Two of NASCAR’s three national series are in action this weekend at Pocono Raceway with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. The NASCAR XFINITY Series is at Iowa Speedway on Saturday. Storylines follow… The Race: Overton’s 400 The Place: Pocono Raceway The Date: Sunday, July 30 The Time: 3 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 2:30 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) Blaney Hopes To Find Pocono Victory Lane For Second Time This Season A month after he notched his first career win at Pocono, Ryan Blaney will attempt to visit Victory Lane once again when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to the Tricky Triangle on Sunday for the Overton’s 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Blaney will attempt to become the eighth driver to complete the Pocono sweep, joining: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2014), Denny Hamlin (2006), Jimmie Johnson (2004), Bobby Labonte (1999), Tim Richmond (1986), Bill Elliott (1985) and Bobby Allison (1982). Blaney has struggled since his win, with just two top-10 finishes in six starts. In addition to his victory, he has three top fives, seven top 10s and an 18.8 average finish on the season. His eight playoff points rank tied with Kevin Harvick for sixth in the series. Kasey Kahne Earns First Win In 102 Starts At Brickyard Kasey Kahne snapped a 102-race winless streak by beating out Brad Keselowski on a restart in NASCAR overtime to win the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver is now virtually guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. Additionally, the win marked Kahne’s first top-10 finish since his fifth-place showing at Talladega in May. The victory was the first for his crew chief, Keith Rodden. Kahne became the 13th different winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this season. He will attempt to continue his momentum in Sunday’s Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway – a track where he’s experienced success in the past. In 27 starts at the Tricky Triangle, Kahne claims two wins five top fives and nine top 10s. Can Dale Jr. Punch Playoff Ticket At Pocono? Time is running out for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to earn a playoff spot in his final full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. He only has six races left to achieve the feat. Pocono Raceway might be his best remaining bet to get the win that ensures him a playoff berth. In 34 career starts at the Tricky Triangle, Earnhardt owns two victories (both in 2014), 11 top fives, 15 top 10s and a 15.1 average finish. He has finished fifth or better in six of his last eight races there. Playoff Pressure Heightens The pressure is on to make the playoffs after Kasey Kahne stole a berth with his win at Indy. The following drivers would get in if the season ended today: Martin Truex Jr. (three wins, 29 playoff points), Jimmie Johnson (three, 16), Kyle Larson (two, 13), Brad Keselowski (two, 13), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (two, 10), Kevin Harvick (one, eight), Ryan Blaney (one, eight), Denny Hamlin (one, seven), Kurt Busch (one, five), Ryan Newman (one, five), Austin Dillon (one, five), Kasey Kahne (one, five), Kyle Busch (140 points above Clint Bowyer on the cutoff line, seven playoff points), Jamie McMurray (+84), Chase Elliott (+73, two), Matt Kenseth (+51, two). The first four out would be: Bowyer (33 points below Kenseth on the cutoff line), Joey Logano (-51, one playoff point), Erik Jones (-126), Daniel Suarez (-132) and Trevor Bayne (-180). Remember a victory virtually guarantees a driver a playoff berth. Below is a list of winless drivers who have taken a checkered flag at the remaining six regular-season tracks Pocono: Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chris Buescher Watkins Glen: Ky. Busch, AJ Allmendinger Michigan: Ky. Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth Bristol: Ky. Busch, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr. Darlington: Ky. Busch, Kenseth Richmond: Ky. Busch, Kenseth, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr. Kyle Busch Tries For First Pocono Win Kyle Busch has won at 21 of the 23 active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series tracks. The only two places where Busch has never visited Victory Lane are Charlotte and Pocono – the site of Sunday’s Overton’s 400. Busch won the Coors Light Pole at the Pennsylvania track in June and led 100 of 160 laps on his way to a ninth-place finish. In 25 career Pocono starts, he claims four top fives, 10 tops 10s and an 18.2 average finish. He’s finished runner-up at Pocono twice (2010-June; 2011-August). Although he is fourth in the points standings (107 markers behind leader Martin Truex Jr.) and second in stage wins (seven), Busch has yet to win a race this season. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Etc. Kids Drive NASCAR Launches: The NASCAR industry is celebrating the next generation of fans with Kids Drive NASCAR beginning this weekend (thru Michigan). Look out for the Kids vs. Drivers challenges on AccelerationNation.com, and be part of the conversation by using #KidsDriveNASCAR on social media. NASCAR and participating tracks will host children as honorary race officials, green-flag wavers and reporters, in addition to hosting a variety of youth-focused events and activities for families. Pocono will host its 10th annual Lehigh Valley Children’s Hospital Kids Day on Saturday. Free activities include: face painting, bounce houses and photo booths. The Race: U.S. Cellular 250 The Place: Iowa Speedway The Date: Saturday, July 29 The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 3 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) JR Motorsport’s Rising Star William Byron Returns To Iowa Looking For The Sweep JR Motorsport’s William Byron is quickly becoming one of the most popular rising stars in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, and this weekend the young juggernaut returns to Iowa Speedway looking to become just the second driver in series history to sweep both Iowa Speedway races in a single season; joining former series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (who won three straight – 2011 sweep and 2012 June race). Byron broke into the win column for the first time in his NASCAR XFINITY Series career when he first visited Iowa back in June. Since then the 19-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina has added two more wins to his resume – at Daytona International Speedway (July race) and last weekend’s victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I haven’t seen a driver win in everything he gets in like (William) Byron is doing right now since Jeff Gordon,” said NBC analyst and former driver Kyle Petty following Byron’s victory at Indianapolis. The high praise isn’t surprising considering the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has posted one pole, three wins, seven top fives, 12 top 10s and an average finish of 9.5 in 18 NASCAR XFINITY Series starts this season. But to put his ascension into success in even more perspective, consider this: In 42 NASCAR national series starts he has 10 wins (three NXS, seven NCWTS) – a 23.8% winning percentage (tied with Greg Biffle for the ninth-most wins all-time in a driver’s first 42 NASCAR national series starts). Byron is not only exceptional on track, he also understands what it took to get where he is. “Great people,” said Byron. “You have got to have good people around you, and Rudy Fugle (Byron’s crew chief last season in the NCWTS) is a pretty awesome guy, and he taught me a lot last year. We had a really good combination, and we took what we learned and applied it to this year and Dave (Elenz, this season’s NXS crew chief) is excellent. Dave is a great engineer and great crew chief that makes excellent pit strategy calls. I feel like we are starting to get that confidence up between the two of us, and that is starting to lead to a lot of success,” Byron said. This weekend will be Byron’s second series start at Iowa Speedway, in his series track debut earlier this season on the 0.875-mile track, he started sixth, led 78 laps and won with a driver rating of 131.2. If Byron pulls off the sweep this weekend at Iowa, he will be one win closer to the series’ rookie season record for wins of five; held by Greg Biffle (2001), Carl Edwards (2005) and Kyle Busch (2004). Erik Jones posted four wins in his rookie season last year. Quick Facts: NASCAR And Iowa This weekend’s U.S. Cellular 250 Presented by American Ethanol (Saturday, July 29 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will be the 16th running of the event at Iowa Speedway. The state of Iowa has been very welcoming to NASCAR, and here are some of the highlights and quick facts about the two over the years. In total, there have been 27 NASCAR national series races held in the state of Iowa (MENCS 1, NXS 15 and NCWTS 11). The very first NASCAR national series race held in the state of Iowa was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on August 2, 1953 at Davenport Speedway in Davenport, Iowa. The 200-lap race was won by Herb Thomas in a Hudson. The event still is the only Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held in the state of Iowa. The first of 15 NASCAR XFINITY Series races held in the state of Iowa was on August 1, 2009 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. Brad Keselowski won the inaugural event driving for JR Motorsports (Chevrolet). Every NASCAR XFINITY Series event held in the state of Iowa has been at Iowa Speedway. The Race: Overton’s 150 The Place: Pocono Raceway The Date: Saturday, July 29 The Time: 1 p.m. ET TV: FOX, 1 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) Crafton Cranks It Up In The Dirt Two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton dug his way to a win at Eldora Speedway – capturing his first career win at the dirt track. The win broke a 27-race winless streak for Crafton, who last won a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, 2016. In four prior NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Eldora, Crafton had been strong and finished inside the top-10 each time, but never got that first win. “My first dirt win – a lot of fun,” said Crafton, who picked up his 14th career win in the series. “In the second part of that race we down-right just stunk. It was my fault. We over-tightened it a little bit in the first run. It got free and we just went back to the way we started the race.” As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pivots next to Pocono Raceway for the Overton’s 150 (Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Crafton will look to continue his streak of winning at tracks where he’s yet to visit victory lane. In seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the Tricky Triangle, Crafton has two top fives and four top 10s, with an average finish of 11.0. Friesen Flourishes At Eldora Canada-born driver and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Stewart Friesen had a career night at Eldora Speedway. Friesen won his first career Keystone Light Pole Award to start the evening, and came very close to finishing the night perfectly. He would ultimately finish second to two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton, but led a race-high 93 laps and won Stage 2. Both Friesen’s finish (second) and laps-led (93) were career highs for the Sunoco Rookie. He was disappointed that he didn’t capture the win, but was proud of his team and their effort. “We didn’t come here to run second that’s for damn sure, but I’m proud of these guys. They worked hard to get this truck dialed in. We had a great truck, he (Crafton) just got rolling on the top, it cleaned up, I was so committed to the bottom and go there in the middle and he just found a line and got us. It burns.” First Timers At The Tricky Triangle There are nine Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders making their track debut at Pocono Raceway in Saturday’s Overton’s 150 (1 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). They include: Chase Briscoe, Wendell Chavous, Austin Cindric, Cody Coughlin, Grant Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Noah Gragson, Kaz Grala and Justin Haley. Other NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers making their track debut at Pocono Raceway this weekend include: Bryan Dauzat, Justin Fontaine, Matt Mills, Camden Murphy, Josh Reasume, Regan Smith, Ryan Truex and Cody Ware. In seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Pocono Raceway, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson is the only driver who has won his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole at Pocono (08/02/2014). Joey Coulter is the only driver to win his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway (08/04/2012). NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Etc.: Kyle Busch Trucking At The Tricky Triangle: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch will be running the Overton’s 150 in the No. 51 Toyota Tundra this weekend. Busch has two career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Pocono Raceway and has finishes of first (2015) and second (2011). Owner Standings Update: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner standings have become a tight race as the back end of the 2017 season begins. GMS Racing’s No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado retains a small seven-point lead over the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. Brad Keselowski Racing’s No. 29 Ford F-150 (-47), and ThorSport Racing’s No. 88 Toyota Tundra (-51) and No. 98 Toyota Tundra (-122) make up the top five. Manufacturer Standings Update: Through 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races this season, Toyota leads Chevrolet by a slim four-point margin in the manufacturer championship standings. Toyota has six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins to Toyota’s five. Ford is in third place in the manufacturer championship standings, and has yet to win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season. source – NASCAR communications
