I hate rain delays. I’ve said it before, and now I have to say it again. Every season there are rain delays, and it gets tiresome. This year’s Axalta We Paint Winners 400 at Pocono was run on Monday due to a rainout on Sunday.

Penske teammates Brad Keslowski and Joey Logano lead the field to the green flag, and after a wild start that saw 3 wide and even four wide racing, Logano claimed the lead. But on lap four Matt DiBenedetto spun, brining out the caution. On the following restart Logano held onto the lead, and he held it until the competition caution on lap 17.

On the ensuing pit stops Martin Truex Jr. and DiBenedetto hit each other on pit road, and Truex had to return to pit road for repair to the front of his car. Also during that round of pit stops, Brad Keslowski was penalized because his team made illegal alterations to the body of his car. Simply put, his jack man body slammed his right side door in an attempt to flare his side skirt. Brad was forced to pit under green to rectify the alterations, dropping to 38th in the process.

On the following restart Joey Logano found himself mid pack due to  varying pit strategies, and on the restart he hit Ryan Newman. Newman, angered by the move, pounded Logano’s rear bumper several times, and loosened him up enough to cost him several spots. Newman, I applaud you.

The race was relatively quiet until a restart on lap 94. Tony Stewart, who had been running in the top-five, top-ten all day, was caught in the middle on the restart, and got loose. Unfortunately, his teammate and employee Danica Patrick was right behind him, and a light tap from her was enough to put them both in the wall hard, collecting Landon Cassill in the process. A tough break for Stewart’s team, but with the speed he showed, his Chase chances are looking more realistic. Just needs a little good fortune.

Stewart wasn’t the only driver to get loose running in the middle. About twenty laps later, Kyle Busch, looking for his first Pocono win, was in the middle when a light tap from Ryan Newman got him loose, and he to slammed the wall hard. Busch’s car handling is the best in Nascar, so if he loses control you know somethings very wrong.

On lap 122, just 11 laps after Busch’s wreck, Jimmie Johnson got loose running the inside lane while battling Casey Mears. Jimmie slid down the track and slammed into the inside wall. Again, expert driver, middle lane, wreck.

On the following restart, fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. took lead. At this point all the drivers were trying to make it to the finish without having to pit for fuel again, but many were short. During the last cycle of stops, Martin Truex Jr. took 2 tires and made it off pit road first, but his left rear went flat as he drove behind the pace car, forcing him to come to pit road again. Truex’s bad luck returns.

Dale Jr. took the lead from Ty Dillon, who had stayed off pit road on the last caution in an attempt to lead, but as he passed Dillon he was quickly followed by rookie Chase Elliot, who had led the most laps on the day (51). Elliot dove to the inside of Jr. in turn two, but while he was busy trying to pass Jr., he failed to notice Kurt Busch sneaking to his inside.

Kurt drove past both Elliot and Earnhardt, and quickly formed a 1.4 second lead. Now it was just a matter of making it to the finish without running out of fuel. But Kurt was 2 laps short of fuel, according to his crew chief. So he somehow had to save 2 laps (5 miles) of fuel in 32 laps while holding off Dale Jr., Chase, and a hard charging Brad Keslowski, who was good to go on fuel.

Well Kurt did it. The last 10 laps were nail biters to say the least. But Kurt, who has been the most consistent driver all year, won at Pocono. It was Kurt’s 1st win of the year, 4th with Stewart-Hass racing, his second at Pocono, and the 28th of Kurt’s career. Also, he won it with substitute crew chief John Klausmeier, who was in just his first race on the pit box. As a bonus, Kurt had saved enough fuel for a spectacular burnout. Nice start to the Summer for Kurt Busch and Stewart-Hass Racing.