LONG POND, Pa. -- NASCAR’s XFINITY Series makes its maiden voyage onto the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway here this weekend, but for most of those competing, it’s not unfamiliar territory.
"ARCA runs here; the Trucks have run here for several years," Brendan Gaughan , driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 62 Chevrolet, said Friday at the track. "So I’d say a lot of guys have run here -- myself, Brandon Jones , Kyle (Busch), Elliott (Sadler).
" Blake Koch , one of our RCR satellite teammates, he hadn’t so he spent a lot of time with Paul (Menard), myself, Ty (Dillon) trying to get up to speed. ... But overall, I’d say more have than haven’t now."
The track has hosted NASCAR’s premier series since 1974; the Camping World Truck Series companion event was added in 2010 and remains a part of the track’s two annual race weekends.
Track president Brandon Igdalsky said officials were working on bringing the XFINITY Series to Pocono even before Comcast, headquartered in Philadelphia, became the entitlement sponsor through its XFINITY branding.
This weekend, the track hosts the Pocono Green 250 for the XFINITY Series in addition to Sunday’s Axalta 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Next month, the track will host the Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series.
It’s a track unlike any other on which the XFINITY Series competes.
"But it’s so much fun," Gaughan, fifth in points heading into Saturday’s race, said. "The tunnel turn here, to me, is one of the biggest 'guts' turns in the sport. To get through the tunnel turn, watch Dartfish. You can see guys gain and lose so much in that turn. You think nothing of it but that’s where you can lose so much time and it’s a risk vs. reward thing. How much do you give up vs. how hard do you want to hit it?
"Turn 1 is one of the most intimidating corners. Because it’s more than 90 degrees … you’re hitting the longest straightaway in our sport and all you see in front of you is a wall. (Turn 1 at) Indianapolis is very narrow and 90 degrees. This (turn) is longer, 10 times wider and you can’t see the other side of it."
Turn 3, he said, is a driver’s corner. "Slipping and sliding. All you have to do is just nudge somebody there and you’re going to mess their day up."
One notable driver who hasn’t competed at Pocono is points leader Daniel Suarez.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has nine top-10 finishes this season, but is still searching for career win No. 1. Suarez finished 12th a week ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
"A lot of people were asking me (Thursday) if I had been here before in the ARCA series or in the Truck Series and that wasn’t situation for me," Suarez said. "It’s my first time ever and honestly I really like this place a lot. I think we are going to get along very well."
Suarez was sixth and fifth, respectively, in Thursday’s two XFINITY Series practices. Teammates Erik Jones and Busch were quickest. JGR drivers have won seven of this year’s 11 races in the series.
"As soon as I went to the race track the first time, I just felt like this is (one of) those kind of places that you can feel like adapts to your driving styles and so far, so good," Suarez said.
"We didn’t have a lot of time but we had a decent amount of time and I feel like we tried some good stuff, we learned some good stuff. I was improving every single time out by myself … overall I went pretty happy … last night, so I’m excited. I’m excited about this weekend and hopefully we can get it done here very soon.”
Suarez leads Elliott Sadler (JR Motorsports) by 14 points. Justin Allgaier (JRM) is 23 points behind the leader. Teammates Dillon and Gaughan round out the top five.
Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 (FOX) is scheduled for a 1:18 p.m. ET green flag.