Fansided

Overton’s 400: 5 takeaways from NASCAR at Pocono

By Brittany Frederick

LONG POND, PA - JULY 30: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, poses with the winner's sticker after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton's 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 30, 2017 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
LONG POND, PA - JULY 30: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, poses with the winner's sticker after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton's 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 30, 2017 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Did the Overton’s 400 prove Kyle Busch got written off too soon? Here’s what we learned from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono.

Kyle Busch finally got a monkey off his back in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono, winning the Overton’s 400 and earning his first victory of the 2017 NASCAR season, as well as a spot in the playoffs (though he was probably going to make it on points anyway).

But then there was the issue of a loose lug nut. And Martin Truex Jr.’s pit crew being two men down after their highly publicized spat with Busch’s crew chief. And the wreck of the week not even taking an entire lap to happen. There’s plenty to discuss about Pocono, so let’s see what NASCAR fans can learn.

If you missed any of Sunday’s race, you can catch up with full Overton’s 400 highlights here.

Here’s what we took away from the Overton’s 400:

1) We wrote off Kyle Busch a bit too soon

Fans and commentators alike have spoken frequently about how Kyle Busch, and Joe Gibbs Racing as a whole, have struggled throughout the 2017 NASCAR season. With his trip to Victory Lane at Pocono, Busch silenced the doubters (in addition to getting Toyota its milestone 100th win in the Cup Series).

It’s easy to question any driver when they’re not winning. Just look at how we all wondered what was up with Jimmie Johnson earlier in the year before he started racking up victories. But the best drivers find a way to win, and after continuing to push and scrap, Kyle Busch found a way to win. There’s no reason he can’t find even more success in the last few races, and anything can happen once the playoffs arrive.

To be fair, this doesn’t mean Kyle Busch is perfect; he may have won the Cup Series race, but he wrecked out of the Camping World Truck Series race. We think he probably feels better about that after Sunday, though.

2) But what’s going on with the nuts?

There’s a little rain on Busch’s victory parade, as NASCAR revealed not long after the Overton’s 400 ended that there was a loose lug nut located on the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing car. Will that mean Kyle Busch will join Joey Logano in having an “encumbered” race win? Probably not, but it does throw that shadow of a doubt out there for those who aren’t Busch fans. All those folks who were booing him during driver introductions are probably having a field day with this.

And it’s not just a Busch issue; NASCAR has had problems with teams and lug nuts dating back to last year, with his teammate Daniel Suarez’s squad being penalized last month and Martin Truex Jr.’s team three months ago. There hasn’t been this much talk about lug nuts since the Lansing Lugnuts theme song.

3) Truex’s pit crew deal was no big deal

Much ado was made of the spat between two members of Martin Truex Jr.’s crew and Adam Stevens last week. The fight led Joe Gibbs Racing to bench the Furniture Row Racing staffers for the Overton’s 400, which they can do because Furniture Row is a technical partner of JGR, and as such, uses JGR-hired pit crew members.

But the suspensions didn’t seem to have much effect on Truex’s race. Despite having to use two replacement crew members, he still finished a comfortable third at Pocono. No harm done for the No. 78 team, apparently.

4) There’s never a good time for a wreck

Ah, the multi-car crash — the staple of every NASCAR highlight reel. At the Overton’s 400, we got that out of the way early after Matt Kenseth prompted an opening lap pile-up. Crashing is part of racing, but it’s always disheartening when it happens right off the bat and spoils the day for many people before they even get started. It’s like driving to work only to be told to go back home. Except in this case you find out that your car’s been crushed in the parking lot and you can’t drive it home.

5) NASCAR’s naming rights are getting out of hand

Sports naming rights are always a bit weird, but Sunday’s NASCAR race was particularly odd. What was once called the Pennsylvania 400 found itself renamed as the Overton’s 400. The quick name change was one thing; what made it weirder is that we just had the Overton’s 301 two races ago at Loudon. So there were two races with the same title sponsor in three rounds!

We’re not faulting NASCAR for taking sponsorship money where they can get it, but we’d like to suggest that they find a way to make the race names distinct somehow. IndyCar has several races sponsored by Honda, but the names don’t sound alike (there’s the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio and the Honda Indy Toronto). Would it have been so weird to call this the Overton’s Pennsylvania 400? Just a thought.

And we still have the “I Love New York 355 at The Glen” to look forward to next week.

Next: Overton's 400 full video highlights

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series now moves to Watkins Glen on Sunday, Aug. 6. For the latest NASCAR news, be sure to follow the NASCAR category at FanSided here.

Home/NASCAR