Parks Pit Report: Pennsylvania 400

Rain at a race track, let’s face it, never is a great time.  Speaking from a pair of personal experiences, all it does is make the weekend longer, and also challenging.

When I went to Talladega in 2010, the Saturday activities beginning in the morning all were cancelled.  Heavy storms that were going to hit the speedway beginning in the afternoon were going to hit so hard, trying to attempt any sort of qualifying or racing was going to be useless.  So, qualifying for Cup was rained out, and the then-Nationwide Series race was moved to being run after the Cup event the following day.

That made first for a quick day at the track, since nothing was happening, and then a long night at the hotel because the forecast was quite accurate.  The next day, two races in one afternoon was difficult to accomplish, especially considering how the Cup event had 88 lead changes, a record that still stands.

Last year when I went to Richmond, it was again a Saturday of predicted rain in the evening that made for a rather difficult weekend.  The big problem, the race was slated for a Saturday night, and instead was being run on Sunday afternoon after being officially postponed.

Unfortunately, due to travel, I couldn’t be there for the race, and instead listened to it on the radio as I made the drive up I-71 and then onto I-99.

There were two common themes to those weekends.  First, both were birthday weekends for me, although the weekend at Richmond did end with the Coors Light girl presenting media members with six packs.  Guess I got a birthday drink out of it after all.  But second, both weekends had changes all because of the weather.

Pocono this year has experienced delays in both its June race and this weekend in July.  It’s not often that both races for one track get postponed because of rain.

Everyone plans their time to be out at the track until things conclude on Sunday.  It’s challenging for many because their stay at hotels may not include a stay that night, because they plan to travel home and be ready for work the next day.  Despite the fact it’s good for businesses in that there ends up one extra day of sales, they too feel bad because they also know the fans want to go home.  That’s why races that are run on Monday, and even the few times it’s happened on Tuesday, have smaller crowds.  People just can’t afford to spend 1-2 more days on vacation, not without sacrificing so much more.

On Monday, the rain won out again, ending the race after 138 of the scheduled 160 laps.  It was Chris Buescher, who last year won the Xfinity Series title, who took the victory.  The celebration wasn’t held in victory lane, but rather under cover in the garage entrance, so the car and the team could stay dry.

I felt bad for the fans who stayed that extra day, and ended up with a race that didn’t go the distance.  Mother Nature has never been a race fan, and the truth is, never will be.  And yet she’s only talked about when it rains, but that is when she’s most powerful.

RESULTS:  1-Buescher  2-Keselowski  3-Smith  4-Harvick  5-Stewart  6-Larson  7-Hamlin  8-Edwards  9-Kyle Busch  10-Kurt Busch

NOTABLE FINISHES:  16-Johnson  17-Kenseth  27-Gordon  37-Logano  38-Truex Jr.

CAUTIONS:  7 for 31 laps.  Lap 17-19 (Competition); 21-22 (#78 Accident-T2); 67-72 (#43, 32 Accident-FS); 86-91 (Weather); 100-103 (#78 Accident-T1); 106-109 (#22, 24 Accident-T2); 133-138 (Visibility due to fog).

LEAD CHANGES:  19 among 11 drivers.  M. Truex Jr 1-16; B. Keselowski 17-18; G. Biffle 19-32; J. Logano 33-50; K. Harvick 51; J. Logano 52; A. Dillon 53; R. Newman 54; B. Keselowski 55-60; K. Harvick 61-66; K. Larson 67-77; A. Dillon 78; K. Larson 79-80; J. Logano 81-99; K. Larson 100-108; Kyle Busch 109; K. Larson
110-124; A. Dillon 125; A. Allmendinger 126; C. Buescher 127-138.

TIME OF RACE:  2 Hrs, 42 Mins, 15 Secs.

AVERAGE SPEED:  127.581 MPH

MARGIN OF VICTORY:  Under Caution

*CHASE GRID:  1. Keselowski-687 (Points), 4 (Wins); 2. Kyle Busch-634, 4; 3. Edwards-626, 2; 4. Johnson-577, 2; 5. Kenseth-569, 2; 6. Harvick-709, 1; 7. Kurt Busch-658, 1; 8. Logano-612, 1; 9. Truex Jr-577, 1; 10. Hamlin-576, 1; 11. Stewart-353, 1; 12. Dillon, -160 (From 1st-Harvick); 13. Newman, -172; 14. Elliott, -176; 15. McMurray, -192; 16. Larson, -201.

*Chris Buescher is Chase eligible with his victory.  He is currently six points out of the top-30.  With the exception of Tony Stewart, who has a medical waiver, he has five races to make it into position to secure his spot in the Chase Grid.