Sometimes Rubbin’ Really Is Just Racin’ When Kyle Busch made contact with the bumper of Kevin Harvick as the two battled for the lead in the final laps at Pocono, it was natural to expect Harvick to be angry. After all, Harvick and Busch have a bit of a checkered history together. But with Busch celebrating in Victory Lane, Harvick was notably chill about the bump that ultimately landed him a second-place finish. “The only chance I had (to keep the lead) was to get into the corner correctly,” Harvick said. “I got in there and was loose all the way through…

‘Seven-Time’ Is Slumping Arguably the greatest driver of his generation, Jimmie Johnson seems to rarely go through performance slumps. Right now would be one those rare times. Johnson, chasing a record-breaking eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title this season, has crashed out of three of the past four races and fallen all the way to 11th in the standings. Of course, Johnson is hardly out of title contention since three wins earlier in the season have him well-positioned for the playoffs. “It helps knowing that you are locked into the playoffs, but at the same time, I think we are missing…

Even Matt Makes Mistakes Normally one of NASCAR’s smoothest, smartest, most calculating drivers, Matt Kenseth made a rare mistake when his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota broke loose into a spin on the opening lap of Sunday’s race at Pocono. Kenseth rallied to finish ninth, but others caught up in his open-lap miscue were not so fortunate. Among them was Aric Almirola, who missed seven races earlier this season while recovering from a compression fracture in his back. “My feelings are hurt,” Almirola said after his first-lap exit from Sunday’s race. “My back is fine, though.” Although able to salvage a…

Penske Has The Power Arguably bigger than anything that happened on the track over the weekend was an off-track development bound to impact the sport for years to come. In the days leading up to NASCAR’s return to Pocono, Team Penske announced it has re-signed Brad Keselowski to a multi-year contract that will keep him with the organization through at least the 2019 season (the exact terms of the contract were not disclosed). Meanwhile, the organization also announced it is adding a third team in 2018 for newcomer Ryan Blaney, who is currently competing for the Wood Brothers in a car prepared…