See where your favorite driver will pit for the NASCAR Cup Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — race two of the weekend doubleheader.
Chris Buescher will start on the pole Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The top-20 finishing drivers from Saturday’s Pocono Organics CBD 325 were inverted in order to determine Sunday’s lineup. Buescher finished 20th in Saturday’s race at the 2.5-mile track, which determined his front-row starting position, while race winner Alex Bowman will start 20th.
RELATED: Saturday’s race results
See the full starting lineup below.
*Note: Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Anthony Alfredo, Cole Custer and Ross Chastain have been approved to go to backup cars and will fall to the rear for Sunday’s race.
^Note: Justin Allgaier will be subbing for Justin Haley in Sunday’s race, according to NBCSN.
| Start pos. |
Driver | Car # | Team |
| 1 | Chris Buescher | 17 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 2 | Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 5 | Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 7 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 23XI Racing |
| 8 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | Trackhouse Racing |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 10 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | Team Penske |
| 12 | Kyle Larson* | 5 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 13 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 14 | Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
| 15 | Kurt Busch | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 16 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| 17 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 18 | William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 19 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 20 | Alex Bowman | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 21 | Austin Dillon | 3 | Richard Childress Racing |
| 22 | Erik Jones | 43 | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 23 | Ryan Preece* | 37 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 24 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 25 | Cody Ware | 51 | Petty Ware Racing |
| 26 | Anthony Alfredo* | 38 | Front Row Motorsports |
| 27 | Justin Haley^ | 77 | Spire Motorsports |
| 28 | James Davison | 15 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 29 | Garrett Smithley | 53 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 30 | BJ McLeod | 78 | Live Fast Motorsports |
| 31 | Quin Houff | 00 | StarCom Racing |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 33 | Ross Chastain* | 42 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 34 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 35 | Timmy Hill | 66 | Motorsports Business Management |
| 36 | Corey LaJoie* | 7 | Spire Motorsports |
| 37 | Ryan Newman* | 6 | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 38 | Cole Custer* | 41 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
The twin unraveling was as dramatic as it was shocking for Kyle Larson, as both a stellar win streak and a front tire came apart with less than half a lap remaining Saturday at Pocono Raceway. The climactic end foiled a bid for his fourth straight victory in NASCAR Cup Series points races.
RELATED: Official results | Pocono weekend schedule
Larson was in the lead with a seemingly comfortable margin over teammate Alex Bowman during the white-flag lap when his tire misfortune entering the third and final turn knocked his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from contention. Bowman drove by him for his third Cup Series win of the season; Larson nursed his scraped-up car across the finish line in ninth place.
“I guess disbelief still. I don’t know, a little bit laughable just because I can’t believe it,” said Larson, who had prevailed for four straight Cup Series weekends, including the non-points All-Star Race. “Hate that we didn’t get another win. Would have been cool to win five in a row. Just wasn’t meant to be I guess today.
“Yeah, I felt something like right in the middle of the tunnel. Wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. It finally kind of shredded halfway through the short chute there. Couldn’t turn.”
That lack of turn in Pocono’s sweeping third corner meant a less-than-sweeping arc into the outside retaining wall, allowing his pursuers to drive past before the checkered flag.
Larson had started from the pole position and led three times for 15 laps — taking the top spot a final time on Lap 127 of the 130 in the Pocono Organics CBD 325. That rise came after repeated challenges of Bowman down the stretch. Once by, he padded his lead until his late-race catastrophe. Larson said his last-lap trouble wasn’t a result of abusing his tires during his heated contest for the lead, but he suspected, “I must have just ran something over, I guess.”
The streak, remarkable as it was, is over. Larson followed up a streak of three straight runner-up finishes (Darlington, Dover, COTA) with three consecutive victories (Charlotte, Sonoma, Nashville). During that stretch, Hendrick Motorsports entries have won six in a row and Larson has chopped into Denny Hamlin’s once-commanding hold on the series’ lead in the standings, now just eight points back.
His peril at Pocono scotched that near-historic run, but as his Hendrick Motorsports crew set about preparing his backup No. 5 Chevy, Larson’s attention turned to starting a new streak. The unique weekend Cup Series doubleheader schedule won’t allow him time to dwell on Saturday’s stunning defeat. He’ll have work to do from the back of the field for Sunday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I guess that’s one thing that’s probably keeping me excited and not depressed, is that we get to go back again (Sunday),” Larson said. “I’m sure our backup car will be just as good as that one. Feel like we learned a lot about our car today. The track came to us a lot. I think we should be good tomorrow.”
After an intense, nail-biting battle over the last 29 laps at Pocono Raceway, Alex Bowman won Saturday’s Pocono Organics CBD 325 when his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson blew a left-front tire while leading within one corner of the finish line.
RELATED: Official results | Pocono weekend schedule
Bowman’s victory ended a streak of three straight wins for Larson, who passed Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet on Lap 127 of 130 and appeared destined to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four straight NASCAR Cup Series races.
Choosing the inside lane for a restart on Lap 112, Bowman surged into the lead, having gained track position with a two-tire call on his final pit stop. Larson spent the next 15 laps harrying his teammate and made what appeared to be the winning pass as the cars entered the Tunnel Turn on Lap 127.
But three laps later, on the short straightaway between Turns 2 and 3, Larson’s left-front went flat, and the No. 5 Chevrolet rocketed into the outside wall in Turn 3. Larson came home ninth in his damaged Camaro, his first finish outside the top two in seven races.
Bowman, who announced a contract extension with Hendrick last weekend at Nashville, won for the third time this season, the first time at Pocono and the fifth time in his career. The victory was the sixth straight for Hendrick Motorsports, matching a string of six combined wins by Johnson and Jeff Gordon in 2007.
“Yeah, I hate to win one that way, but hell, yeah, I’ll take it,” a shocked Bowman said after climbing from his car. “Super proud of this Ally 48 team. Man, we kind of gave the lead away. We were on two tires, just got super tight. Tried to hold (Larson) off as long as I could.
“(Crew chief) Greg (Ives) and all the guys did a really good job. We didn’t run that good all day, so I’m kind of in shock. I don’t know what to say to you guys. Hell, yeah, so cool to see all the fans out here. Always like to come to ‘PA.’ It’s a cool place, beautiful weather, great day for a race. Heck, yeah, I’ll take it.”
Larson was just as shocked at the loss as Bowman was at his victory. Larson had won three straight points-paying races — a streak that stood at four consecutive if the non-points All-Star Race win is included.
“I guess disbelief still,” Larson said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “I don’t know, a little bit laughable, just because I can’t believe it.
“Hate that we didn’t get another win. Would have been cool to win five in a row. Just wasn’t meant to be I guess today. I felt something like right in the middle of the Tunnel (Turn). Wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. It finally kind of shredded halfway through the short chute there. Couldn’t turn.
“Hate that we didn’t get the win. Cool that Alex still did, a Hendrick car with another win. Cool to keep Mr. H’s (team owner Rick Hendrick’s) streak going. Yeah, hate we didn’t get HendrickCars.com into Victory Lane, but we’ll try to start another streak (on Sunday).”
MORE: Larson win streak unravels
Larson will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field in a backup car. Bowman will start 20th after an inversion of the top 20 finishing positions from Saturday’s race.
In an event that featured a hodgepodge of pit strategies before it distilled into the closing Bowman-Larson battle, Kyle Busch led a race-high 30 laps and finished second, .683 seconds behind Bowman. William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney completed the top five.
“We were a tick — just a little bit — slower than Larson, and we were able to hold him off,” Busch said of the green-flag run before the final caution for debris on Lap 107. “The 48 (Bowman) held him off forever and finally the 5 (Larson) got by and got away by 20 lengths or so.
“I was just dying tight behind those guys. I just could not do anything in traffic. We were just struggling in traffic. We don’t have what we need to slice through traffic. Everybody’s hindered, but it seems like us a little bit more.”
Kurt Busch won the second stage and finished sixth, leap-frogging past Chris Buescher into the final Playoff-eligible position in the series standings. Busch leads Buescher by four points entering Sunday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at the 2.5-mile triangular track in eastern Pennsylvania (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
By finishing 20th on Saturday, however, Buescher earned the pole position for Sunday’s race.
Cole Custer was Saturday’s first retiree, his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford sustaining significant damage after contact with Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford. After the nudge, Custer bounced off the outside retaining wall on the frontstretch, caroming into the inside wall before coming to rest. Last season’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year was unhurt, but finished last in the 38-car field. He’ll also start last Sunday.
Notes: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage area was completed without major issue. Four cars were found with one unsecured lug nut each — No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (driver Kevin Harvick), No. 12 Team Penske Ford (Ryan Blaney), No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Kyle Busch), No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota (Bubba Wallace). … Seven Cup Series teams were approved to use reserve cars in Sunday’s second half of the Pocono weekend doubleheader: Nos. 5, 6, 7, 37, 38, 41, and 42.
Contributing: Staff reports
John Hunter Nemechek passed team owner Kyle Busch on a restart with six laps left and pulled away to win Saturday’s CRC Brakleen 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway.
Nemechek crossed the finish line at the 2.5-mile triangular track 1.337 seconds ahead of Busch, who had led 20 straight laps after pitting three laps before the conclusion of Stage 2.
The victory was Nemechek’s series-best fifth of the season and his third in head-to-head competition against his Kyle Busch Motorsports boss.
RELATED: Race results
“These guys just work so hard,” Nemechek said of his team. “We never gave up. We weren’t very good the first stage. Without this opportunity—without Kyle and Toyota, I wouldn’t have had it. Five wins this year and beat Kyle—three for five against Kyle is pretty good odds.”
Busch had a lead of nearly 1.5 seconds over Sheldon Creed when Stewart Friesen’s hard crash into the Turn 1 wall brought out the fourth caution on Lap 51 of 60. Busch chose the top lane for the subsequent restart on Lap 55, with Creed behind him and Nemechek on the inside of the front row.
With a strong push from Todd Gilliland, Nemechek’s No. 4 Toyota barely cleared Busch’s No. 51 in Turn 1 and slid up in front of the team owner.
“The 38 (Gilliland) gave me a big push,” acknowledged Nemechek, who picked up his first victory at Pocono and the 11th of his career. “I got a great restart… and I kind of cleared myself there. (Spotter Tony) Hirschman was still saying ‘Outside, outside’ in the middle of (Turn 1).
“I thought I was clear in my mirror and slid up and took the air away from Kyle. After that, we set sail.”
Busch stayed close to his protégé until Creed powered to the inside of Busch’s Toyota with three laps left. Contact between the trucks ended Busch’s winning chances.
“The Cessna Tundra was pretty good,” said Busch who posted two wins and three runner-up finishes to Nemechek in five Truck Series starts this season. “We were up front there leading, and the caution came out and bunched us all back together.
“We got… not a great restart, but a decent restart. We were all even getting into (Turn) 1, and John Hunter just slid me and got the lead. I was trying to figure out what I could do to fight back and get the lead back, and I got drilled in the left rear. That basically handed the win to the 4 truck.”
RELATED: Kyle Busch reflects on his runner-up finish
Creed ran third, followed by Tyler Ankrum and Austin Hill. Matt Crafton, Gilliland, Zane Smith, Ryan Preece and Derek Kraus completed the top 10. Hill’s top-five finish today scored him enough points to be the first driver to clinch a spot in the Playoffs on points.
Johnny Sauter’s quest to make the postseason suffered a serious below as the field took the green flag to start the race. Jack Wood’s Chevrolet spun out of control after contact from Chandler Smith’s Toyota and knocked Sauter into the outside wall near the start/finish line.
Sauter finished 35th, five laps down and fell 31 points behind Smith in the race for the final Playoff spot with two regular-season races left. Nemechek increased his series lead to 86 points over second-place Ben Rhodes, who came home 17th Saturday after a late pit road speeding penalty.
Note: Post-race inspection confirmed Nemechek as the winner. No issues were found.
The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Cole Custer will start at the rear of the field for Saturday’s Pocono Organics CBD 325 at Pocono Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) following two pre-race inspection failures.
RELATED: Lineup for Saturday’s Cup race | Full Pocono schedule
Custer was set to line up 26th in the 130-lap race on Saturday afternoon. The second-year Cup driver enters the race 27th in points, a year after he made the NASCAR Playoffs as a rookie following a win at Kentucky Speedway.
No other cars will drop to the rear ahead of Saturday’s race.
Pocono is ready to host a massive racing weekend, including a Cup Series doubleheader.
The “Tricky Triangle” — as the uniquely shaped 2.5-mile venue is nicknamed — is also described as a “roval.” While other tracks of similar length are called superspeedways, Pocono’s three sharp corners require a mixture of road-course maneuvering talent, along with tri-oval superspeedway power in the straightaways — which gives you the “roval” description.
Take a look at who tops BetMGM’s NASCAR racing odds for Saturday’s Pocono Organics CBD 350, and who might creep up and snatch a win away from one of the heavy favorites.
RELATED: NASCAR BetCenter | Odds for Saturday’s Pocono race
THE ODDS-ON FAVORITE
Kyle Larson (+210)
This is getting redundant, isn’t it? Racing at Pocono this weekend doesn’t change the narrative for Kyle Larson.
Larson tops the racing odds once again, then Larson wins the race — it’s been quite the trend for weeks now. Four weekends now actually, to be exact — which includes the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas. In fact, Larson hasn’t finished lower than second in a Cup Series race since May 2 at Kansas — and he even won a stage in that race and was battling for the lead late in that race.
So being the odds-on favorite isn’t a surprise, we’ve established that. When you’ve had 11 top-five finishes in 18 starts this year (including the All-Star Race), that will come.
Larson has never won a Cup race at Pocono, but he’ll have two opportunities in a unique doubleheader setup. They’ll race Saturday and Sunday, with the race length varying only 10 laps (130 on Saturday, 140 on Sunday). Larson did win at Pocono in the Xfinity Series in 2016, and he has six top-10 finishes in 12 starts in Cup.
OTHERS: While Larson is clearly the most deserving of being atop the odds, Denny Hamlin (+700) has been the most dominant driver when it comes to Pocono. He tops the charts (along with Jeff Gordon) for all-time Cup wins at the track (six). That’s right, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Jimmie Johnson — none performed better at Pocono than Hamlin has. Hamlin has 13 top-five finishes and 20 career top 10s at Pocono in 30 attempts.
Also? Hamlin desperately needs a win to make the rest of the season comfortable. While he leads the Cup circuit in points, Larson has closed what was once a massive gap between Hamlin and the rest of the field. It’s now only a 10-point margin and Larson could overtake Hamlin this weekend. Chase Elliott (+800) and Kyle Busch (+800) round out the top of the odds and are traditionally strong here.
THE DARK HORSE THREAT
Brad Keselowski (+1400)
While Keselowski barely fits into the top 10 in odds this week, he does have a strong history at the track. For the current drivers who’ve started 10 or more races at Pocono, Keselowski leads the pack with an average finish of 11.0.
He also has 10 top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes in 22 starts, with one win — and has won there in the Xfinity Series. Keselowski is currently sitting in 10th place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings and could use the points boost.
OTHERS: William Byron (+1000) has an average finish of 9.7 in six career starts at Pocono in the Cup Series. He’s also won at the track in the Camping World Truck Series.
THE INTRIGUING LONG SHOT
Erik Jones (+10000)
With five top-five performances at Pocono in eight career starts, Jones makes for an interesting choice here. Though his transition to the Richard Petty Motorsports team from Joe Gibbs Racing has been a bit bumpy this year, his talent and his past results at Pocono make him somebody to keep an eye on. He has averaged a finish of 11.4 at the Pennsylvania track.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 24, 2021) – Earlier this month, the NASCAR industry welcomed 22 graduate and undergraduate students from across the country to begin the 10-week NASCAR Diversity Internship Program (NDIP) – the sport’s longest-running diversity initiative.
The industry-wide program offers students of color hands-on experience as well as the opportunity to network with and learn from executive leaders across one of the largest professional sports industries. This year’s class has been placed in paid internship roles across various NASCAR departments, 23XI Racing, Rev Racing and CSM Production.
“For more than 20 years, the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program has provided a critical foundation for NASCAR’s evolving and expanding diversity, equity and inclusion platform,” said Brandon Thompson, NASCAR Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion, who in June 2020 became the first NDIP alum appointed to an officer role at the sanctioning body.
RELATED: Reflecting on milestone 20th Diversity Internship class | More about the NDIP
“These internships create opportunities for young, diverse talent to be exposed to NASCAR and learn about the sport, but they’re also filling a pipeline as we continue to diversify the broader industry workforce.”
This year’s NDIP class is the first since 2019 after the program was canceled last year due to the impact of COVID-19. Roles will allow interns to apply concepts learned in school while expanding their knowledge working closely with talented professionals from the motorsports community.
The program will culminate in August as the interns return to school or pursue full-time roles within NASCAR or across other industries. Of the more than 400 interns that have participated since 2000, many were offered full-time employment following their internships and to this day NDIP alums continue to make significant contributions to the sport.
The sanctioning body employs several former interns including Kathryn Lee, Director, Marketing Activation; Marvin Aylor, Director, Partnership Marketing; Jusan Hamilton, Director, Racing Operations & Event Management; Erica Wilkerson, Manager, Youth & Multicultural Marketing, Jasmine Neely, Manager, Industry Communications and Victoria Garcia, Associate Producer.
Throughout the summer, NDIP interns will collaborate on group projects and have access to mentors, former interns and lunch-and-learn sessions hosted by NASCAR executives.
The following students have been selected to the 2021 NASCAR Diversity Internship Program class:
| Intern Name | Department Name | School |
| Adrienne E. Washington | NASCAR Legal | University of Florida Levin College of Law |
| Amanda Arnold | NASCAR Editorial Content | Arkansas State University |
| Austin Pruitt | NASCAR Licensing | University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
| Diamond K. Evans | NASCAR National Sales | Bowie State University |
| Gerald Taylor | NASCAR Diversity & Inclusion | Virginia State University |
| Giovanni Pieve | NASCAR Sourcing & Procurement | Arizona State University |
| Harold Velasquez | CSM Production | High Point University |
| Iris Wright | NASCAR Youth & Multicultural Marketing | North Carolina State University |
| Isha Shafqat | NASCAR Data Strategy | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| Jazz Warren | NASCAR Communications | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| Jeff Jin | NASCAR International Business | New York University |
| Joshua Pena | NASCAR Track Marketing | Western Michigan University |
| Joshua Sky | NASCAR Weekly Racing Operations | Syracuse University |
| Kamron Philpart | NASCAR Contingency Sales | University of Central Florida |
| Kelly Leang | NASCAR Foundation | Elon University |
| Kelvin Jones | NASCAR Legal | Howard University School of Law |
| Korn Supatrabutra | NASCAR Research & Insights | Michigan State University |
| Lukas Rubio | NASCAR Brand & Driver Marketing | SUNY Cortland |
| Noah Cornelius | Rev Racing | Appalachian State University |
| Oscar Cabanas | NASCAR Public Affairs | Nova Southeastern University School of Law |
| Savannah Hillmeyer | NASCAR International Business | University of South Carolina |
| Yuki Chiang | 23XI Racing | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
Saturday: Pocono Organics CBD 325 (⏰ 3 p.m. ET | 📺 NBCSN | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Sunday: Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 (⏰ 3:30 p.m. ET | 📺 NBCSN | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for this weekend’s doubleheader at Pocono Raceway, the 18th and 19th points-paying races of the season.
Full schedule: Get times, TV schedule and results from the weekend
Where: Pocono Raceway, a 2.5-mile tri-oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Grand Marshal: Sat: Jeff Moyer, CEO, Rodale Institue | Sun: Bill Colavito, Board Chair, Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau
TV/Radio: NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Forecast: Sat: A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Patchy fog before 8 a.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sun: A chance of showers after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Race Distance: Sat: 130 laps, 325 miles | Sun.: 140 laps, 350 miles
Stages: Sat.: 25 | 77 | 130 | Sun.: 30 | 85 |140
Pit-road speed: 55 mph
Caution car speed: 70 mph
Pocono 101: Get the full lowdown
Lineup: Full lineup for Sunday’s race
Pit-stall assignments: See who is pitting where Sunday | Teams will walk a fine line on pit road
Five to watch
Here are five big story lines we’ll be following at Pocono Raceway (
1. Perhaps the biggest question this weekend is not if Kyle Larson will win — but how many times? At the rate he’s been visiting Victory Lane, it would be a true shocker to see 2021’s strongest driver so far go 0-for-2 at the “Tricky Triangle,” even though he’s winless there in his previous 12 attempts. Apart from three outlier races from 2017-18 when he had finishes of 33rd, 23rd and 26th (and in that one, he won both stages), Larson has averaged a 7.44 finish in his nine other starts at Pocono. Combine that with the scorchingly hot streak he’s on and he’s the clear favorite for at least Saturday’s race, and probably Sunday, too. | Debate: Will Larson win Regular-Season Championship?
2. Of course, we know Larson’s streak will end at some point (at least, we think so) it’s just a matter of when and by whom. This weekend feels like it could be just as good an opportunity as any for another organization to usurp Hendrick Motorsports atop the leaderboard and Toyota’s Joe Gibbs Racing is the clear team in waiting. Early 2021 dominator Denny Hamlin won his sixth Pocono race last year, tying Jeff Gordon for most all-time at the track, and six of the last seven drivers to win there did so in a Toyota — all of whom now drive for JGR. Given it has two shots this weekend to take down Hendrick at one of its best tracks, it seems likely JGR will come out of the mountains with at least one win. | Debate: No. 2 team behind Hendrick right now?
3. Then again, JGR isn’t the only team beginning to close the gap on Hendrick. Stewart-Haas Racing is starting to rebound from a dreadful start to the season by its historically elite standards with last weekend’s Nashville race weekend among the team’s 2021 highlights. Team leader Kevin Harvick has been near-exceptional at Pocono lately, notching a win and a runner-up in last year’s doubleheader, his eighth top-six result in the last nine “Tricky Triangle” races. After last year’s nine-win career-year for the veteran, it’s unfathomable that we’re closing in on July and he’s winless. That may not be the case much longer, however. (And for what it’s worth, Aric Almirola scored the most points combined — 94 — in last year’s doubleheader.) | More: SHR starting to find its rhythm
4. After the season opened with two first-time winners amidst a slew of surprising starts in the first few weeks, we haven’t seen one since. Might Pocono mark a good chance for us to see a third, given the nature of a doubleheader lends itself to some outside-the-box happenings, especially with the lineup inversion from Saturday to Sunday? Four drivers got their first Cup win at Pocono, three of whom are active drivers (Hamlin, Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney). Tyler Reddick seems determined to right the ship after some off races and he’s looked capable of winning at times this season. Though in a slump, Matt DiBenedetto is driving for the team that Blaney picked up his first win with, and Ross Chastain has found an extra gear as of late. Don’t count out Daniel Suarez or Bubba Wallace, either, who would not only be picking up the first win for themselves but also their respective first-year teams.
5. At this point in the season with the number of races left before the playoffs now in the single digits, it’s hard not to start peeking ahead to the postseason. This year has been an entertaining one, and with nine races left before the field is trimmed to 16, we’re sure to see fireworks over the coming weeks with five of 2020’s 13 victors still winless this year —including the two drivers that combined for 16 wins. The cutline is full of interesting names and movements, with the likes of Kurt Busch, Chastain and Suarez all trending upward, DiBenedetto and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also below the cutline and Buescher and Reddick starting to sweat a little. Strange things tend to happen at Pocono and a surprise winner isn’t out of the equation. Toss in three road courses and the regular-season finale at Daytona as potential wild cards and we’re looking at a potentially wild summer ahead.
Race-day staples
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Power Rankings: Christopher Bell about to make some noise? | Scope the ranks
• Paint Scheme Preview: Check out the Pennsylvania looks | See the schemes
• Fantasy Fastlane: See which drivers to use, avoid | Full Fantasy advice | Set roster
• Playoff Watch: How the 2021 NASCAR Playoffs field is shaping up | See the outlook
• Who’s headed where: Key players in 2021-22 Silly Season | See the players
• Preview Show: Double the races, double the fun | Watch the show
Get in on the action
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy
• How NBC Sports is integrating betting content into NASCAR broadcasts | Learn more
• It could come all down to speed on pit road | Fastest pit crews of 2021
• Take a shot at winning cash prizes with the free-to-play Jackpot Races app | Hit the jackpot
• Full guide to 2021 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
History at Pocono
Every track has a story to tell. Here’s what we’ve seen go down at Pocono Raceway in the past.
• Tricked out: All-time wins: Pocono Raceway-1 | See them all
• Late bloomers: All-time wins: Pocono Raceway II | Learn more
• Blaney’s first: Former Wood Bros. driver’s fist Cup win among Pocono memories | View the moments
• Front of the field: Top 10 lap leaders at Pocono Raceway | See the leaders
Fast facts
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Chevrolet is winless in the last nine Pocono races, with the last win coming in 2016.
• Eleven of the last 14 Pocono winners started in the top 10.
• Only two of the last 17 Pocono races were won by a driver under the age of 30.
• The driver who led the most laps won four of the last 11 Pocono races.
• Both Pocono races in 2020 were caution-free during the Final Stage.
Catch the pack
Read up on all the headlines from the week leading up to race weekend.
• Jeff Gordon named vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, will leave FOX after 2021 | Read more
• Team Penske ‘not panicked, but definitely realistic’ | Read more
• NASCAR competition VP on sharpening eye on Hendrick | See what he said
• No. 19 JGR team fined for lug-nut violation at Nashville | Penalty report
• Track-by-track updates, protocols for grandstand seating and fan access as COVID-19 restrictions ease | Read more
• LaJoie to drive ‘Stroker Ace’ tribute car at Kansas | See the car
• Where are they now? Catching up with Shawna Robinson | Read more
Say what?
Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into the race weekend.
“Just because we had success in the doubleheader there last year, I don’t think it will automatically mean we’ll have success this year. A lot of things about the cars and the rules have changed since last year. But I’m optimistic about it. I think we’re going to continue to get better as a team. And these summer months are really where we should be hitting our stride.” — Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
“(Hendrick is beating us) everywhere. That makes it easy to go work. You don’t have the kind of dominance that those guys have had over the past six weeks without just a pretty incredible combination of things. Everybody is always asking, ‘What is it? What do we need to work on?’ And it’s kind of like anything, it’s a lot of little things, it’s a lot of stuff in all different places. Certainly, their engine program is really strong. It seems like their stuff is very well-suited for where we were racing. Some of the RPM ranges at the tracks we’ve been I think they’ve been really strong and the 5 car has been able to put himself in another league from everybody else, so I think we’re all trying to learn off of the specifics of that right now.” — Travis Geisler, Team Penske competition director
“I think the race at Pocono comes down to mistakes. Making the playoffs comes down to that. Being able to recover from them is nice; but the more times you can go through races without having those big, critical moments and mistakes is going to help everybody’s peace of mind. You’re going to get more points because of it. It’s just a little easier if you don’t make those mistakes. Yes, it’s hard to be perfect all the time, but it’s a fun process in learning how to get better. I definitely am learning from those mistakes. You’re always going to learn from mistakes; they’re just never going to stop coming your way. New situations, new scenarios – I’ll just keep trying to adjust the best that I can to keep getting more points for my team.” — Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Pocono Raceway, better known as the “Tricky Triangle,” is not only a technical track for drivers but a chess match for crew chiefs and pit crews alike.
We saw this play out in last season’s Pennsylvania doubleheader weekend. Twice.
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Struggling to make their way into the lead late in the opening Pocono race, Rodney Childers rolled the dice for Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 crew, electing to make a final green-flag stop for two fresh Goodyear tires with 36 laps remaining.
Other drivers in the field had made four-tire stops — even Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola, who led a race-high 61 laps. The strategy and execution paid off.
Harvick rolled out of the pits and cycled through to be the new race leader for the first time that afternoon. He went on to lead the final 17 laps, holding off a hard-charging Denny Hamlin who pitted after Harvick and couldn’t chase him down in time.
In the second race, the tables turned.
Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart adjusted their game plan, electing to stay out and build a larger lead while Harvick battled traffic after his stop. By the time the No. 11 came to the pits for the final time with 20 laps to go, only taking right-side tires, the lead was too big for Harvick to overcome.
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Heading into this weekend’s slate, both drivers who dominated Pocono last year find themselves winless this season. The good news is that they each have one of the fastest pit crews in the Cup Series.
Pit road strategy will almost certainly factor into the eventual race winners this weekend. Based on their success in 2020, the No. 4 and No. 11 teams set the blueprint for a race-winning strategy at the 2.5-mile asphalt track if there are long, green-flag runs. Both final stages last year were run entirely under green.
What we know for sure is that being out front early at Pocono has rarely translated into a win in recent history. Only two of the sixteen stage winners at the track have gone on to win the race. Neither of them was a Stage 2 winner. Nine of the last 14 winners at the track didn’t even lead for the first time until halfway through the race. Being in a position to roll the dice at the end is what matters.
Hamlin, still the regular-season points leader, carries an impressive streak of three consecutive top-two finishes into Saturday’s race — only trailing Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (five) and Richard Petty (four) for most all-time. The No. 11 JGR wheelman is tied atop the all-time Pocono wins list with Gordon at six. Don’t be surprised if he returns to race-winning form this weekend under the leadership of Gabehart and crew.
Both races at Pocono will be a total team effort — and if last year’s trend holds true, we could see another strategic battle come down to the wire to decide who captures the checkered flags this weekend.
Stats provided by Racing Insights