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Brad Keselowski wins Pocono XFINITY race on last-lap pass

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Beyond the Byline: Even after unspeakable tragedy, life always goes on

<p>LONG POND &#8211; Saturday&#8217;s XFINITY event at Pocono saw the first-ever race at the Tricky Triangle with stage racing.</p><p>The Pocono Green 250 featured three stages (25-25-50) for the 100-lap event and rewarded series regulars finishing in the top-10 with points, starting at 10 for the stage winner and down to one point for 10th-place.</p><p>XFINITY Pocono winner Brad Keselowski swept all three stages en route to the victory.</p><p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t want to give those points up and you don&#8217;t want to give away running up front,&#8221; Keselowski said about stage racing. &#8220;In my heart, that&#8217;s what this sport&#8217;s all about. It&#8217;s about running up front and doing the best you can at all times.</p><p>&#8220;The stages reward those who run up front and push hard all race and there are guys looking for the opportunity that stages provide to play the leap-frog game especially at tracks like Pocono where you can pit under green and not lose a lap so close to the edge of a stage.&#8221;</p><p>Sunday&#8217;s Monster Energy NASCAR cup Series race at Pocono will be the first time the premier series will use the stage-format with the 50-50-60 lap increments in the Axalta Pocono 400.</p><p><strong>Cup drivers dominate XFINITY broadcast</strong></p><p>Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano were several Cup drivers taking part in the first drivers-only broadcast.</p><p>Harvick handled play-by-play duties as Bowyer and Logano gave their insight throughout the 250-mile race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones served as pit reporters while Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick hung out in FOX&#8217;s Hollywood Hotel for the duration of the event.</p><p>Saturday&#8217;s race was televised on FOX and will be again for July&#8217;s Camping World Truck Series race at the 2.5-mile track.</p><p><strong>Kyle Busch still fast at the Tricky Triangle</strong></p><p>A day after winning the Coors Light pole for Sunday&#8217;s race, Kyle Busch was still quick in his No. 18 M&amp;M&#8217;s Red-White-&amp;-Blue Toyota Saturday morning. Busch turned the fastest lap of the day at 51.305 seconds (175.421 mph) while running 29 laps in final practice, the most of any driver in the 55-minute session. XFINITY Series winner Brad Keselowski was second as two drivers from the Ford brigade were in the top-five.</p><p><strong>Benjamin leads laps in second-career XFINITY race</strong></p><p>19-year-old Kyle Benjamin got off to a great start Saturday by winning the pole for the Pocono Green 250 in only his second XFINITY Series start for Joe Gibbs Racing.</p><p>For the second straight year, the No. 20 car started out front. Last year&#8217;s pole-sitter Erik Jones is now running on Sundays in the cup Series for Furniture Row Racing.</p><p>Benjamin made his series debut in April at Richmond International Raceway, getting caught up in a late-race wreck after qualifying second in the No. 20 Toyota for his first race.</p><p>The JGR development driver made his first Pocono start in an ARCA race in June 2015 for Venturini Motorsports. Slowly but surely, his races got better at the Tricky Triangle with a sixth-place effort in last year&#8217;s June ARCA event.</p><p>This time, Northampton, Pa. native Tony Hirschman III guided Benjamin from the spotter&#8217;s stand throughout the 100-lap race as the rookie driver slipped to 16th in the final running order.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kyle Larson, right, and Brad Keselowski in action during the Saturday&#8217;s Xfinity Series race in Long Pond. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Xfinity-Pocono-Larson-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kyle Larson, right, and Brad Keselowski in action during the Saturday&#8217;s Xfinity Series race in Long Pond. </caption0><photoCredit0>Matt Slocum | AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Kyle Magda</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @ TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Xfinity Notebook: Stage racing debuts at Pocono Green 250