NASCAR Pocono 2017 results: Kyle Busch wins Pennsylvania 400

Putting a season’s worth of frustration behind him, Kyle Busch snapped a career-long 36-race winless streak Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

Busch used pit strategy and a fast car to chase down and pass leaders Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick with 17 laps remaining, then outran the field by a six-second margin to win his first race of the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series season, and first victory in over a year.

Busch entered Pocono having led the second-most laps this season, and several times had been in contention late in races only for circumstances and self-inflicted mistakes to keep him out of victory lane.

"Never thought this day would happen," Busch said. "We had such an awesome race car. We've been fighting all year but something always seemed to go wrong -- just wasn't sure why or what was next.

“It’s been a frustrating year, but this certainly relieves a little bit of that -- I wouldn’t say all of that.”

After the final sequence of pit stops, Busch emerged with 11-lap fresher tires, allowing him to quickly catch Hamlin and Harvick, who held a multi-second lead over the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. But just after Harvick passed Hamlin for the lead, Busch pulled up to Harvick’s bumper and nudged him up the track.

Busch started on the pole and led a race-high 74 of a possible 160 laps in winning at Pocono for the first time in 26 career starts. He’s now won at 22 of 23 tracks on the schedule, with the exception being Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It’s been a long time coming trying to win a race here at Pocono,” Busch said. “This one means a lot and it’s pretty special for all of us, this team and everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Harvick finished second, with Martin Truex Jr. third, Hamlin fourth, and Brad Keselowski fifth. Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Matt Kenseth, and Chase Elliott completed the top 10.

Harvick had no issue with Busch using his fender to complete the pass, admitting Busch had the faster car. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was also seeking his first Pocono in 34 starts, and finished second to Ryan Blaney in the June race at the Pennsylvania track.

“Kyle had the class of the field all weekend,” Harvick said. “His car was really, really fast. He got the pole, got the win. Pretty much just charged through the field.”

Thanks to his points ranking, Busch was likely assured of a berth in the 16-driver playoff field even if he didn’t win during the regular season. But Sunday’s triumph solidified that position, leaving three slots open with five races left before the postseason begins.

Kenseth leads Bowyer by 17 points for the final provisional transfer spot entering next weekend’s race at Watkins Glen International, the second and final road course race of the season. Bowyer trimmed 16 points off Kenseth’s advantage on Sunday.