In a season where bad weather has been one of the biggest stories in NASCAR, the Pocono 500 was no exception. A steady rain fell on the 2.5-mile tri-oval, forcing NASCAR to cancel the final practice session. When the race rolled to a start it was under heavy skies, with large puddles dotting the infield grass.
Jimmie Johnson took the pole, joined on the front row by Ryan Newman. Point standings runner up Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 4th, while leader Matt Kenseth started in the middle of the field from the 25th spot. Three time Pocono winner Dale Jarrett started 7th, hoping to turn around a streak of bad luck that has left him with 3 DNFs in 4 races.
When the green flag waved, Jimmie Johnson jumped out to open up a comfortable lead over Ryan Newman before the first caution of the day brought the field back together on lap 8. In a breathtaking wreck, Ken Schrader slammed into the outside wall and rolled his car down the track. He climbed out of his flaming car unhurt, and later reported that his breaks had failed going into the turn. The entire field headed into the pits under the yellow flag, with the exception of Larry Foyt who held the track to lead a few laps before heading into the pits after seeing the one to go signal. Bill Elliott took fuel only while the rest of the field changed tires, and came out of the pits first, inheriting the lead when Foyt pitted.
On the restart, Jimmie Johnson reclaimed the top spot easily, with Earnhardt closing fast behind him. Earnhardt took the lead on lap 31 after battling Johnson for a full lap, and droves off to a four second lead over the rest of the field. The first round of green flag pit stops began on lap 45. Several teams delayed their stops in order to lead a lap and earn the 5-point bonus, including point leader Matt Kenseth, who ran out of fuel on his way to pit road and coasted into his pit stall. When the pit cycle was complete, Earnhardt was back out in front.
The second caution of the afternoon came on lap 55, when Dale Jarrett cut a tire and slammed into the outside wall in turn 1, almost following the skid marks from Schrader's earlier wreck. Elliott Sadler and 6 other drivers didn't pit with the rest of the field, and he took the lead as most drivers again headed to the pits for tires and fuel. Another uneventful round of green flag pit stops began on lap 87, and as the cycle completed, Sadler was leading once again.
Just past the halfway point, Sterling Marlin took the lead from Sadler and opened up a lead of several car lengths over the long, green flag run. On lap 122, pit stops began again, and again the cycle completed uneventfully, with Marlin back in the lead. The day's third yellow flag waved on lap 154, when mechanical problems stranded Ricky Rudd on the apron of the track, in need of a push to the garage. The field headed down pit road, where a quick stop put Tony Stewart in the lead. Stewart held the lead on the restart and drove away from the field as the final round of pit stops began with 25 laps to go. Another smooth pit cycle put Stewart back in the top spot as the laps wound down.
Two late cautions, the first for Kurt Busch's cut tire, and the second for Jeff Green, who spun into the infield grass after a bump from Terry Labonte, caused most of the final 10 laps to be yellow flag laps. The race finished under the caution flag, with Tony Stewart taking the top spot to claim the first Pocono victory of his career.
Unofficial Results
- Tony Stewart
- Mark Martin
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Ryan Newman
- Sterling Marlin
- Terry Labonte
- Ward Burton
- Elliot Sadler
- Ricky Craven
Unofficial Standings
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -176
- Jeff Gordon -233
- Bobby Labonte -287
- Kurt Busch -362
- Michael Waltrip -370
- Jimmie Johnson -377
- Rusty Wallace -444
- Kevin Harvick -485
- Sterling Marlin -492
