Joey Logano consecrated the hallow ground that is the newly repaved Pocono Raceway when he held off veteran Mark Martin for the win at the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR.
This was Joey Logano’s second win of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career and fifth this season counting his Nationwide wins at Fontana, Talladega, Darlington, and last week at Dover.
Logano became the 10th different Cup winner of the 2012 season. Jason Ratcliff, Logano’s crew chief, earned his first Cup win at this event.
In winning on Sunday Logano became the first driver in 31 races to win from the pole. He beat second place finisher Martin by .997 seconds and did much to up his clout with his Joe Gibbs Racing team at a time when his job may be in jeopardy.
Reigning Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart was third. Jimmie Johnson who was caught for two speeding violations and was a lap down for a portion of the race, fought back to earn a fourth place finish. Johnson’s were just two of the 22 penalties handed out for the Pocono 400, setting a record for one event. Denny Hamlin finished fifth.
Martin’s teammate at Michael Waltrip Racing Clint Bowyer took sixth place. Matt Kenseth took seventh. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came back from 16th to occupy eighth. Paul Menard brought home ninth and Jamie McMurray sewed up tenth.
For the first time this season a new NASCAR Sprint Cup Points leader has dethroned Greg Biffle and it is his teammate Matt Kenseth. He holds the top spot, an improvement of one position, by ten points over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. who also ascended one spot. Greg Biffle fell two places after his 24th place finish in Sunday’s race. The fourth and fifth spots are still occupied by Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson another week respectively.
Kevin Harvick moved up one to take sixth. Martin Truex lost one spot to land in seventh. Tony Stewart retains eighth. Clint Bowyer climbed one spot for ninth as did Brad Keselowski who now occupies tenth position.
NASCAR goes to Michigan International Speedway next weekend to race the Quicken Loans 400 on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 17th. The action can be seen on TNT starting at 12 noon EST.
Tune in for the race and be sure to check back to this site for my Quickens Loans 400 Race Recap shortly after the conclusion of the race.
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