The 2014 Pocono 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 8, 2014, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 160 laps on the triangular superspeedway, it was the 14th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, his second of the season and his first at Pocono. Brad Keselowski finished second, while Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson (who placed as the highest finishing rookie) rounded out the Top 5. Behind Larson, the other top rookies in the race were Austin Dillon (17th) and Michael Annett (20th).
Earnhardt Jr. was the fourth straight different driver from Hendrick Motorsports to win at Pocono, following Jeff Gordon's rain-shortened win in August 2012 and Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne in the June and August 2013 (respectively) races.
Report
Entry list The entry list for the Pocono 400 was released on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at 11:09 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered for the race which meant no one failed to make the race.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 33 David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 Landon Cassill (i) Circle Sport Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 44 J. J. Yeley (i) Xxxtreme Motorsports Chevrolet 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 66 Timmy Hill Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing FordOfficial entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Brian Vickers was the fastest in first practice with a time of 49.764 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 49.764 180.854 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 49.938 180.223 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.052 179.813Official first practice results
Qualifying
Denny Hamlin won the pole for the race with a time of 49.610 – a new track record – and a speed of . "It's a tough balance, but we really just made the car a lot better," Hamlin said. "Each session our balance got a little bit better and we were able to get a little bit more speed out of it. That's kind of what you want to do, play it enough in the first few rounds to get to the final round where you go all out. Good job by our FedEx Ground Toyota team. We didn't test up here, we're one of the only teams that didn't test, but it's good to at least have a good Friday."
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.360 50.010 49.610 2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.104 49.700 49.612 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.430 49.798 49.637 4 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.193 50.001 49.770 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.123 50.085 49.858 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.418 49.904 49.873 7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 50.255 50.089 50.048 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.507 50.174 50.121 9 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 49.992 49.999 50.126 10 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.481 50.110 50.172 11 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.428 50.201 50.188 12 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Toyota 50.209 50.014 50.244 13 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.370 50.207 — 14 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50.536 50.215 — 15 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.294 50.259 — 16 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.233 50.265 — 17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 50.485 50.286 — 18 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50.348 50.302 — 19 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 50.479 50.342 — 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.158 50.370 — 21 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 50.279 50.480 — 22 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.494 50.521 — 23 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.521 50.553 — 24 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 50.529 50.765 — 25 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 50.549 — — 26 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.571 — — 27 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.588 — — 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.610 — — 29 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.801 — — 30 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.047 — — 31 40 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 51.129 — — 32 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 51.159 — — 33 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 51.175 — — 34 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 51.231 — — 35 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 51.249 — — 36 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.441 — — 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 51.503 — — 38 44 J. J. Yeley Xxxtreme Motorsports Chevrolet 51.733 — — 39 66 Timmy Hill Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 51.945 — — 40 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 52.081 — — 41 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 52.188 — — 42 33 Alex Kennedy Circle Sport Chevrolet 53.037 — — 43 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 0.000 — —Qualifying Results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 50.764 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 50.764 177.291 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.787 177.211 3 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 50.823 177.085Official second practice results
Final practice Harvick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 51.251 and a speed of . Aric Almirola had to change his transmission after fluid started leaking out of it with 15 minutes left in practice. It was initially thought that he lost an engine.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 51.251 175.606 2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 51.269 175.545 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.296 175.452Official final practice results
Race
First half
Start Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag at 1:20 p.m. but Brad Keselowski took the lead from him to lead lap one. The first caution of the day came out at lap 32 for a fire in the inside wall in turn 3. The fire apparently was in the area where pyrotechnics were launched during the pre-race ceremonies. After getting into the rear of Jamie McMurray and damaging the front of the car on the ensuing restart, points leader Matt Kenseth wound up going a lap down on lap 50. Keselowski led the first 56 laps until he came in to pit and Jeff Gordon took the lead for one lap before handing it to Tony Stewart.
The second caution of the race came out on lap 60 for debris in turn three in the middle of green flag stops. Debris on the back stretch, from J. J. Yeley's car, brought out the third caution of the race on lap 72. Stewart took the lead from Keselowski on the restart. A spin in turn 1 by Dave Blaney brought out the fourth caution on lap 80. Kurt Busch took the lead from Stewart on lap 84, before Stewart regained the lead from Busch five laps later. Rookie Kyle Larson led his first ever lap in Sprint Cup competition on lap 102, before Jimmie Johnson found his way to the lead for the first time at lap 109; he pitted not long after, ceding the lead to another rookie, Michael Annett.
Second half Stewart re-took the lead on lap 112 after the green flag stops cycled through, while team-mate Kevin Harvick had a flat tire four laps later. The fifth caution of the race came out on lap 118 for fluid on the race track. Stewart was too fast entering pit road and had to serve a drive-through penalty, handing the lead to Keselowski. Justin Allgaier led his first ever lap on lap 134, before Danica Patrick brought out the sixth caution, by crashing at turn three. The seventh caution of the race came out with 18 laps to go. Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle were involved.
Finish Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Brad Keselowski with five laps to go and took the checkered flag. He inherited the lead after Keselowski dropped back to try to remove the piece of trash on his grill. "That's unfortunate for him," Earnhardt said. "He had me beat. I couldn't get to him. It's real hard to pass here. I've lost some in strange ways. It feels good to win one like that. Brad definitely had the better car. I'll own up to that, but we won the race." Keselowski stated that his car "was running really hot" and that he thought it "was going to blow up".
Race results