A familiar tune plays again for Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Ford Taurus as late tire problems effectively finish the day for Kenseth and the DEWALT team. Kenseth qualified in and ran in the top-ten to begin the day at the Pocono Raceway, but started to fall back through the field with handling problems, only to be taken out of contention by first gambling with a green flag pit stop and then suffering a flat tire.
Kenseth began the weekend with a strong qualifying run, posting the 10th quickest lap by getting around the 2.5-mile tri-oval racetrack in 55.552 seconds. Kenseth gained several spots early in the Pocono 500, making his way from his starting position of tenth to sixth-place in the first two laps. Kenseth would take up residence in the sixth position, continuing to run there when the first caution of the afternoon slowed the field on lap 28. Kenseth found it impossible to pass in the early-going of the 200-lap/500-mile event and reported to his crew that the No. 17 DEWALT Ford was getting a little bit tight running behind the top-five for so long.
Kenseth took advantage of the first caution period and came down pit road for wedge and air pressure adjustments and four fresh tires. The No. 17 restarted the race in sixth-place and continued to be tight. Kenseth advised his crew that the car needed to be turning off the right front better, and came down pit road again for service during the second caution period brought out on lap 43. Kenseth, running eighth, received additional wedge and air pressure adjustments and four new tires, and returned to the field in the 14th position.
By the next caution period on lap 67, Kenseth had moved into the tenth position, but was still concerned that the No. 17 was a little too tight. Kenseth brought the DEWALT Ford down pit road and the crew took a rubber out of the left rear, made another air pressure adjustment and gave Kenseth four sticker tires. The No. 17 rejoined the field in 14th-place. These adjustments would send the No. 17 too far in the other direction - "incredibly loose" to quote Kenseth.
"Incredibly loose" on lap 80 became "unbelievably loose" by lap 90, according to Kenseth, who had by then slipped back into the 19th position. The fourth caution of the event flew on lap 90 and Kenseth brought his loose racecar down pit road to receive four tires in addition to wedge and air pressure adjustments. Kenseth stalled the car getting out of his pit box, costing valuable time, and restarted the race in 31st-place. Kenseth had managed to work his way back up into the 23rd position when he and the No. 17 team made a risky decision - seeing a competitor with a tire going down and surmising that a caution was imminent, the No. 17 guys elected to go ahead and come down pit road under green, hoping to gain an advantage over the field by beating them down pit road. However, the caution did not come out until some three laps later, which ended up putting Kenseth in 31st place, one lap down.
Shortly after the restart on lap 122, Kenseth made contact with the No. 25, causing some damage to the left front fender of the No. 17. While the damage appeared minor, it would come back to haunt Kenseth later in the day. When the next caution flag slowed the field on lap 146, Kenseth spent a lengthy stop on pit road not only receiving adjustments and new tires, but also having the crew work on the damaged left front fender. Kenseth restarted the race in the 30th position, one lap down, and hoped to gain his lap back during the next caution period.
However, on lap 178, running in 29th-place, Kenseth radioed to the crew that he had a flat tire. Kenseth had to make a green flag stop to change tires and, unbelievably, after rejoining the field for only about seven laps, blew another tire.
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