We’re headed to Pocono this weekend, and staffer Mike Wells has broken down all the stats you’d ever want to know about the track, last year’s race, and this year’s potential winners. Check it out.
Jeff Gordon won the rain-shortened Pocono 500 last year. The race was finally called on lap 106 after a 35 minute red flag, when Nascar finally determined that the track could not be dried before it got too dark. On and off showers even delayed the start of the race for more than 2 1/2 hours. You could say that Gordon won on pit strategy and mother nature. He took the lead on lap 98 and we pretty much in the right place at the right time. The win marked Gordon’s 79th career win. Ryan Newman was the pole sitter and placed 2nd. Truex Jr placed 3rd, Mears 4th, Stewart 5th, Hamlin 6th, Martin 7th, Kyle Busch 8th, Kenseth 9th and Bowyer rounded out the top ten. There were only 4 cautions for a total of 10 laps. Eight different drivers led the race with fifteen lead changes.
Pocono 500 Results (2007)
Fin St Car# Driver Team Laps Pts Pts Won Status
1 18 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 106 190 * 5 $238,286 Running
2 1 12 Ryan Newman Alltel Dodge 106 175 * 5 190,375 Running
3 3 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 106 170 * 5 156,545 Running
4 12 25 Casey Mears National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet 106 165 * 5 131,800 Running
5 6 20 Tony Stewart The Home Depot Chevrolet 106 160 * 5 146,736 Running
6 2 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Chevrolet 106 160 ** 10 123,625 Running
7 34 01 Mark Martin U.S. Army Chevrolet 106 151 * 5 112,483 Running
8 4 5 Kyle Busch Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 106 142 93,225 Running
9 24 17 Matt Kenseth DEWALT Ford 106 138 123,916 Running
10 5 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 106 134 89,375 Running
11 19 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 106 130 119,636 Running
12 13 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet 106 127 114,858 Running
13 10 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 106 124 109,191 Running
14 32 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 106 126 * 5 85,350 Running
15 33 13 Joe Nemechek Haier Chevrolet 106 118 72,100 Running
16 27 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 106 115 103,908 Running
17 11 18 J.J. Yeley Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 106 112 97,358 Running
18 31 10 Scott Riggs Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge 106 109 77,650 Running
19 26 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 106 106 105,636 Running
20 38 42 # Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 106 103 107,300 Running
21 15 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 106 100 86,370 Running
22 8 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 106 97 111,516 Running
23 29 40 David Stremme Coors Light Dodge 106 94 68,425 Running
24 22 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 106 91 91,408 Running
25 35 45 Chad McCumbee Goody’s Cool Orange Dodge 106 88 81,583 Running
26 36 6 # David Ragan AAA Ford 106 85 103,250 Running
27 30 88 Ricky Rudd Snickers Ford 106 82 97,458 Running
28 21 15 # Paul Menard Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet 106 79 66,275 Running
29 25 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford 106 76 74,125 Running
30 41 16 Greg Biffle Dish Network Ford 106 73 81,825 Running
31 42 14 Sterling Marlin PEPBOYS Auto Chevrolet 106 70 74,483 Running
32 39 66 Jeff Green Best Buy Chevrolet 106 67 80,222 Running
33 20 4 Ward Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 106 64 63,725 Running
34 16 38 David Gilliland M&M’s Ford 106 61 89,489 Running
35 9 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 106 58 62,125 Running
36 17 96 Tony Raines DLP HDTV Chevrolet 106 55 69,900 Running
37 43 21 Bill Elliott Little Debbie Snack Cakes Ford 105 52 80,939 Running
38 23 00 # David Reutimann Burger King Toyota 105 49 61,600 Running
39 28 84 # AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 104 46 61,475 Running
40 40 70 Johnny Sauter Yellow Transportation Chevrolet 103 43 61,325 Running
41 37 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Ford 103 40 61,180 Running
42 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 97 37 114,966 Running
43 14 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 55 34 69,197 Accident
Last year at this time, six drivers failed to make the race. Michael Waltrip, Kenny Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, Kevin Lepage, Dale Jarret and Mike Bliss.
The race was finally called after an elapsed time of 1 hour, 57 minutes and 15 seconds. The average speed was 136.887. The Bud Pole Award went to Ryan Newman 170.062 which is 52.922 seconds. There were four cautions for 10 laps. Lap 50-53 for debris, 57-58 for accident between the #16 & #22, Lap 65-66 for debris again and the final caution 105-106 due to rain.
There were 15 lead changes during the rain shortened Pocono 500. Ryan Newman from the pole, Denny Hanlin lap 1-25, Martin Truex lap 26, Casey Mears lap 27-28, Tony Stewart lap 29, Hamlin again lap 30, Stewart again lap 31-32, Hamlin again lap 33-50, Mark Martin lap 51, Hamlin lap 52-53, Newman lap 54-64, Jeff Gordon lap 65- 81, Newman again lap 82-90, Hamlin again lap 91-93, Edwards 94-97, and finally Gordon lap 98-106.
Top 20 drivers at this time last year:
POS DRIVER NAME POINTS STARTS WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 MONEY WON
1 JEFF GORDON 2249 14 4 10 12 $3,372,005
2 MATT KENSETH 2007 14 1 6 10 2,841,442
3 DENNY HAMLIN 2002 14 0 6 9 2,251,460
4 JIMMIE JOHNSON 1944 14 4 8 9 3,231,879
5 JEFF BURTON 1828 14 1 5 7 3,044,567
6 TONY STEWART 1733 14 0 3 9 2,588,434
7 CARL EDWARDS 1710 14 0 2 4 1,690,357
8 CLINT BOWYER 1659 14 0 0 7 1,567,619
9 KEVIN HARVICK 1648 14 1 2 5 4,332,276
10 KYLE BUSCH 1613 14 1 3 7 1,912,043
11 MARTIN TRUEX, JR 1597 14 1 2 5 2,148,536
12 MARK MARTIN 1586 11 0 4 7 2,715,736
13 RYAN NEWMAN 1564 14 0 3 6 2,220,268
14 DALE JR 1531 14 0 1 5 2,149,522
15 JAMIE MCMURRAY 1487 14 0 2 5 1,591,532
16 KURT BUSCH 1454 14 0 2 3 2,129,795
17 BOBBY LABONTE 1446 14 0 0 1 1,961,412
18 J J YELEY 1425 14 0 1 1 1,893,284
19 GREG BIFFLE 1412 14 0 1 3 1,728,865
20 ELLIOTT SADLER 1367 14 0 0 1 1,797,132
Speed Testing 2008:
Teams wrapped up the second of two days of testing with the car of tomorrow at Pocono. Kurt Busch’s Dodge was the fastest lap of the day. His speed was 169.456, which was 7 mph faster than the previous day. Second fastest was Mark Martin with a speed of 169.444. Patrick Carpentier was third with a speed of 169.039. Almendinger was 168.979 and Yeley was fifth fastest with a speed of 168.328.
What the drivers were saying about the COT’s way of handling at Pocono and almost every track.
“NASCAR has definitely been on the stubborn side as far as listening to our (drivers) opinion on the race car and what we can change to make it better,” said Busch, last years Pennsylvania 500 winner at Pocono.
“They feel like it’s in the best interest for our sport and that it’s the race car that we have to race, then we got to race it. They’re still handing out 190 points to win these races and that’s what we have to go and get.
“So if the car’s not turning it’s our own problem. We got to make it turn better because some of the guys out there and starting to get it done. This time around it’s any mans game. With the new set-ups it’s going to take something unique to get around this race track. What we did last year with the old car is irrelevant because it’s a new game with this new car.”
Martin Truex, Jr., for the second day, was among the speed leaders and was of the few who were pleased with how things went.
“It’s been a really good test for us. Our car’s been really fast since we got here yesterday and we’re really just going through some things we want to try,” said Truex.
“We ran very well here last year in both races and we’re looking forward to doing the same this time. So far we’re pretty happy.”
Likewise Kasey Kahne, who has come on strong in the past two weeks, felt that momentum carry into the test.
“So far so good. I think it’s a good test for us. The corners are so much different here and the car handles a lot different at each end. We did some long runs today and it felt pretty good throughout the whole run,” said Kahne, this past Sunday’s winner of the Coke 600 at Charlotte as well as the All Star race the previous week.
“I feel like ever since the Charlotte test, the last three weeks we’ve had better race cars. Today seems pretty cool too and the track seems pretty good.”
There are still issues, however, that teams are struggling with. Although the car has proved to be somewhat competitive thus far with more side-by-side racing, drivers remain at odds trying to figure its characteristics.
“The percentage of down force is different, the tire, all those things make the car different to drive so I don’t think it’s going to be a lot of fun but that’s just how it is,” said two-time Pocono winner Jimmie Johnson.
“I particularly run better at the rougher tracks and the tracks that are harder to get a hold of so I’m looking at this as an opportunity for us and excited even though it’s going to be like driving a dirt car around here.”
“You know it’s kind of weird. This car, some places you can really tell a big difference in it between the old car and the new car,” added Greg Biffle.
“Personally I haven’t felt a huge difference. I think back a year ago, this car doesn’t seem tremendously different than the old car. The old car did some things that this one won’t. You can tell that it’s got a little higher center of gravity on the corners and whatnot and doesn’t have near the travel that the other on used to.
“This (Pocono) is still a tough place to make consistent laps. It (car) does one thing one lap and one thing the next. We’re learning and we definitely needed this test to get ourselves going a little bit better and catch up to the rest of the cars here. It’s been trial and error and we learned a little bit.
Biffle did have one positive thing to say about the car.
“It’s easier to get in and out of. I like that part.”
Four-time Pocono winner Jeff Gordon made a 5-mph bump in speed from yesterday as he had a best lap of 166.018.
“You have to have a multiple groove race track with this car. In the past Pocono has not necessarily been a multi-groove race track other than maybe down in turn one,” said Gordon.
“But even though we still have some challenges with this car I think we still have been putting on some darn good races and I think we’ll see a fantastic race here. But as far as being able to run side-by-side, having all the cars stacked up passing one another through the corners, I don’t see that happening.”
Track News:
On Tuesday April 15, 2008 at approximately 6:15pm a Chevy Silverado driven by Paul Ansback, 53, of Gilbert, lost control of the vehicle, went off the road, became air born and struck the store, taking out a large chunk of the wall. The store was closed at the time. The pickup, then burst into flames, several passing motorist stopped and pulled the man from the burning truck, according to Tunkhannock Township Fire Chief Ron Wieand. William Foder of Saylorsburg and Mark McLean of Kunkletown are credited with pulling Mr. Ansback from his burning truck.
Foder and McLean who were driving by at the time of the accident, stopped and pulled Mr. Ansback from his burning truck. Ansback then was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital.
Due to the accident the Pocono NASCAR Fan Store will be closed until further notice. All tours are now being conducted from the Main Office located on Long Pond Road and by appointment.
Fastest Starting Field Average
170.284 mph
2000 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Fewest Cars Running at conclusion
18 of 36
1982 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Fewest Cars Running on lead lap
2 of 40
1978 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Fewest Caution Flags, Event
1
1978 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Fewest Lead Changes
10
1998 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Fewest Lead Drivers
4
1978 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Fewest Lead Drivers
4
1985 POCONO 500
Longest Green Flag Period
176 laps (Laps 1-176)
1985 POCONO 500
Most Cars Running at conclusion
36 of 43
1998 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Most Cars Running on lead lap
24 of 43
2000 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Most Caution Flags, Event
13
1990 POCONO 500
Most Consecutive Pole Positions
3 by Bill Elliot
1984, 1985-2
Most Consecutive Races Led
13 by Richard Petty
1974 - June 1984
Most Consecutive Wins
3 by Bobby Allison
1983 POCONO 500
Most Consecutive Wins
3 by Tim Richmond
1987 POCONO 500
Most Laps Led Career
841 by Jeff Gordon
Most Laps Led, Event
164 of 200 by Jeff Gordon
1998 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Most Laps Led, Season
199 of 400 by Bobby Allison
1982
Most Laps Run Career
7502 by Terry Labonte
Most Lead Changes
56 (39 cars)
1979 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Most Lead Drivers
16
1990 POCONO 500
Most Pole Positions
5 by Ken Schrader
Most Pole Positions
5 by Bill Elliot
Most Races Led, Career
24 by Dale Earnhardt
Most Times Led, Career
104 by Darrell Waltrip
Most Times Led, Event
19 by Cale Yarborough
1979 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Most Wins
5 by Bill Elliot
Track Record, 500 Miles
144.892 mph by Rusty Wallace
1996 PENNSYLVANIA 500
Track Record, One Lap
172.553 by Kasey Kahne
2004 Pocono 500 Qualifying
Track Stats:
June 2007 Pole Sitter:Ryan Newman
Track Qualifying Record: Kasey Kahne, June 2004, 172.533mph
June 2007 Race Winner:Jeff Gordon
Race Record: Rusty Wallace, July 1996, 144.892
Slowest Race Record: Jimmie Johnson, June 2004, 112.129mph
Worst Starting Spot to Win: Carl Edwards, June 2005, started 29th
Most Wins: 5 - Bill Elliott (4 - Jeff Gordon)
Most Poles: 5 - Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader
Most Top 5s: 19 - Mark Martin
Most Top 10s: 28 - Mark Martin
Oldest Winner: Harry Gant, 50 years
Youngest Winner: Jeff Gordon, 24 years
Most Lead Changes: 56 - 7/30/1979
Fewest Lead Changes: 10 - 7/26/1998
Most Leaders: 16, Three times, most recently 6/13/2004
Fewest Leaders: 4 - Twice, most recently, 6/9/1985
Most Cautions: 13 - 6/17/90 and 7/24/05
Fewest Cautions: 1 - 7/30/78
Most Caution Laps: 57, 6/13/04
Few Caution Laps: 3, 7/30/78
Most Finishers on a lead lap: 36, 6/10/2007 [rain shortened to 106 laps]
Fewest Finishers on a lead lap: 2 - twice, most recently 6/6/82
Most Running at the Finish: 42, 6/10/2007 [rain shortened to 106 laps]
Fewest Running at the Finish: 18, 7/25/1982
Most Laps Led: 175, Kurt Busch, 8/5/2007
Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 4, Bobby Labonte, 7/29/2001
Most Wins by Manufacturer: 23 - Chevy
Up front is best at Pocono: In the 60 Cup races held at Pocono the winner has started in the front row 21 times and the top ten 43 times.
Races won from starting pos 1: 12* [of 60 races] 20.0%
Races won from the pole: 12 of 60 events (20.0%)
Races won from in top 10: 43 of 60 events (71.7%)
Races won from outside top 10: 17 of 60 events (28.3%)
About The Track:
The drivers start out on a 3740 foot straight away that is banked at 3 degrees. As they enter turn one, they transition into a 14 degree bank and continue into that banking thru turn 2. As they enter the Long Pond stretch the banking returns to 3 degrees for 3055 feet. As they enter turn 3, the drivers again transition into a 8 degree banking thru turns 3 and 4 till they re-enter the North stretch. On the North stretch, they enter a 1780 foot stretch till they come to the last set of turns. the last set of turns is banked at 6 degrees and once they transition that turn, they reenter the front stretch. Qualifying speeds are typically in the high 170’s while the track record for race speed is 144 miles per hour. Pit Road speed is 55 miles per hour. This race will be 200 laps long or a total of 500 miles.
Keys to the race:
Pocono has three turns and three straight-aways. The track is a test for engine builders as the cars will run at a very high RPM three times on each lap for an extended period of time. Denny Hamlin won both poles and races at Pocono in 2006 and Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch took the checker flags during the 2007 season making all three great options.
Who will you pick? Here are my top 10 picks:
Denny Hamlin is pretty darn good at this track. He had 2 wins in 2006 and has never finished worst than 6th here. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 2.75.
Kurt Bush is not steady but he has done well. He won the fall race in 2005, and placed 2nd in both 2006 races. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 11.30.
Jeff Gordon is my third pick. He has been up and down this season just like Johnson. Dale Jr has been the strongest link for sure in the Hendrick stable. Gordon is one of few drivers that has a 60% or higher top 10 finishing average. He has also finished in the to 5 in half of the last ten here. I am expecting Jeff to have a decent day. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 12.20.
Kyle “Rowdy” Busch is … well…what can ya say? The guy is on a hot streak too hot to handle. You think Hendrick is questioning letting him slip through his fingers? Who knows. Streaks come and streaks go. You can’t ride that cloud forever, but it has to be one heck of a ride for Busch! Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 16.17.
Dale Jr. won the pole last time here. He then turned that pole position into a 2nd place finish. He has been real consistent at this track. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 17.40.
Tony Stewart has to be upset that he is Gibb’s third best Toyota. He is not used to that at all. Stewart after all, is a mid-season kind of driver. He tends to heat up right about now. Stewart has won here, and has not finished lower than 7th in the last 5 races. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 15.70.
Jimmie Johnson has not had the year he had last year, but you should be able to expect good things from him. After all, he does have two wins here but they were back in 2004. Besides last year, Johnson has never finished worst than 12th here since 2004. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 11.00.
Carl Edwards is my 9th pick. Edwards is pretty good on all tracks. He tends to do well on large tracks. Roush cars tend to do well at this track. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 16.60.
Kevin Harvick does pretty well at this track. Last fall, 17th was the worst he has finished. He has finished just outside the top 5 besides that. Last 10 at Pocono, average finish 14.90.
No matter who you choose, Pocono is normally a boring track. If last week’s race was not exciting for you, then you may not expect much more from this one. I would say record it, fast forward through the breaks and boring parts. But as far as I am concerned, Denny gets the win!
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