NASCAR Cup Series

Nothing to celebrate: Five drivers who left Pocono Raceway frustrated

Published Jun. 8, 2015 3:00 p.m. ET

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While Martin Truex Jr. was busy celebrating his emotional victory in Sunday's Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway, not everyone in the Sprint Cup garage was thrilled with the outcome of the race.

Here are five drivers who left Pocono frustrated.

Ryan Newman

The Richard Childress Racing driver was on track to earn his ninth top-10 finish of the 2015 until a run-in with AJ Allmendinger sent the No. 31 Chevrolet to the garage.

With 20 laps to go, Allmendinger bobbled on the bottom of Turn 1 and got into the left rear of Newman's car as the two were racing for seventh place. The contact sent Newman to the garage with heavy damage and led to his first DNF of the season.

Predictably, Newman was not happy with Allmendinger after the incident.

"It's pretty obvious what happened," he said. "The No. 47 (Allmendinger) just ran out of talent. He has got one coming now."

Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski is already locked into the Chase with a win at Auto Club Speedway, but since finishing fifth at Texas Motor Speedway in April, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion hasn't posted a top five and has four finishes of 17th or worse.

Keselowski's struggles at Pocono came to a head on Lap 129, when he tangled with Brett Moffitt in Turn 1. Moffitt was running high in the groove when he drifted up to the wall. Keselowski, who was running 10th at the time, followed in Moffitt's tire tracks up the track and drove into the back of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford.

"I was trying to make something happen with this damn car that won't run down the straightaway," Keselowski said over the team's radio.

The Team Penske driver would go on to finish the day in the 17th spot.

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon may be a six-time Pocono winner, but Sunday's race at the 'Tricky Triangle' did not go as planned.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver had Penn State University colors on his car with a host of students in attendance, and Gordon's primary sponsor, Axalta, sponsored the race.

However, the four-time Sprint Cup champion fought the handling of the No. 24 Chevrolet, especially on restarts.

Frustrated with the team's overall performance, Gordon and crew chief Alan Gustafson had a heated exchange over the radio when discussing pit road strategy while running 22nd.

Gustafson called for four tires and no fuel, Gordon did not like the call, and the two exchanged words.

"Tires are not our problem," Gordon told Gustafson.

"Well what the (expletive) is the problem?" Gustafson retorted.

The No. 24 team would go on to finish the day 14th, but not at all pleased with the results.

Be sure to tune into "NASCAR Race Hub" on FOX Sports 1 at 4:30 p.m. ET for more on this heated exchange.

Danica Patrick

Pocono Raceway has not been kind to Stewart-Haas Racing's Danica Patrick over the years. In her five starts there, Patrick's best finish was 29th in her first start at the 2.5-mile track in 2013.

However, Patrick was having a solid outing during Sunday's Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400. She was a factor in the top 15 for much of the afternoon, but had multiple issues late in the race that would ruin her day.

With 26 laps to go, Patrick brushed the wall off Turn 3 and blew a tire in Turn 1, hitting the outside wall hard. With just a handful of laps left, Patrick would spin again, this time off Turn 3.

Despite an average running position of 17.9, Patrick ended the day 37th, seven laps down to the leaders.

Aric Almirola

Richard Petty Motorsports' Aric Almirola has been quietly consistent so far this season, but he had his worst finish of the year Sunday in Pocono.

Almirola was having a struggle-filled day running mid-pack when the motor let go under the hood of the No. 43 Ford. While he was able to run a few laps down on power and with smoke coming from the car, Almirola pulled the car behind the wall for good on Lap 88 of the 160-lap event, finishing last.

This marked just the second engine failure for Almirola in the last three seasons at RPM. The last one came in the Chase-opening race at Chicagoland Speedway last season, ending the team's title hopes.

VIDEO: Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway highlights