You know it’s summertime in NASCAR Land because it’s time to go to Pocono-Pennsylvania. It’s the first, of two, races at the Pocono Raceway within seven weeks of each other. Sunday’s Gillette Fusion Pro Glide 500, presented by Target, is going to be a physical challenge for the drivers and a true riddle for the crew chiefs as they try to figure out the characteristics of a race track often referred to as “the tricky triangle”.
THE STORY BREAKDOWN
It’s likely that the television networks, that routinely provides ample coverage of NASCAR racing, are going to show the video of Jeff Burton telling off Kyle Busch following last week’s race at Charlotte. There will be massive wonder regarding whether or not there’s now a feud between these two drivers. It’s not likely because this has been a dismal season for feud development in NASCAR.
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Those same television speculators will also likely spend a lot of quality air time examining the so called down fall of Jimmie Johnson and his #48 team. I wouldn’t be looking for too many pertinent points from this topic either.
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The Pocono race is the calender half way point of the 2010 Sprint Cup season. That means the top 12 in the championship points standings, which determines the final line up for the Chase For The Championship, takes on an increasingly important role.
Going into Sunday’s race Ryan Newman holds down the coveted 12th place in the standings. However there’s a group of drivers right behind him who are hoping for a strong Pocono finish that will vault them into the top 12. That group is led by Clint Bowyer who is 13th in the standings and only four points behind Newman. Other drivers, within striking distance of the top 12, include Martin Truex Jr at -14, Jamie McMurray at -26 and Tony Stewart at -27.
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NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points will also begin to play an increasingly important role. The top 35 teams are guaranteed a starting berth in the next race. Finishing the season in the top 35 guarantees the teams a berth in the first five races of 2011 including the coveted Daytona 500.
Going into Sunday’s Pocono race David Gilliland, and his Front Row Motorsports Ford team, holds down the 35th position in the owner’s points. However team owner/driver Robby Gordon is only 15 points away from taking the coveted 35th position.
Gordon will have his work cut out for him this weekend because he’ll be depending on another driver to qualify his car, while he’s out of town, which means he’ll be starting Sunday’s race from the rear of the field. Gordon will be in Baja-Mexico Friday and Saturday with his Trophy Truck participating in the annual SCORE Baja off road race.
Ted Musgrave, former Sprint Cup driver and 2005 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, will be in Pocono to drive Gordon’s #7 Toyota during the practice and qualifying sessions.
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Still on the topic of points Kyle Busch, second in the Sprint Cup championship standings, will be looking to eradicate the 29 point gap between himself and Kevin Harvick this Sunday. It’s a safe bet that Busch would like to accomplish this on the anniversary of his 200th Sprint Cup start.
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The Pocono race will also be the latest test pattern for Ford’s new FR9 engine according to Robbie Reiser, General Manager of Roush Fenway Racing. The Roush-Yates Engine program, along with Ford engineers, designed the new power plant which they feel will be bringing Ford teams back to the forefront of NASCAR racing.
Reiser said that two teams each from Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports will be using the new engine at Pocono. RFR drivers Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle along with RPMS drivers A J Allmendinger and Elliot Sadler will use the new engine this Sunday. Reiser further pointed out that all of the Ford teams will be using the new engine at the Michigan race.
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On the subject of Roush Fenway Racing it’s hardly any secret that RFR driver David Ragan is dealing with a lot of frustration so far in the 2010 season. In 13 starts he only has one top ten finish and is ranked 24th in the championship standings. There’s been a lot of speculation over the past several weeks that said Ragan might not be returning to his #6 United Parcel Service ride next year. There’s also been speculation that said UPS wasn’t very happy and was looking to leave RFR.
Both of these issues were batted down in recent days by Geoff Smith, RFR President, who pointed out that both the driver and sponsor were under contract with RFR through the 2011 season and both would be returning next year.
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With Brian Vickers out of the Red Bull Racing #83 Toyota for the remainder of the year due to a medical condition, RBR General Manager and Vice President Jay Frye announced some personnel changes regarding their two teams. “Due to the circumstances of our current situation, we have an opportunity to experiment with different personnel combinations,” Frye said earlier this week.
Those changes involve a swapping of crew chiefs. Ryan Pemberton will be moving to the #82 and driver Scott Speed. That also means that Jimmy Elledge will be moving over to the #83 and driver Casey Mears who is subbing for Vickers. It’s a a reunion for Elledge and Mears who worked together at Ganassi Racing during the 2003 to 2005 seasons.
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THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN
The Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, WSE, apparently believes that Jimmie Johnson is going to drive his way out of that alleged down turn and has placed him on the top of their ranking at 5 to 1 odds. Sharing the top of the rankings, also at 5 to 1, is three time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin.
At 8 to 1 odds is Jeff Gordon despite the fact that he’s a four time Pocono winner. Two time winner Kurt Busch is also in this grouping as is brother Kyle Busch.
One of the more interesting WSE offerings this week is two time Pocono winner Tony Stewart at 15 to 1 odds. It’s no secret that Stewart’s NASCAR season seems to really come alive at the beginning of summer. Also at 15 to 1 are drivers Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick.
In the middle portion of the WSE rankings this week you’ll find Jeff Burton and Juan Pablo Montoya at 18to 1. Ranked at 20 to 1 odds are five drivers led by two time race winner Carl Edwards along with Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Joey Logano.
At the bottom portion of the rankings you’ll find Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman at 25 to 1, Jamie McMurray at 30 to 1, Martin Truex Jr and Dale Earnhardt Jr are rated at 35 to 1 while David Reutimann concludes this week’s list at 40 to 1 odds.
As always we present the disclaimer: NASCAR wants to remind you that these numbers should be considered for entertainment purposes and they do not condone the placing of wagers on their events. Instead, you may want to consider sponsoring the tire bills for those start and park teams.
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THE TRACK BREAKDOWN
Believe it or not, the Pocono Raceway opened in 1968 as a three quarter mile oval. It’s present 2.5 mile triangle shape officially debuted in 1971.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup event was held there in 1974 and was won by Richard Petty. Since that time there has been 64 Sprint Cup events at Pocono that has sent 28 different drivers to victory lane.
Considered a super speedway because of its 2.5 mile size, the Pocono Raceway is considered highly unique because of its three turns. Turn one is banked 14 degrees. Turn two, also known as the tunnel turn, is banked 2.8 degrees while turn three is banked at 3.6 degrees.
With the three turns comes three straightaways. The longest is the front stretch which measures 3,740 feet. The Long Pond stretch, between turns one and two, measures 3.055 feet while the North stretch, between turns two and three measures 1,780 feet.
The pit road speed at the Pocono Raceway is 55 MPH.
The speedway presently has seating for 100,000 fans.
The speedway is owned by the Mattioli family which is in itself unique. It’s one of the very few tracks on the NASCAR schedule that is still privately owned.
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THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The Gillette Fusion Pro Glide 500 , presented by Target, is 200 laps/500 miles around the Pocono Raceway’s challenging 2.5 mile triangular shaped track.
The race has 45 entries vying for the 43 starting berths. Ten of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning this teams are not guaranteed a starting berth because they are currently outside of the top 35 in NASCAR’s owner points. These ten teams will have to earn a starting berth based on their qualifying speed.
The defending race winner from June of last year is Tony Stewart. Denny Hamlin won the second 2009 Pocono race last August.
When it comes to winning at Pocono NASCAR veteran Bill Elliot leads everyone with five wins while Jeff Gordon has four win there. Chevrolet leads the manufacturer’s win list with 24.
NASCAR icon Mark Martin has never won at Pocono in his 45 starts there. But he does lead all drivers with top five finishes at 19 and in top ten finishes with 32.
Kurt Busch holds the record for laps led in a Pocono race at 175.
Kasey Kahne holds the track’s qualifying record, 172.533 MPH, set in June of 2004.
When it comes to setting fast time in qualifying, veterans Bill Elliot and Ken Schrader has earned that award five times each.
In 64 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono 46 of them have been won by drivers who started the race within the top ten.
Weather could present a slight problem especially on Saturday which calls for 77 degrees, heavy clouds and showers late in the afternoon. The forecast for Sunday race day calls for partly cloudy conditions and a high of 71 degrees.
The command for the drivers to start their engines is expected to be rather spirited. That’s because it will be delivered by World Wrestling Entertainment champion John Cena along with the Gillette Fusion Pro Glide Believers.
The TNT Network officially begins their summer run of broadcasting NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at Pocono this Sunday. The broadcast will begin with the pre race show at 1 pm eastern time with Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach and Kyle Petty calling the action. The race re air will be on Wednesday. 12 pm et, on the SPEED Channel. .
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