Matt Kenseth Wins the 2015 Windows 10 400 on Fuel at Pocono

Matt Kenseth won the 2015 Windows 10 400, the 21st race of the Sprint Cup season, at Pocono Raceway on 2 August 2015. Pocono, nicknamed the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Brad Keselowski took second and Jeff Gordon third, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle completing the top five. The race had 18 lead changes among 13 drivers, and the result turned on fuel, as several leaders ran dry in the closing laps.

How did the points picture look before Pocono?

Kevin Harvick entered Pocono with a 69-point lead over Joey Logano. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 100 points back, Jimmie Johnson 102 back and Martin Truex Jr. 109 back, so the order behind the leader was still open.

The track had changed since the June race. A section of the Tunnel Turn, turn two, measuring about 170 ft (52 m) by 28 ft (8.5 m), was milled, levelled and repaved. The work removed bumps that had formed as the foundation under the tunnel settled, a tunnel that transporters use to enter and leave the circuit.

The entry list came out on Monday, 27 July, at 11:20 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered, and every one of them had raced the previous week at Indianapolis.

There were three driver changes. Alex Kennedy drove the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport Chevrolet, and at Premium Motorsports Timmy Hill took the No. 62 Chevrolet while Reed Sorenson took the No. 98 Ford after the two drivers swapped rides for the weekend.

A fuel-mileage finish that handed Matt Kenseth his first Pocono win, as Joey Logano and Kyle Busch ran dry on the last laps.

How did practice and qualifying unfold?

Brad Keselowski was fastest in the first practice, turning 50.961 seconds at 176.606 mph (284.220 km/h). Carl Edwards topped the second session, and Kyle Busch the final one, after Jeb Burton hit the inside pit road wall and had to switch to a backup car.

Kyle Busch took the pole at 50.444 seconds, a speed of 178.416 mph (287.133 km/h). Kevin Harvick qualified second, Tony Stewart fifth after crew chief Chad Johnston showed him where he was losing time, and Keselowski ninth. Martin Truex Jr. struggled for balance in turn one and qualified 13th.

Busch said afterwards that he had a fast car but was not sure the balance could be right, and he credited crew chief Adam Stevens and the crew for finding it. Harvick said he had given away some time in turn one, where he had been tight in the middle of the corner, but he was pleased with the speed in the final round.

Keselowski said afterwards that his team had been strong in practice and in the final round, though they had been missing a little in one of the corners. He compared the set-up with the one they had used at Brickyard, where they had been very strong but had needed a little more to win.

Truex said the car had been either too tight or too loose no matter what the team tried in turn one, and he qualified 13th with several cars to pass on Sunday. Burton's backup car meant he started from the rear, because the change came after qualifying had finished.

What happened early in the race?

Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag, but the first caution came on lap five. Kasey Kahne slid into the inside pit road wall, and his car was damaged beyond repair. The race was red-flagged so NASCAR could evaluate and repair the wall, and the delay lasted 14 minutes and 43 seconds.

The race had been scheduled for 1:46 p.m. and started four minutes late. Kahne was uninjured and was released from the infield care centre a few minutes later, but he finished last because his car was out of the race. Kahne said he had never done anything like it, and that he had been surprised to find himself so far to the left of the track, heading towards the pit wall, with people in the way.

A second caution came on lap 16. It was a scheduled competition caution, because a section of the track had been washed down after the previous day's ARCA race. A few cars did not pit, and Kevin Harvick took the lead.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. later said he had seen the No. 9 car run up the track in turn three and assumed it was just loose. When he reached turn one, the car ahead of him ducked out at the last moment, and he could not avoid Hornish. Hornish blamed a missed shift on a restart, followed by a tyre that came apart.

On lap 20 Harvick blew an engine in turn three, his first retirement since last year's Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. On lap 28 Sam Hornish Jr. cut a left-front tyre in turn one and was hit by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who then slammed the wall.

How did the middle of the race unfold?

Martin Truex Jr. was out front at the restart on lap 34 and made his first stop on lap 39, handing the lead to Joey Logano. A run of pit stops followed, with Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin trading the lead before Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick took turns out front. Hamlin pitted from the lead on lap 55 and gave it to Keselowski, and Gordon followed on lap 59 by handing the lead to Patrick. Patrick pitted under the fifth caution, and the lead cycled back to Logano.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tagged for speeding on pit road and served a drive-through penalty. Keselowski's car collided with its tyre carrier on lap 57, which earned him a drive-through of his own, and an uncontrolled tyre from his pit stall brought out the fifth caution on lap 62.

The sixth caution flew on lap 66, when Kurt Busch was turned by Paul Menard and then struck by Sam Hornish Jr. A seventh came on lap 72, when Earnhardt made contact with Cole Whitt in turn one and spun.

Kyle Busch pitted from second on lap 88 and began a round of green-flag stops. The eighth caution flew on lap 91, when Alex Kennedy backed into the turn one wall. Clint Bowyer was caught out by the yellow and pitted while the pit road was closed, which sent him to the back of the field.

How did the final laps decide the race?

Logano held a one-second lead over Kyle Busch with ten laps to go, but he was close to the limit on fuel. He ran dry on the Long Pond Straightaway with three laps left, and Busch took the lead. Martin Truex Jr. also ran out of fuel shortly afterwards.

Busch had led 19 laps and won the pole, and he set the race's fastest lap on lap 77 before running dry on the final lap. Logano led a race-high 97 laps before running out of fuel with three laps to go and finishing 20th.

On the last lap Busch ran out on the front stretch. Matt Kenseth, who had taken the white flag 15 seconds behind him, passed the stalled car in turn two and took the checkered flag.

Logano said afterwards that he had been saving fuel to cushion the finish, but the numbers had been tight and he began running out before the end. Kenseth said he had never expected to win at Pocono, and he had not expected to win a fuel-mileage race either, so the day gave him two firsts.

Who finished where at Pocono?

Kenseth won, his second victory of the season, Keselowski was second and Gordon third. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth and Greg Biffle fifth. Keselowski had been sent to 37th after running into his tyre carrier and serving a penalty, but he rallied to finish second.

Gordon was running 16th with four laps to go when cars ahead of him began running out of fuel, and he took third, matching his best finish of the season. It was his 46th and final career start at Pocono Raceway.

Earnhardt had been 17th with four laps to go and rallied to fourth. He said the car had not been good in the corners all weekend and that the balance problems were never fully cured.

Logano finished 20th after running out of fuel, and Busch finished 21st. Kenseth left Pocono trailing Harvick by 118 points in the Drivers' Championship, and Toyota trailed Chevrolet by 75 points in the manufacturer standings. Despite the Toyota win, the marque moved to within one point of Ford for second place.

Race statistics and awards

The awards were spread across the field. Kyle Busch took the Bake in the Race award, Earnhardt the Wide Open award and Gordon the Power Move award for 15 positions. Keselowski's crew chief, Paul Wolfe, was credited with the Moog problem solver award, based on a margin of 0.674 seconds.

What did the drivers say?

Kenseth said the win felt good, and that nothing compares to winning. He admitted he had never thought he would win at Pocono or in a race decided by fuel, so he had done both on the same afternoon. Logano said his numbers from crew chief Todd Gordon had been close, but not quite good enough to make the finish.

Keselowski said the fuel had come into play late and that his team had done enough to bring the car home second, which he called a very respectable day. He added that he was heartbroken for his Penske teammate Logano and the team, who had led so much of the race.

Gordon said he had expected to finish around 10th or 12th, and he was shocked to be told he was third, because he had noticed many cars heading for pit road or running out of fuel.

How was the race broadcast?

NBC Sports covered the race on NBCSN for American viewers. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the race in the booth, while the Motor Racing Network carried the radio call, simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

On the radio side, Joe Moore and Jeff Striegle covered the front stretch from the booth, with Rusty Wallace, who won four times at Pocono, working alongside them. Other announcers worked from billboards outside the turns, and pit road was covered by a separate team for both television and radio.