LONG POND, Pa. — ARCA RE/MAX Series point-leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. survived a late-race restart and a last-lap charge from a Red Bull to win the wild Pocono 200 Saturday afternoon at Pocono Raceway.
“It was pretty tough,” said Stenhouse. “My restarts — I’ve been getting better. You had some people shifting, you had some people not. We were almost three-wide there going into turn one, so I’m sure it was pretty exciting for the fans. I didn’t like it, but we ended up pulling through it and ended up with the win.”
Stenhouse, in the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Con-Way Freight Ford, also became the first repeat winner in 2008 after eight events.
“I’m pretty excited about that (winning two races). Hopefully, we’ll be the first to win three next week at Michigan. That’s what we’re shooting for.”
Scott Speed, in the Red Bull Toyota, battled back from two cut tires to get within striking distance of Stenhouse, only to fall short by five lengths at the stripe. Speed made up more than 20 positions inside of 10 laps from the end to earn his second-place finish.
“We were 25th with seven laps to go, and finished second,” said Speed. “I mean, I definitely didn’t make too many friends out there, but that was definitely an epic end to the race. Period. To be honest, it was very surprising to be able to catch the 99 as much as we did. I mean, we must have caught him a second per lap for the last two laps.”
Tayler Malsam finished a career-best third in the Dodge Driver Development Dodge.
Bobby Gerhart, in the Lucas Oil Chevrolet, ended up fourth, with Justin Allgaier fifth.
The finish:
Showing driver, car and laps completed: 1. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 86; 2. Scott Speed, Toyota, 86; 3. Taylor Malsam, Dodge, 86; 4. Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 86; 5. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 86; 6. Robb Brent, Chevrolet, 86; 7. Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 86; 8. Dominick Casola, Dodge, 86; 9. Michael Phelps, Dodge, 86; 10. Gabi DiCarlo, Toyota, 86; 11. Ken Butler III, Toyota, 86; 12. Matt Carter, Ford, 86; 13. Billy Pauch, Jr., Dodge, 86; 14. Brian Kaltreider, Ford, 86; 15. Bryan Silas, Ford, 86; 16. Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 86; 17. Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 86; 18. Donny Kelley, Chevrolet, 86; 19. Justin Lofton, Dodge, 86; 20. John Wes Townley, Ford, 85; 21. Tim Mitchell, Ford, 85; 22. Brad Smith, Ford, 84; 23. John Graham, Ford, 82; 24. Alli Owens, Chevrolet, 76; 25. Kory Rabenold, Chevrolet, 76; 26. Frank Kimmel, Ford, 67; 27. Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 57; 28. Steve Fox, Chevrolet, 54; 29. Jesse Smith, Dodge, 49; 30. Tom Hessert III, Ford, 48; 31. Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 48; 32. Chase Mattioli, Chevrolet, 46; 33. Patrick Sheltra, Dodge, 34; 34. Ted Olswfski, Chevrolet, 24; 35. James Hylton, Dodge, 14; 36. Michael Zazula, Chevrolet, 6; 37. Tom Berte, Chevrolet, 1; 38. Wayne Peterson, Chevrolet, 1.