2012 Pennsylvania 400
The 2012 Pennsylvania 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 5, 2012 at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 98 laps of 160, it was the twenty-first race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. On August 10, 2011, track president Brandon Igdalsky announced that the race will be shortened from 500 miles to 400 miles. Jeff Gordon, from the Hendrick Motorsports racing team, won his first race of the season while Kasey Kahne finished second. Martin Truex Jr. clinched the third position. The win gave Gordon his sixth at the track, at the time breaking a record shared with Bill Elliott for most wins at the track, and has since been broken by Denny Hamlin.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 21 of 36 in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
| Date | August 5, 2012 | ||
| Location | Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km) | ||
| Distance | 98 laps, 245 mi (394.28 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Weather | Isolated thunder storms with a high temperature around 80; wind out of the S at 7 mph. | ||
| Average speed | 139.249 miles per hour (224.100 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | ||
| Time | 51.124 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 44 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 4.449 million | ||
The race was marred by a lightning strike which killed a spectator and injured nine others as Gordon was on his way to victory lane. The race was not red flagged (suspended) until rain hit the race track after 98 laps, 42 minutes after thunderstorm warnings were issued. The incident led to stringent policy standards for Automobile Competition Committee for the United States members (including NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA and NHRA) regarding lightning around racing venues, consistent with other sporting venues.