Sure, the New Hampshire race has not been finished yet, but it’s not too early to look ahead to next week. Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania is one of the most unique race tracks in NASCAR. Three turns of different banking and radius connected by three straightaways of different length.
It’s a triangle, and a tricky one at that. Which drivers have been able to finesse their way around the Pennsylvania triangle?
By the Numbers: 0 Wins; 2 Top-5s; 5 Top-10s; 70 Laps Led; 9.4 Avg. Finish
Breakdown: This came as a surprise to me while researching this, William Byron has the best average finish of anyone at Pocono in NASCAR. Granted, it is a small sample size, but he both qualifies well and races well at the track. He has never finished worse than 18th and has finished outside of the top-15 only once at the track.
By the Numbers: 1 Wins; 11 Top-5s; 15 Top-10s; 227 Laps Led; 10.7 Avg. Finish
Breakdown: When Brad Keselowski is on at Pocono, he is really on. Between 2015 and 2018, he had a streak of six consecutive top-5 finishes at the track, and in 2011, he had one of his most improbable wins there. Less than a week after breaking his ankle in a testing crash at Road Atlanta, Keselowski would hold off Kyle Busch for the win at Pocono.
By the Numbers: 1 Win; 15 top-5s; 22 Top-10s; 277 Laps Led; 12.1 Avg. Finish
Breakdown: While only finding victory lane at Pocono one time in his career, Harvick is always up towards the front when race there. He has 10 Top-5 finishes in the last 16 races at the track. This included his lone win coming there in June of 2020.
By the Numbers: 4 Wins; 11 Top-5s; 18 Top-10s; 585 Laps Led; 15.7 Avg. Finish
Breakdown: Kyle Busch used to struggle massively at Pocono with only eight top-10s and four top-5s in his first 23 races at the track. Since August of 2016, he has an average finish of 9.6 and four victories with only two finished worse than ninth. In 2021, Busch was able to redeem his 2015 Pocono fuel mileage heartbreak by winning on fuel mileage.
By the Numbers: 6 Wins; 14 Top-5s; 21 Top-10s; 818 Laps Led; 11.8 Avg. Finish.
Breakdown: Some may wonder if Denny Hamlin was born for the sole purpose of racing a car around Pocono Raceway. He’s tied for the all-time series lead in wins at the track with Hall of Famer, Jeff Gordon. Hamlin has had a handle on the “Tricky Triangle” from his first time at the track, as he swept the two races at the track during his rookie season in 2006.
Pocono Raceway is one of the most unique race tracks in NASCAR, and that means that some drivers tend to take to it better than others. This could be one of the most interesting races of the season, and it is a potential wild card race as well.
