Nascar: Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono, Biffle takes the lead
The NASCAR fans saw the race taking place at Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 in Pocono. This track is one of the most challenging and hard tracks in the NASCAR schedule, where strategy and the driver, both are put to a test. The track though one the hardest to race, is also one of the spectacular tracks in NASCAR calendar. The track provides the drivers with three totally different corners, three straights and this past weekend the track saw NASCAR paying a visit there for the second time in two months.
The track that already puts the drivers to a test, had weather that not only delayed the race but also made this race all the more unpredictable. The race started with a delay of around 40 minutes after which Tony Steward was seen holding the lead, a lead that Gordon took over just after the 2nd lap.
However, the race was long from over, a lot was installed, and the switching in places and drivers going up and down were seen when on lap 17 NASCAR put up a caution due to the rain that had occurred preceding the race. Seeing this, all the leading teams pit and the name that was seen benefiting the most from this was Greg Biffle. This benefit was not of much significance as he still had the great Jeff Gordon ahead of him. Moreover, that too having 4 new tyres compared to one new right side tyre of Biffle.
After Biffle took over the lead that didn’t last long due to handling problems that he was facing, lap 22 saw Johnson overtaking him and a series of green flag laps were seen, in which Johnson was the dominating driver of the lot. The race had three different periods of green flags, during which the lead of Johnson slipped. However, when the race restarted after the green flags he pulled ahead of the rest again.
However, Johnson lost the lead to Gordon on the 121st lap after which green-flag was shown again for debris and witnessed Gordon preferring to stay on track rather than pitting. Once again, the opportunistic Biffle keeping this in mind pit and had three of his tyres changed that resulted in him being the leader at the start of lap 126. But Gordon with four new tyres got side by side with Biffle but the lead was finally taken by Hamlin, who took advantage of the two battling coming from behind.
Hamlin lost the lead after debris was spotted on track and most of the teams’ pit. Most of the teams’ changed all four tyres but Montoya stayed on track becoming the leader and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took second position. When the race restarted, on lap 150, Dale was seen spinning and Montoya also lost the lead to Gordon, who was in superb form with the car in perfect condition. The race heating up saw a crash on the outside wall, where Bowyer, Busch and Johnson were involved. Sadler was involved in a big crash when he was hit from a car behind him and as a result, the red flag came out in order to clean up the aftermath of the crashes that took place.
However, when the pit lane opened after the restart, the teams pitted and tried to come with the best option that would lead them to race victory. The pit saw some drivers changing 2 or 3 tyres, some just pitted for fuel and some put all fresh tyres. As a result, Gordon saw himself sitting in the 11th spot and Biffle went with two tyres again but Hornish taking a big gamble stayed on track.
This lead of Hornish lasted till the 180th lap, when Biffle drove past him to take over the lead and then pulled away and enjoyed the show that was provided to him by the second position battle.
The results of the race saw Biffle on top with Stewart in 2nd and Edwards in 3rd. Notable finishes included the likes of Montoya finishing in 16th position and Earnhardt Jr. finishing in 27th position.
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