Pocono tends to favor those who favor flat tracks

If Pocono Raceway looks like a track built by committee, that is because, in a sense, it was. Built to pay tribute to three of the most popular IndyCar tracks of its day, each corner and each straightaway of this triangular track is different.

Turn 1 was patterned after the mile-and-a-half Trenton Speedway. It has the greatest slope of banking at 14 degrees and drivers need as much help as possible to help them turn after winding up the horsepower down a 3,740-foot frontstretch.

Pocono

This week's fantasy studs, duds and sleepers.

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The next challenge comes at the end of a 3,055-foot straightaway and with only 8 degrees of banking to catch the car, this might be the most challenging corner NASCAR drivers face. It should be legendary, because that straight was patterned after Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Once the drivers survive the Tunnel Turn, they have to tiptoe through Turn 3 and its 6 degrees of banking. It's the flattest corner NASCAR faces now that the Nationwide Series no longer visits the track for which it is patterned -- The Milwaukee Mile.

One might think a track this unique is without comparison, but fantasy owners will find that drivers who run well on the other flat tracks -- particularly those of 1-mile in length and greater -- also run well at Pocono. Look to Indy, Phoenix and New Hampshire for help when setting this week's roster. To a lesser degree, Richmond and Martinsville also will be predictive.

The Favorites

Denny Hamlin's reputation as a flat-track master has taken a little bit of a beating in the last year and a half. Slowed by surgery and mechanical gremlins, he limped to a 36th-place finish at Phoenix in the last trip to this track type. In this race last year, he also had mechanical problems that caused him to finish 38th, but Pocono still is one of his favorite tracks. He swept Victory Lane there in his rookie season and rebounded from his spring disappointment with another victory in Pocono's second race of 2009. Discounting Phoenix, he's finished first, second or third in his past five flat-track attempts and that is enough to make him a favorite this week.

If Hamlin seems like an obvious pick, Tony Stewart may be less so. He's struggled in recent weeks, but there are two big reasons to favor him at Pocono. First, he's one of a less than a handful of drivers who swept the top 10 last year -- in fact, he's finished that well in eight of his past nine efforts on this track -- and his victory in this race last year gives him momentum. Summer also is the time of year he typically comes to life. Two trips to Pocono and one to the similarly flat Indy track are a big part of the reason for this mystique. (Continued)