stay off the wall,” Quiroga said. “I didn’t mean to spin him. I don’t race like that.”
“Reddick shouldn’t be wrecking trucks going for the championship.”
Quiroga finished 22nd and Reddick was right behind him in 23rd. Quiroga fell one position in the point standings as a result of his race finish, from fifth to the sixth position.
Clint Bowyer, substituting for John Wes Townley in the No. 05 Zaxby’s Toyota after JWT crashed hard in ARCA practice, finished fourth.
“I think honestly we were a third-place truck,” Bowyer said. “Larson was the class of the field and luckily blew up and gave Austin and I a chance and Austin capitalized.”
“It was a lot of fun to drive this Zaxby’s Toyota,” Bowyer continued. “These trucks are a blast when they draft the way they do down there.”
“The restarts are a lot of fun, just come up a little short and got beat but had a lot of fun.”
The full race results are as follows:
Pocono Mountains 150 Results
1. (2) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 64 laps, 133.5 rating, 0 points.
2. (6) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 64, 97.8, 42.
3. (11) Joey Coulter, Chevrolet, 64, 93.4, 41.
4. (10) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 64, 119.5, 0.
5. (8) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 64, 100.5, 39.
6. (13) Erik Jones, Toyota, 64, 83.5, 38.
7. (14) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 64, 83.9, 38.
8. (15) Darrell Wallace Jr., Toyota, 64, 81.4, 36.
9. (7) Justin Lofton, Chevrolet, 64, 84.4, 35.
10. (20) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 64, 79.3, 34.
11. (16) Jason White, Chevrolet, 64, 69.4, 0.
12. (5) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 64, 73, 32.
13. (4) Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet, 64, 99.3, 32.
14. (9) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 64, 91.3, 31.
15. (12) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 64, 71.4, 29.
16. (18) Jeb Burton, Toyota, 64, 62, 28.
17. (17) Mason Mingus, Toyota, 64, 54, 27.
18. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 64, 118.2, 0.
19. (26) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 64, 44.7, 0.
20. (30) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 63, 40.4, 24.
21. (19) Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 63, 52.4, 23.
22. (24) German Quiroga, Toyota, 63, 60.2, 22.
23. (3) Tyler Reddick, Ford, parked, 60, 99.1, 22.
24. (27) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 60, 35.1, 20.
25. (28) Todd Peck, Chevrolet, 60, 32.6, 19.
26. (23) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, accident, 59, 51.3, 18.
27. (29) Kyle Martel, Chevrolet, accident, 44, 40.7, 17.
28. (22) Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, accident, 16, 32.8, 16.
29. (21) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, transmission, 13, 40.7, 15.
30. (25) B.J. McLeod, Chevrolet, electrical, 12, 33.3, 14.
31. (32) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, engine, 3, 31, 13.
32. (31) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, vibration, 2, 29.2, 12
