The 2014 Gobowling.com 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 3, 2014, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 160 laps on the triangular superspeedway, it was the 21st race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, his third win of the season, completing the first season sweep of Pocono since 2006. Kevin Harvick finished second while Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (11th), Austin Dillon (15th), and Justin Allgaier (16th).
Report
Background
Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°. The front stretch at Pocono Raceway is 3,740 feet long, the longest at the track. The back stretch, is 3,055 feet long, while the short stretch, which connects turn two with turn three, is only 1,780 feet long. The defending race winner from 2013 is Kasey Kahne.
Entry list The entry list for the Gobowling.com 400 was released on Monday, July 28, 2014 at 9:28 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered for 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 Alex Kennedy Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet37Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 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 Joe Nemechek (i) Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 Johnny Sauter (i) BK Racing Toyota 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing FordOfficial entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 49.902 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 41 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 49.902 180.353 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 49.957 180.155 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 50.058 179.791Official first practice results
Qualifying
Rookie Kyle Larson won the pole, his first at Sprint Cup level, with a new track record lap time of 49.063 and a speed of . Larson reflected on recent extensive running at the circuit, in testing and also racing in other events – ARCA and the Camping World Truck Series – since the previous Cup race in June, stating that "for whatever reason I feel like I've adapted pretty well to this track even though it's not a track where you maneuver around and can move from the bottom to the top". Joey Logano qualified alongside Larson on the front row, praising his performance and stating that he "liked tough race tracks and this is one of them". Logano had felt that Kurt Busch had been favorite for pole position, but also commented on Larson's performance, stating "Kyle definitely laid down a good one because I thought my lap was (darn) near perfect and then I got beat, so it's a little frustrating, but, overall, it's a good starting spot".
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 49.669 49.429 49.063 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 49.505 49.364 49.071 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 49.694 49.851 49.261 4 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.538 49.459 49.272 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.695 49.568 49.285 6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.638 49.571 49.426 7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.774 49.549 49.445 8 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 49.892 49.580 49.446 9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.754 49.629 49.521 10 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.722 49.635 49.547 11 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.125 49.625 49.558 12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.585 49.571 49.647 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.915 49.680 — 14 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 49.929 49.681 — 15 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 50.005 49.765 — 16 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 49.757 49.802 — 17 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.224 49.861 — 18 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.001 49.924 — 19 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 50.070 49.963 — 20 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 50.112 50.004 — 21 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.104 50.034 — 22 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 49.921 50.164 — 23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.220 50.194 — 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 50.123 50.260 — 25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.232 — — 26 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.280 — — 27 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.303 — — 28 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.304 — — 29 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.318 — — 30 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 50.548 — — 31 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 50.646 — — 32 40 Landon Cassill Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 50.654 — — 33 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 50.687 — — 34 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 50.733 — — 35 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 50.746 — — 36 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 50.991 — — 37 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 51.012 — — 38 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.017 — — 39 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 51.109 — — 40 37 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.487 — — 41 66 Joe Nemechek Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 52.239 — — 42 33 Alex Kennedy Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 52.265 — — 43 93 Johnny Sauter BK Racing Toyota 54.164 — —Official qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Kurt Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 50.319 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 41 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 50.319 178.859 2 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 50.440 178.430 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.449 178.398Official second practice results
Final practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 50.407 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.407 178.547 2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.410 178.536 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.492 178.246Official final practice results
Race
First half
Start
The race was originally scheduled to start at 1:18 P.M. EDT, but with the threat of thunderstorms in the forecast, NASCAR moved the start of the race up by around 10 minutes, with rookie Kyle Larson leading the field. At the second turn of the first lap, Brad Keselowski made contact with Kurt Busch and almost spun out, but saved his car and dropped back to 12th, while Joey Logano took the lead from Larson. Jimmie Johnson's car suffered a cut tire and made contact with the wall on the front stretch on lap eight, bringing out a debris caution a lap later. Logano led the field to the restart on lap 13. On lap 15, Danica Patrick brushed the wall on the exit of turn 2, and after a tire blowout, she hit the same wall the following lap, to bring out the second caution. As the first driver who was a lap down in the field, Johnson was the recipient of the free pass, allowing him to return to the lead lap.
Logano continued to lead as the race resumed on lap 20. On lap 23, Kyle Busch's day ended early with a blown engine; he described the problem as "something between the frame rails doesn't seem to operate correctly right now" to reporters after he had exited the car. He also expressed his disappointment about having to exit the race so early: "It's unfortunate, I thought we had a good car today. Our car has been good this weekend in practices and stuff like that. Obviously you hope for better days, and this M&M's Camry team deserves better days but this ain't one of them". The third caution flag came out on lap 29 when Landon Cassill hit the wall in the same position as Patrick had done so, previously; Patrick profited from the free pass at the caution. Brian Vickers won the race off pit road but Kurt Busch, and eight other cars, stayed out when the leaders came in to pit and assumed the lead for the restart, on lap 34.
Busch's different pit cycle saw him onto pit road ten laps later, at which point Jeff Gordon took the lead. On lap 51, the fourth caution flag came out when Joe Nemechek got turned loose by Kasey Kahne and hit the wall in turn 3. The race restarted on lap 56, with Gordon holding the lead until his next pit stop, on lap 65, returning the lead to Busch. Busch pitted on lap 75, giving the lead to A. J. Allmendinger. Allmendinger made his stop on lap 77, at which point Aric Almirola and David Gilliland each led a lap before making green flag pit stops, while Gordon reclaimed the lead. On lap 84, Gordon officially became the first driver in track history to lead over 1,000 laps. He led until his next green flag pit stop on lap 95 and gave the lead to Kevin Harvick. Harvick made his stop on lap 96 and gave the lead back to Busch. Harvick dropped to the tail end of the field as he was caught speeding on pit road. Busch hit pit road on lap 103 and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth led for three laps before returning the lead back to Gordon.
Second half The fifth caution came out on lap 112, when Johnson – after going a lap down early in the race and getting up as high as fifth – hit the wall in turn 2. He described his incidents as "I got tight off Turn 1 off the fence" for his first scrape with the wall, and later deemed himself "clueless" at the second hit, stating that "It didn't act like a tire went down. It just went straight. Hopefully we can get a reason why".
The Big One