Next Race: Pocono 400 The Place: Pocono Raceway The Date: Sunday, June 2 The Time: 2:00 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 12:30 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) 2018 Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr. Martin Truex Jr. on a roll Martin Truex Jr. is not only the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ most recent winner – earning the victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night – he is the defending winner of this week’s race, the Pocono 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry collected his third win of the season last weekend and surely feels optimistic arriving at another of his best tracks. Truex won the 2015 Pocono early summer race leading a race-best 97 of the 160 laps and his victory in this race last year gives him three top-10s in his last four starts there. He’s led laps in four of the last five Pocono races. And he earned a front row start three consecutive times from 2016-2017 seasons – winning the pole in 2016 and starting on the outside of the front row both races in 2017. Leading laps has proven to be a good indication of how strong the 2017 Cup champion’s team is at a race track. He’s led at least 100 laps in all three of his 2019 victories and in fact 434 of his season total 459 laps out front (94.5 percent) have been in his winning venues (at Richmond, Dover, and Charlotte). Truex is ranked sixth in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver championship points standings with two runner-up finishes (at Atlanta and Phoenix) in addition to his three wins. Kyle Busch back on top Kyle Busch reclaimed the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points lead from reigning series champion Joey Logano last weekend with his third-place finish at Charlotte. Busch has top-10 finishes in 12 of the season’s 13 races, including three victories (at Phoenix, California. and Bristol), a runner-up showing in the Daytona 500 and third place finishes at Las Vegas, Martinsville, and Charlotte. Busch has led laps in 11 of the 13 races and led 60 or more laps six times – topped by a 177-laps out front en route to his ISM Raceway win. It may have taken Busch a little time to finally earn that first victory at the “Tricky Triangle” as Pocono is known, but he’s clearly on track now. Both his wins have come in the last three-race span. He won his first Pocono race in 2017 from the Busch Pole position. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry has led 239 laps in the last four Pocono races. He’s led 262 laps in the last seven races, which means 81 percent of his 325 Pocono laps led total came in that time frame. Last year, Busch won in every series at the Pocono track – claiming his second Cup win and notching his first NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victories as well. Hamlin stands atop the mountain at Pocono Denny Hamlin arrives at Pocono Raceway with fond memories and high hopes. He won his first two races at the track from the pole position in 2006 – a feat never accomplished at the storied race venue. He and Jimmie Johnson (2004) are the only active drivers to sweep a season’s races and Hamlin answered his work in 2006 with back-to-back wins in 2009-10. His four-win total is most in this weekend’s field. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry could use a Pocono boost after a comparatively frustrating May. Hamlin won the Daytona 500 and answered with a trophy at Texas Motor Speedway in April. But after a fifth-place showing at Richmond in April, Hamlin has had four straight finishes outside the top-10 and is ranked seventh in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points. Pocono may well be the panacea. Not only does he boast an overall top record there among his competitors, he has three top-10 finishes in his most recent five starts. He’s earned 16 top 10s and 10 top fives in 26 starts. And his 693 laps out front is second only to three-time race winner Jimmie Johnson (740 laps led) in this week’s field. Hamlin has a 7.1 average starting position through 26 races – a phenomenal statistic – and an average finish of 12.6. Of drivers with more than one start at Pocono, only the late NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson has a better average starting position (4.667) but that came in only six starts compared to Hamlin’s 26. “We had a really fast FedEx Toyota in Charlotte and it’s crazy how many cars we passed over the course of the entire race, repeatedly going from the back to the front,’’ Hamlin said. “Unfortunately, our finish doesn’t reflect how good of a car we had, but I’m proud of the speed our team brought to the race track and if we can bring that speed with us to Pocono, we will be in a great position to win.’’ “Historically, the FedEx #11 has had some success and we will be entering Pocono confident that we can secure another victory.’’ Potential for Penske power at Pocono The perennial powerhouse Team Penske team continues to wrestle with Joe Gibbs Racing for high honors this season. Penske’s Brad Keselowski joins two JGR teammates (Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.) with three wins through the opening 13 races of 2019. And Penske driver Joey Logano – the reigning Monster Energy Series champion – has exchanged the points lead with Busch for most of the season as well. He won at Las Vegas and has nine top-10s. And the team’s newest addition, Ryan Blaney, has held his own with the veterans even as he looks for his first win of the season. All three drivers are ranked among the top 10 in the standings. Pocono Raceway is not necessarily a place where Penske cars have dominated and collected trophies like they have elsewhere on the schedule. But each of the Penske trio has a Pocono victory and reason to feel optimistic this weekend as the series returns for the first of two summer stops. Logano won from the pole position in 2012 driving for the JGR team. He has six top-10 finishes since the victory, but only two in the last seven races. In 2018, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was ninth and 26th in the two races at Pocono. Keselowski, who drives the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang, had six consecutive top-five finishes – six of the last seven races – before last summer’s second event when he crashed in the waning laps of the race. He has three runner-up showings (2014,15,16) since his 2011 victory and his average finish is a stellar 11.7 in 18 starts. There will always be a special place for Pocono in Blaney’s heart since he scored his first Monster Energy Series win there (in June 2017). He has five finishes of 12th or better in six starts, was sixth and 12th in the two races last year and boasts the same 11.7 average finish as his teammate Keselowski. Kurt Busch brings confidence to Pocono Chip Ganassi Racing veteran Kurt Busch brings a lot of confidence and a successful resume to Pocono Raceway. His three wins are second only to Denny Hamlin’s four wins among active drivers (Jimmie Johnson also has three wins). In 35 starts at Pocono, Busch has 20 top-10 finishes, which also ties him with Johnson for most in the field. No one on this week’s grid has more previous top-five showings (14) than Busch at the track. And Busch is one of only four drivers currently ranked among the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ top-16 with multiple pole positions (two) and wins (three) at Pocono. His 102.8 driver rating is third best in the field and second only to Hamlin among those drivers with at least 10 starts. He has top-10 finishes in four of his last six starts at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track. Busch returns to Pocono this week looking for his first win of the season and first driving the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. He has eight top-10 finishes through the opening 13 races of 2019, including a runner-up showing at Bristol, Tenn. and a third place at Atlanta. He’s had top-10s in two of the last four races but is coming off a 27th-place finish in Charlotte. Fans treated to impressive racing as 2019 season rolls on The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has brought some great racing action to the fans this season. It has also brought some solid statistics to back up all the stellar racing everyone has seen through the first 13 races of 2019. For starters, green flag passes for the lead (513) are up 56% compared to last season’s first 13 events (330). Three of the 13 races this season have produced record-setting green flag passes for the lead; producing more green flag passes for the lead than ever before – Las Vegas (47), Bristol (47), and Kansas (41). Additionally, in the year-over-year comparison, 2019 has seen significant gains in green flag passes for the lead in nine of the 13 races this season; including all five of the 1.5-mile tracks (Atlanta, Las Vegas, Texas, Kansas, and Charlotte). Plus, nine of the 13 races this season have produced more green flag passes for the lead than the five-year average But that’s not all, passing is up through the field as well; total green flag passes (45,590 GFP) through the first 13 races of the season are up 30% compared to 2018 (35,069 GFP). With nine of the 13 races in 2019 seeing an increase in green flag passes compared to last season; including the Daytona 500, Talladega, Martinsville, Bristol, Dover and four of the five 1.5-mile tracks (Las Vegas, Texas, Kansas and Charlotte). Next Race: Pocono Green 250 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro & Sons The Place: Pocono Raceway The Date: Saturday, June 1 The Time: 1:00 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 250 miles (100 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 50), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 100) 2018 Race Winner: Kyle Busch Pocono a ‘Tricky Triangle’ for Xfinity drivers This week the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains for the Pocono Green 250 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro & Sons at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, June 1, at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Pocono Raceway, with just three turns, is unlike any other track the series competes on. This Saturday’s race marks the fourth time the series has visited Pocono Raceway. The three previous races have produced three different pole winners – Erik Jones (2016), Kyle Benjamin (2017) and Cole Custer (2018) – and three different race winners – Kyle Larson (2016), Brad Keselowski (2017) and Kyle Busch (2018). It will be interesting to see if both streaks of different pole and race winners will continue this weekend; as Cole Custer is the only one of those mentioned drivers entered in Saturday’s race, making a new winner a guarantee. Custer is currently third in the series standings. He has made two series starts at Pocono posting one pole, one top five, two top 10s and an average finish of 6.0. Reddick reassures his doubters he is championship material Richard Childress Racing hit the jackpot when they signed Tyler Reddick to drive their flagship No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro this season. The Californian just picked up his second win of the year (Talladega and Charlotte) and has opened up his series standings lead to an impressive 65 points over second-place Christopher Bell. While other drivers may have more wins, Reddick’s consistency has been unmatched. He is riding a streak of eight consecutive top-five finishes. Plus, he’s spent 14.5% of his time out front leading 306 laps this season – fourth most. In 11 starts this season he has posted two poles, two wins, three stage wins, nine top fives, and 10 top 10s. Don’t expect the momentum to slow for the 23-year old. He made his series track debut at Pocono Raceway last season, starting ninth and finishing ninth. Jeffrey Earnhardt putting up career numbers in the limelight He’s not the first, and definitely will not be the last, but Jeffrey Earnhardt is the latest to pool his resources for a part-time run with one of the top teams in the series to showcase his true talent, and it’s working. Earnhardt is coming off his NASCAR Xfinity Series career-best finish (third) this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway driving the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. His average finish this season is also a career-best of 11.6 and he has led a single season career-high 29 laps. The grandson of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, Jeffrey has embraced the limelight and in doing so has posted one top five and three top 10s in just five starts this season. Watch for Earnhardt this weekend, as he will be making his series track debut at Pocono Raceway in the No. 18 Toyota that Kyle Busch drove to the win in last season’s event. Monster-type presence on Saturday Two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Austin Dillon, and Ryan Preece, will be pulling double duty this weekend and competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the Pocono Green 250 Recycled by J.P. Mascaro & Sons at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, June 1 (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Austin Dillon will be piloting the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro with crew chief Alex Yontz this weekend at Pocono Raceway. Dillon has been helping Kaulig Racing as they are bringing their second part-time team up to speed. Dillon has made two series starts with the team this season, posting one top-five finish (Las Vegas). Ryan Preece will be back in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro with crew chief Tyler Moyer this weekend for his third series start of 2019. Preece has posted two top 10s in his previous two starts with JRM this season. Preece made his series track debut at Pocono in 2016 driving for JD Motorsports – he started 19 and finished 17th. This weekend’s race will be Austin Dillon’s series track debut at Pocono Raceway. Next Race: SpeedyCash.com 400 The Place: Texas Motor Speedway The Date: Friday, June 7 The Time: 9 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 8:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 250.5 miles (167 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 40), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 167) 2018 Race Winner: Johnny Sauter source – NASCAR communications
