Kyle Busch wins in Pocono from deep in the field

Kyle Busch started 28th but led for nearly a third of the Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway and ultimately beat team-mate Daniel Suarez in an overtime finish.

Busch’s #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was one of more than a dozen cars to fail post-qualifying inspections but he had already climbed to fourth position by the end of Stage 1.

He ceded track position by pitting from second position just before the end of Stage 2 but restarted from second position for the final stage.

After briefly dropping back to third, Busch took the lead for the first time when he got under William Byron on Lap 112 of the scheduled 160.

When a Caution came on Lap 122 for Brad Keselowski’s hit with a wall after his #2 Team Penske Ford blew a tyre, Busch pitted but retained the lead and Suarez second position.

They remained that way for the restart and an almost immediate return to Caution, for fluid on the track.

A longer green flag run followed until Darrell Wallace Jnr hammered into the wall due to a brake failure for his #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet, despite trying to wash off speed on the infield grass.

The race would go to overtime when Aric Almirola (#10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) and Ricky Stenhouse Jnr (#17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford) spun on the penultimate lap.

Busch nearly gave up the lead at the final restart but survived in no small part due to Alex Bowman (#88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) attacking Suarez for runner-up honours.

Car #18 in fact won by 1.788s, and while Bowman couldn’t find a way past Suarez he did secure a career-best finish of third.

Suarez had inherited pole position due to the inspection failures and finished Stage 1 in fifth position, before he too pitted tactically near the end of Stage 2 and restarted third.

He and the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led a total of 29 laps, including the first 21, before he ran near the effective lead for duration of the final stage.

Last-start winner Kevin Harvick took fourth after twin setbacks for the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver.

He was fastest in qualifying only to be sent back to 29th on the grid as another to fail inspection but finished second to Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) in Stage 1.

Harvick then won Stage 2 but had to make an extra pit stop during the final stage after contact with team-mate Almirola in pit lane.

It put him 27th with 28 laps to go but he sat sixth for the final restart before gaining two more positions.

The top 10 was completed by Erik Jones (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), Elliott, Ryan Newman (#31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), Kurt Busch (#41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford), and Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota).

Kyle Busch continues to lead the series, with Round 22 at Watkins Glen on August 3-5 (local time).

Replay: Wallace Jnr hits the wall hard

Results: Gander Outdoors 400, Pocono Raceway

Pos	Num	Driver	Make	Laps	Led	Status
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	164	52	Running
2	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	164	29	Running
3	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	164	0	Running
4	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	164	30	Running
5	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	164	11	Running
6	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	164	10	Running
7	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	164	14	Running
8	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	164	0	Running
9	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	164	11	Running
10	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	164	5	Running
11	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	164	0	Running
12	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	164	0	Running
13	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	164	0	Running
14	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	164	0	Running
15	78	Martin Truex Jnr	Toyota	164	0	Running
16	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	164	0	Running
17	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	164	0	Running
18	6	Matt Kenseth	Ford	164	0	Running
19	38	David Ragan	Ford	164	0	Running
20	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	164	1	Running
21	21	Paul Menard	Ford	164	0	Running
22	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jnr	Ford	164	0	Running
23	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	164	0	Running
24	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	164	0	Running
25	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	164	0	Running
26	22	Joey Logano	Ford	164	0	Running
27	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	164	0	Running
28	23	JJ Yeley	Toyota	164	0	Running
29	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Toyota	163	0	Running
30	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	162	0	Running
31	99	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	161	0	Running
32	7	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	161	0	Running
33	43	Bubba Wallace	Chevrolet	153	0	crash
34	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	148	0	Running
35	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	146	0	Running
36	66	Timmy Hill	Toyota	142	0	Running
37	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	123	0	Transmission
38	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	121	1	Crash
39	72	Corey LaJoie	Chevrolet	95	0	Crash
40	51	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	77	0	Engine

Standings Updated*

Pos	Driver	Pts	Gap	Starts	Wins	Playoff pts
1	Kyle Busch	891		21	6	35
2	Kevin Harvick	833	-58	21	6	33
3	Martin Truex Jnr	762	-129	21	4	26
4	Joey Logano	690	-201	21	1	7
5	Clint Bowyer	677	-214	21	2	10
6	Kurt Busch	677	-214	21	0	2
7	Brad Keselowski	644	-247	21	0	4
8	Kyle Larson	626	-265	21	0	0
9	Denny Hamlin	618	-273	21	0	2
10	Ryan Blaney	612	-279	21	0	4
11	Aric Almirola	587	-304	21	0	1
12	Chase Elliott	569	-322	21	0	2
13	Jimmie Johnson	547	-344	21	0	0
14	Erik Jones	533	-358	21	1	5
15	Alex Bowman	496	-395	21	0	0
16	Ricky Stenhouse Jnr	440	-451	21	0	2
17	Paul Menard	440	-451	21	0	1
18	Ryan Newman	408	-483	21	0	0
19	Austin Dillon	402	-489	21	1	5
20	Daniel Suarez	400	-491	21	0	0
21	William Byron	390	-501	21	0	0
22	Jamie McMurray	375	-516	21	0	0
23	AJ Allmendinger	338	-553	21	0	1
24	Chris Buescher	325	-566	21	0	0
25	Bubba Wallace	319	-572	21	0	0
26	David Ragan	308	-583	21	0	0
27	Michael McDowell	305	-586	21	0	0
28	Kasey Kahne	296	-595	21	0	0
29	Ty Dillon	279	-612	21	0	0
30	Matt DiBenedetto	234	-657	21	0	0
31	Trevor Bayne	185	-706	14	0	0
32	Gray Gaulding	113	-778	17	0	0
33	Matt Kenseth	108	-783	7	0	0
34	Landon Cassill	97	-794	14	0	0
35	Cole Whitt	87	-804	9	0	0
36	DJ Kennington	82	-809	7	0	0
37	Corey LaJoie	75	-816	12	0	0
38	Jeffrey Earnhardt	69	-822	8	0	0
39	Brendan Gaughan	49	-842	3	0	0
40	Reed Sorenson	41	-850	9	0	0
41	Harrison Rhodes	23	-868	5	0	0
42	Kyle Weatherman	16	-875	3	0	0
43	Mark Thompson	15	-876	1	0	0
44	Chris Cook	6	-885	1	0	0
45	Tomy Drissi	5	-886	1	0	0
46	Blake Jones	4	-887	1	0	0
47	Derrike Cope	4	-887	2	0	0
48	Danica Patrick	2	-889	1	0	0
49	Cody Ware	1	-890	2	0	0
50	Justin Marks	0	-891	2	0	0
51	David Gilliland	0	-891	1	0	0
52	Ray Black Jnr	0	-891	1	0	0
53	Ross Chastain	0	-891	19	0	0
54	JJ Yeley	0	-891	6	0	0
55	Parker Kligerman	0	-891	2	0	0
56	Timothy Peters	0	-891	1	0	0
57	Cole Custer	0	-891	2	0	0
58	Joey Gase	0	-891	3	0	0
59	Timmy Hill	0	-891	9	0	0

* 10-point penalties for Car #4, Car #95 for failing post-qualifying technical inspection three times