NASCAR Barometer: Elliott Declared Pocono Winner After Disqualifications

Denny Hamlin was the first to cross the finish line at Pocono Raceway Sunday. However, both Hamlin and runner up Kyle Busch failed postrace inspections after NASCAR discovered material on the front of both cars designed to produce an aerodynamic advantage. As a result, both cars were disqualified from the finish, which was the first time NASCAR took the action since 1960. With both drivers removed from the order, Chase Elliott was promoted to his fourth victory of the season. The win gives him more than a 100-point gap to second in the driver's standings. Hendrick Motorsports were the benefactors of Joe Gibbs Racing's trouble as the teams vie for momentum with the playoffs approaching.

Sunday's race featured multiple caution periods throughout its 400 mile length. The early cautions enabled some pit strategy to begin taking shape only for later cautions to allow all strategies to merge as the race built toward the finish. The final miles were shaping up to be a battle between multiple cars before contact between Hamlin and Ross Chastain took the No. 1 car out of the running. The final restart of the day made it a duel to the finish between Hamlin and Busch, which Hamlin easily won as Busch struggled to match his earlier pace on his final set of tires. Not many could have predicted what would happen after the checkered flag, however. 

UPGRADE

Chase Elliott – Elliott and teammate Kyle Larson took advantage of some early mistakes from the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas to move to the front and dominate the first stage of Sunday's race. Lost track position made Elliott's day through the next two stages more difficult, but he battled back through the field to finish third on track behind Hamlin and Busch. That turned out to be enough for the win after both cars ahead of him were disqualified. The official result means that Elliott has now finished first or second in the last five races. Things could not be going better for the former champion as the playoffs approach. This week at Indianapolis could be another superlative for him, too. He led 14 laps and finished fourth there last season.

Kyle Larson – Sunday's race started as a battle between Hendrick and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. As the Gibbs cars made mistakes, Larson moved to the front. He and teammate Elliott drove away and Larson took the opening stage win. While the Hendrick teammates struggled to move through the field as quickly as the other contenders, they were close at the front and gained two positions each following the Gibbs disqualifications. Larson was officially scored fifth for the day, which was his third top-five finish in the last five races and ninth of the season. While Pocono may not have appeared to be the best for Hendrick on paper, Larson made the most of it. That momentum should continue, too. Larson led 28 laps from the fourth starting position to finish third at Indianapolis last season.

Erik Jones – Jones made the most of a troubled weekend at Pocono Raceway. Saturday the team was assessed a heavy penalty and docked 35 owner and driver points for violating NASCAR's rocker-box assembly rules. The penalty also included a crew chief ejection, making Sunday's race even more difficult. Still, the organization produced a very fast car, and once on track, Jones did not look phased. He led a total of 11 laps and raced among the top 10 throughout the afternoon, finishing ninth after the removal of the Gibbs teammates from the finishing order. Petty GMS Racing continues to demonstrate the improvements the organization has made this year and will look forward to another potential top-10 finish this week at Indianapolis where Jones finished seventh last time.

Bubba Wallace – Pocono was the second week in a row where Wallace had the pace to run at the front and closed the deal with a top finish. He raced among the top 10 all afternoon and led four laps. The team made no mistakes and saw Wallace cross the line 10th on track prior to the disqualifications. The eighth-place finish he was ultimately credited with was his second top-10 in as many weeks and his fourth top-15 result in the last five. Wallace is finding the form that would have him racing for a playoff spot if he and the team had discovered it earlier in the season. Fantasy players shouldn't count him out next week on a road course either. Last year Wallace raced to the 13th finishing position after starting 27th. 

DOWNGRADE

Kyle Busch – Busch charged through the field in the second stage, but he found himself off of the preferred pit strategy, as a handful of teams figured out how to eliminate one trip to pit road. An unexpected caution gave him the opportunity to move onto that strategy and get level with the entire field, from which he then drove away to claim the win in the second stage. He failed to close down teammate Hamlin to challenge for the win in the closing miles and finished second on track. None of that mattered, as both Busch and Hamlin's cars were disqualified following the race for aerodynamic rule infringements. What should have been a return to form was ripped away by a rules violation.

Ross Chastain  – As the miles wore down Sunday, it became clear that Chastain and Hamlin would be racing one another. That scenario came true on a late-race restart when the pair lined up together on the front row. Fans knew sparks would fly, and they did. The pair bumped exiting turn 1 with Chastain squeezed to the outside and into the wall, exiting the race completely due to heavy damage. Chastain said afterward it was something he expected for multiple weeks after prior incidents with Hamlin, and this was the first in the series where Chastain came off the worse of the two. Sunday's classification of 32nd was Chastain's worst since the Bristol dirt race and first finish outside of the top 15 since Darlington. This week's trip to Indianapolis will be a good gauge of how quickly and effectively Chastain can put adversity behind him.

Ryan Blaney – Sunday was a tough afternoon for Blaney. As he continues to search for his first win of the season he suffered multiple problems, including a flat tire that nearly put him into the outside wall. He survived that scare only to lose control off of turn 3 and spin hard into the inside wall and out of the race. He earned 13 stage points before crashing out, but with regular-season races winding down he is anxious to make a visit to Victory Lane to seal his playoff entry. Up next is a track at which he should feel confident if he can absorb the playoff pressure. He finished second last year at Indianapolis after starting 16th. He has won on a road course before, and another one this week would come as a huge relief for him.

Aric Almirola – Chances to get his ticket into the playoffs are slipping away from Almirola. He suffered the same fate as a number of other drivers throughout the weekend by spinning off of turn 3. Luckily, he avoid contact with the wall and only suffered flat tires, which the team was able to replace swiftly. The Stewart Haas Racing driver has not had the competitiveness he normally would have expected the past few weeks at tracks that should have been opportunities for him. Daytona, the final race of the regular season, may be his best remaining shot at getting the job done. Up next is a track he finished 19th at last season. Fourteenth has been his best road course finish so far this season. Fantasy players should think of him more of a top-15 contender next week than a potential winner.

Austin Cindric –  Cindric was dealt a heavy blow early Sunday at Pocono as he lost control and spun off of the final turn, making contact with the inside wall. He was towed back to his pit stall with multiple flat tires before making quick repairs and returning to the track. All was not well with the car upon his return, however. With the car completely out of alignment, he was immediately forced back to pit road to fix a broken toe link. The team had to make quick repairs and avoided falling afoul of the damaged vehicle policy. The incident left him multiple laps down, and he left the circuit with a 31st-place finish. Next week could be an opportunity for him to get over the Pocono trouble, though. He finished ninth on the Indianapolis road course last season in his part-time foray before moving to a full time venture this season.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Denny Hamlin – Sunday's race was an eventful one for Hamlin. After qualifying on pole he brushed the wall and dropped through the field at the start. Hamlin charged back through the order and was within striking distance of the lead as the race approached its finish. A late restart then put him alongside rival Chastain, and the pair unsurprisingly collided, sending Chastain into the wall and out of the race. One final restart was then all Hamlin had to weather, which he did to grab what appeared to be his third win of the season. However, the No. 11 Toyota failed postrace inspection and Hamlin was disqualified, gifting the victory to Elliott. It doesn't get much more surprising than that, and Joe Gibbs Racing will have to pick up the pieces and push back this week at Indianapolis, where Hamlin was bumped from the lead last season.