This Weekend in NASCAR – Pocono & Iowa Storylines

Next Race: Gander Outdoors 400
The Place: Pocono Raceway
The Date: Sunday, July 29
The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400 miles (160 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 50), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 100), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 160)

Chasing History

You know they’ve been good. But exactly how good have Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. been this season? The trio of drivers (Harvick – six wins, Busch – five and Truex – four) have combined to win 15 of the opening 20 contests.

2018 marks just the seventh season in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history to see three drivers record four or more wins through the first 20 races of the year. And the last time it happened was nearly two decades years ago when Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon won four apiece to tally 12 wins in the opening 20 races of 1999. Before that? You would have to go back to the powerhouse drivers of the 1970s.

And only twice in NASCAR’s illustrious history has a trio of driver won more through the first 20 races than the current “Big 3.”

In 1974, the trio of NASCAR Hall of Famers Cale Yarborough (eight), Richard Petty (seven) and David Pearson (four) combined to win 19 of the opening 20 races. Amazingly, those three drivers also accounted for the next six race trophies, giving the trio 23 straight race wins after Bobby Allison won the third race of the season. The streak was broken at race No. 26 – when Earl Ross won at Martinsville; the only victory in Ross’s career.

Three years later, Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Petty won 16 of the opening 20 and 17 of the first 21 races with Pearson breaking up the three-driver party with a win at Darlington in Race 22.

Here’s a look at the seven times in which three drivers have dominated so much of the opening 20 races of the season:

2018 – Kevin Harvick (6), Kyle Busch (5), Martin Truex Jr. (4) – 15 total

1999 – Jeff Burton (4), Jeff Gordon (4), Dale Jarrett (4) – 12 total

1978 – Cale Yarborough (5), Darrell Waltrip (5), David Pearson (4) – 14 total

1977 – Yarborough (7), Richard Petty (5), Waltrip (4) – 16 total

1974 – Yarborough (8), Petty (7), Pearson (4) – 19 total

1972 – Bobby Allison (6), Petty (5), Pearson (4) – 15 total

1962 – Jack Smith (4), Joe Weatherly (4), Rex White (4) – 12 total

Powerful Heading Into Pocono

If you thought the “Big 3” couldn’t possibly keep up their near-historic pace of winning – be prepared. Martin Truex Jr. won at this week’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series venue, Pocono Raceway, earlier this summer and Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick finished third and fourth, respectively.

Last year, Busch won the second Pocono race, followed by Harvick and Truex. There’s a theme.  A recurring, high-performing, headline-making theme for these three dominant drivers in 2018. Here’s a look at their outlook heading into Tricky Triangle.

Harvick: Fresh off his hard-earned win over Busch with a bump-and-run in the waning laps in New Hampshire on Sunday, Harvick arrives in scenic northeastern Pennsylvania looking for his first career victory at the 2.5-mile Pocono triangle. It’s one of only two venues (including Kentucky Speedway) on the current Monster Energy Series schedule where he hasn’t won yet – in 35 career starts.

Harvick was fourth in the June race at Pocono this season and has finished in the top-10 in seven of the last eight races. Four times he’s been the race runner-up.

A win last week in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and top-five finishes in six of the last seven races on the 2018 schedule certainly give Harvick every reason to be optimistic about establishing some personal history Sunday.

Busch: Busch returns to Pocono as the defending winner of the late-summer Gander Outdoors 400. But similar to Harvick, he hasn’t necessarily posted his best career results at the unique track. That victory is his only one in 27 Pocono starts. He is coming off four consecutive top-10 efforts, however, including a third place in June. His 12 top-10 hauls in 27 starts makes this one of his lower yielding venues overall.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota continues to only look forward, however. Busch continues to answer the call in 2018 – leading the season points standings for the 15th consecutive week, his runner-up showing to Harvick last weekend still giving him a 53-point advantage. He has seven top-five finishes in the last eight races.

Truex: Truex may have the lowest total victory count among the three series frontrunners, but he does hold the distinction for most wins (two) in the six races since the series last raced at Pocono – a race that Truex won, giving him three wins in the past seven races overall.

The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota has nine top-five finishes in the last 10 races, including three wins (Pocono, Sonoma, Kentucky) and three runner-up showings (at Kansas, Charlotte and Daytona).

Overall at Pocono, Truex has a pair of wins at Pocono, started from the front row three consecutive times (2016-2017) and led 83 laps in the last four races.

Pushing for the Playoffs

With just six races remaining in the regular season, and only seven drivers locked in on wins, the pressure is on this weekend in the Gander Outdoors 400 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to get to Victory Lane for the chance at postseason glory.

Here’s a look at active, championship-contending drivers who have wins at upcoming tracks but have yet to visit Victory Lane in 2018:

Pocono: Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman

Watkins Glen: AJ Allmendinger, Hamlin

Michigan: Ku. Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Kyle Larson, Newman

Bristol: Ku. Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Keselowski

Darlington: Hamlin, Johnson

Indianapolis: Kahne, Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Newman

Fond Memories

Ryan Blaney will of course remember Pocono Raceway as the place he scored his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in 2017. But right now, he’d love the track to be the place he scores his next, a 2018 Playoff-insurance victory.

The popular 24-year old driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford has four top-11 finishes in five Pocono starts. He won the pole position there in June and finished sixth.

And Blaney seems to be recovering from a rough three-race midsummer swing of finishes outside the top 15, including two finishes of 34th or worse. He was runner-up at Kentucky two weeks ago and seventh last Sunday at New Hampshire.

Champion’s Pocono Groove

There are still four former Monster Energy Series champions looking for their first victory of the 2018 season – Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth.

Of those, Johnson and Busch boast three Pocono victories each. Keselowski and Kenseth have won there once in the Monster Energy Series as well.

Busch appears to have the most favorable momentum heading into this week’s race with top-10 finishes in the last two races. And he won the Busch Pole position in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford last week at New Hampshire. Of the four winless series champions, he is the most recent winner at Pocono (June, 2016) and has seven top-10 finishes in the last 11 races at the Tricky Triangle.

Keselowski, who won at Pocono in the July race in 2011, has six top-five finishes in his last six races at the track, including runner-up finishes in the July races in 2015 and 2016 in this race.

Kenseth, who is sharing a drive in the Roush-Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford, has five top-10 finishes in his last seven Pocono starts.

Johnson, who has three wins and four Busch Poles in the Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 Chevrolet finished eighth here earlier this season, but overall has struggled as of late at Pocono – with DNFs in three of the last five races.

Next Race: U.S. Cellular 250 presented by the Rasmussen Group
The Place: Iowa Speedway
The Date: Saturday, July 28
The Time: 5 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN, 5 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 218.75 miles (250 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 120), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 250)

Allgaier Looking For Iowa Season Sweep

Back in June, JR Motorsport’s driver Justin Allgaier seized the checkered flag at Iowa Speedway in imposing fashion, leading 182 of the 250 scheduled laps. Now the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to the famous mid-western 0.875-mile track to put on another great show for the fans and see if Justin Allgaier can become just the second driver in series history to win consecutive races at Iowa Speedway; joining Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who won three straight from 2011-2012.

Currently fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings, Justin Allgaier and No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team have posted two wins (Dover-1 and Iowa-1), eight top fives and 13 top 10s.

If Allgaier accomplishes the feat of sweeping both races at Iowa this season, it will be the first time in his career he has won two races at a single track in a single season.

Justin Allgaier has made 13 series starts at Iowa posting one win, two top fives, nine top 10s and an average finish of 10.5 – fifth-best among active drivers this weekend.

Number 9? Eight Different Winners In Last Eight Races At Iowa

Since August of 2014, there have been eight straight races with different winners at Iowa Speedway, and this weekend fans will have the chance to possibly see a ninth different winner in as many races. The NASCAR Xfinity Series action will be in high gear on Saturday, July 28 at 5 p.m. ET (on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) when the green flag drops on the U.S. Cellular 250 presented by the Rasmussen Group.

Brad Keselowski’s most recent win at Iowa back in 2014 kicked off the streak and since then Chris Buescher (May 2015), Ryan Blaney (August 2015), Sam Hornish Jr. (June 2016), Erik Jones (July 2016), William Byron (June 2017), Ryan Preece (July 2017) and Justin Allgaier (June 2018) have all enjoyed the spoils of victory at Iowa Speedway.

This weekend, the only former winner from the streak entered at Iowa Speedway is JR Motorsport’s driver Justin Allgaier. But several drivers will be looking to add their name to the list of different winners to keep the streak alive. Below is a chart of the top 10 active drivers in average finishing position at Iowa Speedway. Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate, Elliott Sadler, leads all active drivers in average finish with 7.4.

Hemric On Point

For the first time in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric has taken the championship driver standings lead with eight races left in the regular season. Hemric is currently six points ahead of second-place Christopher Bell and seven points ahead of third-place Elliott Sadler. If Hemric wins the regular season championship, he is guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs and will be awarded an additional 15 Playoff points to take with him into the postseason.

Hemric’s ascension to the points lead has taken all season, but the North Carolina native and the No. 2 RCR Chevrolet team are firing on all cylinders. In 18 starts this season, he has posted nine top fives (third-most), 13 top fives and a series leading average finish of 8.7.

Iowa is a great place for Hemric to get his first win in the series. In three starts at the 0.875-mile track he has posted one top five and two top 10s; including a third-place finish earlier this season.

Briscoe’s Back, Back Again

Fresh off a big win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway in the Eldora Dirt Derby for ThorSport Racing, Chase Briscoe is strapping into the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford this weekend at Iowa Speedway, looking to keep the positive momentum going. Briscoe has made eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts this season, posting one top 10 and an average finish of 18.6. This will be Briscoe’s series track debut at Iowa this weekend.

Next Race: Gander Outdoors 150
The Place: Pocono Raceway
The Date: Saturday, July 28
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 150 miles (60 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 15), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 30), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 60)

From Dirt to Asphalt, Trucks Head to Pocono

Drivers are preparing for the Gander Outdoors 150 a little bit differently than they were preparing for last week’s Eldora Dirt Derby, when Chase Briscoe took home the victory at the Rossburg, Ohio, dirt track. It was a heartbreaking loss for Grant Enfinger, who battled it out with his ThorSport Racing teammate Briscoe until the very last second. Stewart Friesen came in third at Eldora, followed by Matt Crafton and Brett Moffitt who completed the top five.

This week the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is on the road to Pocono Raceway for the Gander Outdoors 150 (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). This is the ninth race for the Truck Series at Pocono Raceway and they have year to have a repeat winner through the first eight races at the 2.5-mile track this Saturday.

In previous years, the race winner has never started outside of the top 10 and three race winners started from the pole (Elliott Sadler in 2010, Kevin Harvick in 2011, William Byron in 2016). Chevrolet has won four times at the track and Toyota has won three times – actually comprising of the most recent three races at Pocono (2015-2017). Ford has only won once, in 2013, with Ryan Blaney.

Last year, Christopher Bell took home the victory, leading seven laps before crossing the finish line.

Kyle Busch is entered to race this weekend at Pocono. Busch hasn’t run in the series since the Charlotte race earlier this year, where he finished in second place. Of his four starts, he has not started outside of the top 10 and he hasn’t finished outside of the top five except for a 21st-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway after starting from the pole.

Busch has visited Pocono Raceway three times in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series grabbing one win, two top fives and two top 10s. Last year, he led 32 laps before he was involved in a crash that put him in 25th place.

Multi-Race Winners at Pocono Raceway

There has never been a multi-race winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Pocono Raceway since the series debut in 2010.

Right now, the only driver who could potentially grab second win at Pocono is Kyle Busch as there are no other previous race winners entered this week. If Busch wins on Saturday, he will be the first driver to win two races at the Tricky Triangle.

A First Time For Everything

As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Pocono Raceway on Saturday for the Gander Outdoors 150 (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), there are eight drivers entered to race who have never visited the 2.5-mile track before.

They are: Todd Gilliland, Myatt Snider, Robby Lyons, Dalton Sargeant, Josh Reaume, Bo LeMastus, Bayley Currey, Ray Ciccarelli, Tanner Thorson and Timmy Hill.

There are also several drivers heading back to Pocono Raceway for only the second time of their career.

They are: Camden Murphy, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Justin Fontaine, Stewart Friesen, J.J. Yeley, Grant Enfinger and Reed Sorenson.

Norm Benning, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter have all visited the Tricky Triangle eight times in their career, the most of any driver in the Truck Series.

Crafton Craving A Win

Matt Crafton has visited Pocono Raceway eight times in his career but has yet to win at the track. Along with his first track win, Crafton is also searching for his first win of the season. At Pocono, he has five top-10 finishes and two top fives. Currently, Crafton sits in sixth place in the points standings and has five top fives and six top 10s under his belt this season. He has not had a winless season since 2012.

source – NASCAR communications