Drivers need to tunnel their vision to master Pocono (cont'd)

"Everybody realizes how fast they're going into [Turn] 1. And they know that if they wreck they're going to wreck hard," Stewart said. "The Tunnel Turn is a little sneaky. It's a tight fit through there, and you don't really know how fast you're going until something bad happens.

"Getting through Turn 2 and the last corner of the race rack that's flat, long and sweeping -- those seem to be the toughest two corners to get through. And if you're a little bit off, you're a bunch off."

As for the straightaways, it's all about speed.

"If you're down on power at Pocono, you're a mid-pack car at best," Stewart said. "You need power to go down that front straightaway, and if you don't have it, you're done."

Twice this season Dale Earnhardt Jr. has retired early from a race due to engine failure. Twice at Dover he encountered tire problems that dropped him out of contention.

"Forget the 22nd-place finish [at Dover]," Earnhardt said. "That Bud car was among the top-five cars from the start of practice on Friday until the race ended. If the rain hadn't washed all the rubber off the concrete, I think we would have been right there battling Martin for the win and not wearing our tires down to the cords."

"Our engines have been strong and really pulling hard lately, and my cars have been handling great. We'll need every ounce of that horsepower at Pocono, where the straightaways seem to go for a day-and-a-half."

Good news for Junior and the rest of the racing community: Clear skies are forecast for Sunday at Long Pond, Pa. (CNN Weather)