The Cup Series caps off a triple header weekend t “The Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania for the Highpoint.com 400.

With no turn four and the other three corners designed after iconic tracks, Pocono is a unique track that challenges the drivers.  A two and a half mile track, the front stretch is long enough that a jet could use it for a runway.

Unlike the Craftsman Truck and Xfinity Series, the Cup cars have been divided into two groups where the top five drivers from each group will move on to a second round to determine who will sit on the pole.

While Kyle Busch Motorsports finally got win number 100 in the Truck Series, Toyota is holding at career win number 599 after Martin Truex Jr’s dominating win in New Hampshire last week.

With 36 cars at the track, all of the drivers will start the race.

Driving for Rick Ware Racing, JJ Yeley is the first driver on the track to make a qualifying run and posts a time of 54.039 seconds.

The track is large enough that NASCAR is sending out a driver every 15 seconds to have three cars on the track at the same time.

Aric Almirola is the first driver to break the 54 second mark with a time of 53.920 seconds.

Austin Cindric posted a time even quicker than the fastest times in practice with 53.293 seconds.

Todd Gilliland gets loose and into the wall.  He blows a tire during the crash.

Bubba Wallace breaks the 53 second mark with a time of 52.823 seconds.

Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano will move on to round two from Group A.

Chase Elliott spins out during his qualifying run but keeps it off the wall.  He does have some flat tires.

Kevin Harvick makes the quickest lap in Group B with a time of 52.857 seconds.

Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick will all move on to the second round of qualifying  from Group B.

Tyler Reddick also breaks the 53 second mark with a time of 52.804 seconds for the fastest lap of the day.

Joey Logano is the first driver on the track of the top 10 drivers and sets a time of 53.106 seconds.

Bubba Wallace hits the wall on his qualifying run.

With a time of 52.746 seconds, William Byron puts his number 24 car on the pole for his eleventh career pole.

The starting lineup for the Highpoint.com 400:
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Kevin Harvick
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
Tyler Reddick
Denny Hamlin
Austin Cindric
Bubba Wallace
Ty Gibbs
Corey LaJoie
Brad Keselowski
Ryan Blaney
Michael McDowell
AJ Allmendinger
Daniel Suarez
Chris Buescher
Justin Haley
Alex Bowman
Ross Chastain
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Austin Dillon
Erik Jones
Kyle Busch
Harrison Burton
Aric Almirola
JJ Yeley
Chase Briscoe
BJ McLeod
Cole Custer
Noah Gragson
Ty Dillon
Ryan Preece
Chase Elliott
Todd Gilliland

On Saturday Kyle Busch earned his truck team its 100th win after starting the race from 12th place.  If he wants to sweep the weekend and earn his fifth Pocono race, he will have to work much harder after a bad qualifying run put him back in to a 25th place starting spot.

Stage one of the race is just 30 laps with stages two and three lasting 65 laps for a total of 160 laps around the two and a half mile track.

After the crew made some unapproved repairs to the car after an incident during qualifying, Chase Elliott will have to start the race from the back of the field.  Todd Gilliland also starts the race from the back of the field after  crashing during qualifying and not making a run.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is on the flag stand for the start of the race.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Martin Truex Jr alongside. Byron edges out in front for the lead from the outside lane after a push.  Truex takes second.

William Byron leads lap one as the leaders get single file.

Lap two, the top five are William Byron, Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson.

Ty Gibbs gets high and scrapes the wall but the track stays green.

Lap three, Chase Elliott has moved up to 29th after starting the race in 35th.

Lap four, William Byron has a lead of over a half a second on Martin tRuex Jr; Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.

Drivers are running speeds of 165 to 170 miles per hour around the track.

Lap five, William Byron has a lead of over a second on Martin Truex Jr.  Kyle Busch is slowly moving through the field and is up to 22nd.

JJ Yeley brings out the first caution flag on lap six when he spins out and hits the wall in 34th place.

Kyle Larson reports a tight condition in his car.

Still on the flag stand, Dale Jr reports that the drivers are already in fuel conservation mode.  Drivers can run around 40 laps on a single load of fuel.  With stages two and three lasting 65 laps, the drivers will have to make a stop for fuel during the stage.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart before a packed house with Joey Logano alongside.  Drivers spread out across the track.

Joey Logano takes the lead with a three wide battle for second.

Lap eleven, the top five are Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr.

Lap 12, Kyle Busch has entered the top 20.

Joey Logano has a lead of over half a second on Kyle Larson.

Chase Elliott has moved up to 27th place.

After getting into the wall, Corey LaJoie comes down pit road with a flat tire on lap 14.

Joey Logano’s lead on Kyle Larson is down to just a third of a second; William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr rounding out the top five.

Lap 15, Kyle Larson has closed to under a quarter of a second on leader Joey Logano.

After getting into the wall and four flat tires, JJ Yeley is three laps down.

William Byron reports a very loose condition.  He noted that the car was so loose, he thought he had a flat tire.

Lap 17, Joey Logano leads the race with Kyle Larson on his bumper; William Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.

Lap 21, the top five remains Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr.  Kyle Busch is up to 18th.

After having a loose moment in the car, Denny Hamlin is running some of the fastest laps on the track.

Ryan Blaney reports an ill handing car.

With six laps remaining in stage one, Chase Elliott is up to 22nd place.

Joey Logano has a lead of under half a second on Kyle Larson; third place driver William Byron is over a second back.

Kyle Busch comes down pit road with four laps remaining in stage one to short pit the stage end.  Busch reports a loose condition.  Several drivers follow and come down pit road for service including top five drivers Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Kevin Harvick.

Joey Logano leads the lap with Martin Truex Jr over two seconds back in second.

Joey Logano wins stage one by over a second on Martin Truex Jr for his third stage win of the season.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Joey Logano
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
AJ Allmendinger
Michael McDowell
Bubba Wallace
Justin Haley
Chris Buescher
Erik Jones

Drivers who did not short pit the end of the stage, come down pit road for service.  Denny Hamlin wins the race off of pit road.

William Byron is the leader with teammate Kyle Larson in second.  Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch are in 10th and eleventh.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 36.  Drivers spread out four and five wide across the track.  The caution flag comes out for a crash involving Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez.  Logano has four flat tires after hitting the wall and has to be pushed to his pit stall.  Logano makes contact with Tyler Reddick and spins out.  Daneil Suarez had some on track contact before getting into the wall.  Michael McDowell and Bubba Wallace sustained a bit of facial damage in the crashes but say their cars are fine.

Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez are on the “crash clock” – the crews have seven minutes to make repairs.  Suarez is back on the track covered in 200 mile an hour tape; Joey Logano is still on pit road.

Joey Logano had to be towed to pit road and is not happy saying it’s causing more damage to the car.

Daniel Suarez said that his gauges were good but the crew said that his pit box is a mess.  Suarez takes his car to the garage.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 42 and goes side by side with Kyle Larson for the lead.

Austin Dillon gets loose and backs into the wall to bring out the caution flag.  The car is stalled on the track.  He finally gets the car refired and moving.  Dillon had some on track contact from BJ McLeod before getting turned around.

Joey Logano is moving again and comes back on the track six laps down.

Daniel Suarez is the first driver out of the race.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart with Kyle Larson alongside on lap 46.  Kyle Larson gets loose and tags the wall to bring out the caution flag.  Larson was getting a push from Christopher Bell when he got loose.  Larson drives his car back to pit road.

William Byron is the leader.

Christopher Bell got on the radio to apologize to Kyle Larson.

Kevin Harvick comes down pit road for service and nearly misses his pit stall.  Several other drivers also come down pit road for service and a packed fuel cell to make it on two more pit stops.

Out of the infield care center Daniel Suarez said that he didn’t know what happened.  He blames himself for having the car so far back in the field.  He called it a racing incident; adding that the drivers that hit him are also the same drivers he is battling for a spot in the playoffs with.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart once again on lap 51 with Christopher Bell alongside.  William Byron gets out in front for the lead with Ryan Blaney in second; Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Lap 52, William Byron has a half second lead on Ryan Blaney; Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.  Chase Elliott is just outside the top five in sixth.  Kyle Busch is in 12th.

Lap 54, William Byron has a half second lead on Ryan Blaney; Ty Gibbs, Bad Keselowski, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr make contact but the track stays green.

Lap 58, William Byron has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Ryan Blaney.

Joey Logano is out of the race after not being able to maintain minimum speed.

Kyle Busch gets up the track and barely avoids hitting the wall.  He has fallen to 16th place.

Lap 60, William Byron holds a lead of over half a second on Ryan Blaney; Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Lap 63, William Byron has a near one second lead on Ryan Blaney; Ty Gibbs is in third over two seconds back; Brad Keselowski and Chrisotpher Bell round out the top five.

After making a pit stop, Kyle Busch is one lap down – the only car on the track not on the lead lap.

Lap 67, William Byron has a lead of over a second on Ryan Blaney.  A lap down, Kyle Busch passes Ryan Blaney in an effort to unlap himself.

Lap 69, William Byron has a second and a half lead on Ryan Blaney. 

Drivers continue the cycle of green flag pit stops.

Joey Logano notes that maybe the tow trucks should carry tires instead of pulling the cars back to pit road and causing more damage to the cars.

Lap 71 William Byron continues to lead the race with Ryan Blaney in second; Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Lap 74, the cycle of green flag pit stops continues with William Byron leading the race who has a lead of over a second and a half on Ryan Blaney.

With a lead of nearly three seconds, leader William Byron brings his car down pit road on lap 79.  Ryan Blaney also comes down pit road for service.  Ty Gibbs is the new leader.

Nearly out of fuel, the drivers have longer pit stops getting the fuel cell packed.

Ty Gibbs makes his pit stop on lap 82.  Kyle Larson is the new leader.

Just 14 laps remain in stage two with Kyle Larson leading the race; Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, and Ty Dillon round out the top five.

Austin Dillon makes his pit stop.

The ”gas can” the fueler uses to fuel the cars weigh 90 to 95 pounds each and it takes two cans to fill the car.

Twelve laps remain in stage two; Kyle Larson leads the race with Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, and Corey LaJoie rounding out the top five.

Just seven laps remain in stage two with Kyle Larson leading the race and Kevin Harvick in second; Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, and William Byron round out the top five.

There are six laps remaining in stage two; the top four drivers have run over 40 laps on a single load of fuel.

Kevin Harvick comes down pit road with four laps remaining in stage two.  He reports a tight condition in his car.

Christopher Bell spins out and brings out the sixth caution flag of the race.  He managed to keep the car off the wall.

Kyle Larson was coming to pit road when the caution flag came out and aborted the effort, but he is very short on fuel.

Ending under caution, Kyle Larson wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kyle Larson
Ty Dillon
William Byron
Denny Hamlin
Alex Bowman
Tyler Reddick
Ty Gibbs
Ryan  Blaney
Bubba Wallace
Martin Truex Jr

 Drivers come down pit road for service with Denny Hamlin winning the race off of pit road.  Only 10 drivers made a pit stop.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 100 and gets out in front for the lead but Ryan Blaney comes up on the inside to take the lead with Martin Truex Jr in second; William Byron, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.  There are 31 cars on the lead lap.

Martin Truex Jr jumps out in front of Ryan Blaney for the lead.  Blaney reports he has no power.  Dale Jr reports that Blaney’s car sounds normal.

The top five are Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, and Bubba Wallace.

Lap 104, Martin Truex Jr has a half second lead on William Byron; Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.

Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin battle for seventh.  Chase Elliott comes up to make it a three way battle. 

Austin Dillon gets into the wall hard to bring out the seventh caution flag of the race.  He has a fire under the hood.  Dillon makes contact with Tyler Reddick before moving up the track and into the wall.  He is stopped on the grass.  After getting out of the car, Austin Dillon threw his helmet at Tyler Reddick.  Drivers are supposed to take their helmets with them when they go to the infield care center; which is required after every wreck.

A few drivers come down pit road for service.

Reports are a possible driver trane issue for Ryan Blaney.

Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green restart on lap 111 and gets out in front to hold on to the lead with William Byron in second.  Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs battle for third.

The top five are Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, and Alex Bowman.

Out of the car center Austin Dillon said that he felt Tyler Reddick came down on him.  When asked if the helmet throw was enough, Dillon said, “no, I just need to start wrecking some people”.

Lap 114, Martin Truex Jr has a half second lead on William Byron; Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, and Alex Bowman.

Denny Hamlin is again stalking Kevin Harvick.  Parker Kligerman reports that Hamlin isn’t happy with Harvick who refused to let Hamlin pass.

Lap 116, Denny Hamlin finally passes Kevin Harvick for seventh.

Lap 118, Denny Hamlin passes Chris Buescher for sixth in an effort to get back up front after a bad pit stop earlier in the race.

Lap 120, Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson are the first driver on pit road for what they hope is the last green flag pit stop cycle of the day.

Some of the drivers are taking fuel only.

Lap 121, Martin Truex Jr gives up the lead to make his green flag pit stop.  Ty Gibbs is the new leader.

Lap 123, Ty Gibbs makes his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over to Denny Hamlin.

Lap 124 leader Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick come down pit road.  Tyler Reddick is the new leader.

With 35 laps remaining in the race, the top nine drivers still have to make a pit stop.  Once the pit stops cycle through, Kyle Larson is expected to be the leader of the race.

Lap 128, Tyler Reddick has a two and a half second lead on Erik Jones; Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Corey LaJoie, and Harrison Burotn round out the top five.

Thirty to go, Tyler Reddick has pulled out to a three second lead on Erik Jones.  Both drivers are among the drivers who cannot make it to the end of the race without making a pit stop.

Lap 133, it has been 43 laps since Erik Jones was last on it road.

Lap 136, Tyler Reddick continues to lead the race with Corey LaJoie in second; Harrison Burton, Aric Almirola, and Todd Gilliland round out the top five.  Kyle Larson is in sixth and will resume the lead once all of the drivers have make their pit stops.

With 23 laps to go, Tyler Reddick makes his green flag pit stop; Corey LaJoie is the new leader.

With 22 to go, Martin Truex Jr challenges teammate Denny Hamlin for sixth.  Truex took four tires on his pit stop; while Hamlin took only two.

Corey LaJoie, Aric Almirola, and Todd Gilliland are the only cars that have yet to make a pit stop.

Twenty to go!  Corey LaJoie leads the race; Aric Almirola, Todd Gilliland, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Martin Truex Jr reports that he has no grip when he is on the bumper of another driver.

Chase Briscoe gets turned around and brings out the caution flag with 17 laps remaining in the race.  There appeared to be some on track contact prior to Briscoe’s spin.

Kyle Larson takes the lead when Corey LaJoie, Aric Almirola, and Todd Gilliland make their pit stops.  Several drivers from back in the field come down pit road for fresh tires.

The top five are Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Alex Bowman, and Kevin Harvick.

Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag restart with 13 laps remaining in the race.  With a push from Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson gets out in front for the lead.  Drivers are making contact back in the pack.

Kyle Larson leads the race with Martin Truex Jr in second; Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.

Twelve to go, Martin Truex Jr begins to challenge Kyle Larson for the lead.

The caution flag comes out when Alex Bowman spins out from third.  There are eleven laps remaining in the race.  On the radio, Alex Bowman said that Denny Hamlin wrecked him.  Video shows that Hamlin took the air off of Bowman’s spoiler.

Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag restart with just seven laps remaining in the race.  Kyle Larson edges out for the lead with Denny Hamlin in second.

Denny Hamlin and Denny Hamlin battle for the lead with Hamlin in front.  Hamlin pushes Larson up hard into the wall.

The caution flag comes out for a big wreck.  Justin Haley has a driver’s side hit into the wall hard. 

Kyle Larson showed his displeasure with Denny Hamlin during the caution flag.

The top five are Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, and Tyler Reddick.

Denny Hamlin brings the field down for the green flag restart with just three laps remaining in the race.  Getting a push from Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin gets out in front for the lead with Martin Truex Jr in second; Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Tyler Reddick passes Kevin Harvick for third.

Ryan Preece spins out but the track stays green. 

Tyler Reddick and Martin Truex Jr battle for second as Ryan Preece attempts to get going.  NASCAR throws the caution flag giving Denny Hamlin the win.  The crowd is booing very loudly.

Ryan Preece was stopped on the track and NASCAR did NOT throw the caution flag until AFTER they had waved the white flag!

This is career win number 50 from Denny Hamlin and win number 600 for Toyota.   Hamlin holds the record for the most wins at Pocono with seven with his first win coming in his rookie year.

Hamlin does a long burnout before getting out of the car to very loud boos.

Hamlin says that the guys wrecked themselves, he didn’t do anything.

The unofficial results of the Highpoint.com 400:
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex
Tyler Reddick
Kevin Harvick
Ty Gibbs
Christopher Bell
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Harrison Burton
Erik Jones
Chase Elliott
Aric Almirola
Bubba Wallace
Ross Chastain
William Byron
Todd Gilliland
Brad Keselowski
AJ Allmendinger
Chris Buescher
Michael McDowell
Noah Gragson
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Alex Bowman
Austin Cindric
Cole Custer
JJ Yeley
Corey LaJoie
Ty Dillon
Chase Briscoe
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Preece
BJ McLeod
Justin Haley
Austin Dillon
Joey Logano
Daniel Suarez