POCONO RACEWAY
TRACK
FACTS
Opened:
1968
Location:
Long Pond, PA
First
NASCAR Cup Series Race: August 4, 1974 (Richard Petty, winner)
Qualifying
Record: Kasey Kahne, Dodge;
172.533 mph (52.164 seconds), June 11, 2004
Race
Record: Rusty Wallace, Ford; 144.892 mph (3:27:03), July 21, 1996
Distance:
2.4 Miles
Front
Stretch: 3,740 feet
Back
Stretch: 3.055 feet
Short
Stretch: 1,780 feet
Banking
in Turn 1: 14 degrees
Banking
in Turn 2: 8 degrees
Banking
in Turn 3: 6 degrees
Miles/Laps:
500 miles/200 laps
Grandstand
Seats: 70,000
Tickets:
800-722-3939
Website:
www.poconoraceway.com
Did
You Know? On race weekends tiny Long Pond becomes the third largest city
in
Last
Year: Carl Edwards learned
his way around Pocono Raceway playing a video game and made the transition to
the real thing in grand style to give Jack Roush his first-ever win here -
taking the Pocono 500 on June 12. Kurt
Busch dominated early and then held off a pair of the old guard
- Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin -
to take the
"Hot
Spots": You hear a lot about the tunnel turn. This is still
the key trouble spot, but getting onto the front stretch seems to be as much,
if not more of a problem.
Scouting
Report (A Driver's perspective): A drivers
racetrack. The tunnel turn (Turn 2) is a fast, tight corner.
If a driver messes up just a little bit, he can lose a lot of time.
Turn 3 is long, and driver's are on the edge the whole way. Just a nudge
can spin a driver out really easy.
Who
to Watch: Mark Martin has
three poles and more top fives (19) and top 10s (27) than anyone, but
has yet to win here. Brian
Vickers had a very solid run here in the first race, and he's
shown more promise this year than he has before, so watch him. Others to
look at include Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, & Jeff
Gordon. Rookie's to look at are Denny Hamlin & Clint Bowyer.
Tracking The Top 10
Best
active drivers at Pocono based on average finish (minimum of four starts)
Driver
Races Avg Fin
Wins Top 5s Top 10s DNF Avg Start Poles
Jimmie
Johnson 8
8.1
2 3
4
0
7.5 1
Jeff
Gordon
26 10.1
3
12
18
3
10.8 2
Mark
Martin
38 10.5
0 19 27
6
7.0 3
Brian
Vickers
4 10.8
0
1
1
0
4.8 0
Tony
Stewart
14
14.4
1
3
9
2 10.9
1
Dale
Jarrett
38
14.9 3
13 18
6 15.7
0
Terry
Labonte
50
15.3
2
7 21 6 16.8
1
Ryan
Newman
8
15.6
1
4
4
2 11.0
1
Sterling
Marlin
41
16.1
0
6 16 9 16.6
1
Matt
Kenseth
12 16.2
0 2
5
0 19.8 0