2019 Pocono 400

The 2019 Pocono 400 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 2, 2019 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5 mi triangular racecourse, it was the 14th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race, his fourth of the season and 55th career cup series win overall, tying Rusty Wallace for 9th on NASCAR's all-time Cup Series wins list.

Entry list

 * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
 * (R) denotes rookie driver.

First practice
Daniel Suárez was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 52.565 seconds and a speed of 171.217 mph.

Final practice
Kurt Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 52.110 seconds and a speed of 172.712 mph.

Qualifying
William Byron scored the pole for the race with a time of 51.875 and a speed of 173.494 mph.

The Start
Byron jumped out to a one-second lead right from the drop of the green flag. Michigan’s Erik Jones(20) passed Kyle Busch for 2nd. Clint Bowyer(14) ran 4th and Denny Hamlin(11) 5th.

NASCAR scheduled a competition caution for 20 laps in due to the fact rain had washed the track clean. Byron led the field into the pits but Kyle Larson(42) was first to exit and he inherited the lead.

Stage 1
On the restart, after the competition caution, Larson and Brad Keselowski(2) battled for the top spot with Larson nosing in front and Keselowski right on his bumper. Daniel Suarez(41), Byron, and Joey Logano(22) rounded out the top 5.

On Lap 30, Austin Dillon(3) and Paul Menard(21) tangled over the tunnel turn, with Dillon contacting the wall. The damage to his car retired Dillon for the day.

Larson held on to take the Stage win with Byron finishing 2nd.

Stage 2
Keselowski and Truex both stayed out during the Stage ending caution, Larson restarted in 11th. As the two cars on the front row ran side-by-side, Kyle Busch went three-wide to take over the top spot.

With the exception of a spin by Matt DiBenedetto(95) and a tire going down on Corey LaJoie’s(32) car causing him to scrape the wall. Kyle Busch just kept building on his lead. It had grown to seven seconds when he pitted with six laps to go in the Stage.

The engine on Truex’s car expired just before the end of the Stage sending him to the garage and out of the race.

Larson on a slightly different pit strategy stayed out as the leaders pitted and took the green and white checkered to win Stage 2.

The Final Stage
Kyle Busch, back out front after the Stage ending caution, resumed the lead and began building a cushion on most of the field. Only Kevin Harvick(4) could remain within touch of the leader.

One final pit stop was required to make it to the end of the 400 miles. With 20 laps to go, pit stops had cycled through and Kyle Busch was back in the lead with Erik Jones in 2nd, just over three seconds behind.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(17) brought out the caution with 14 laps to go setting up a final dash to the finish.

While positions behind the leader changed Kyle Busch pulled away for the win

It was the 4th win of the season for Busch and the 55th of his Cup career, tying him with Rusty Wallace for 9th on the premier series all-time win list.

Stage results
Stage One Laps: 50

Stage Two Laps: 50

Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 60

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 13 among 9 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 8 for 28
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 2 hours, 58 minutes and 9 seconds
 * Average speed: 134.718 mph

Television
Fox NASCAR televised the race in the United States on FS1 for the fifth consecutive year. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while six-time Pocono winner, Jeff Gordon and four-time winner Darrell Waltrip were the color commentators. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio
Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and four-time Pocono winner Rusty Wallace announced the race in the booth while the field was racing on the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 1 when the field was racing through turn 1 while Mike Bagley called the race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turn 2. Kurt Becker reported the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field was racing through turn 3. Winston Kelley, Steve Post and Dillon Welch reported from pit lane during the race.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.