At the newly-paved Pocono Raceway, young Joey Logano put the moves on veteran Mark Martin, literally, to score the race win. This was career win number two for the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and his first win of the season.
While it was not surprising that the Monster Mile lived up to its reputation, with a major wreck in the early laps of the FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks, here are some of the other surprises at the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware.
1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson dominated atDover, leading 289 laps, including the final 76, to win for the second time this year and capture his seventh victory at the Monster Mile. Johnson is fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 33 behind Greg Biffle.
Jimmie Johnson, complete with his Madagascar No. 48 car and wig, mastered the Monster Mile for the seventh time, tying Bobby Allison and the King, Richard Petty, for the most career wins at Dover International Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson: One week after winning the All-Star Race, Johnson saw a top-5 finish in the Coca Cola 600 slip away after he drug his gas man down pit road. The subsequent stop-and-go penalty left him with an 11th-place finish.
Edwards and his No. 99 Fastenal team had to use that time to battle back from an early pit road miscue. In what could have been one hot, long and frustrating night, Edwards and company stayed calm, cool and collected to come back and finish ninth.
Kenseth finished sixth at Darlington, posting his seventh top 10 of the year. He is second in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now trails leader Greg Biffle by two points.
With the NASCAR moms getting the race started with the command, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 63rd annual Bojangles’ Southern 500.
Kenseth led with one lap to go at Talladega, but was passed by Brad Keselowski, benefitting from a huge push from Kyle Busch. Kenseth settled for third, and advanced one place in the point standings to second, seven behind Greg Biffle.
Roger Penske has won a lot of races with many different drivers over the course of his NASCAR career. He’s had some of the best drivers in the sport drive his cars, represent his company and become big stars.
