Pocono Raceway - The Gillete Fusion 500 (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

The Gillette Fusion 500
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway's 2.5 mile triangle for the 14th race of the 2010 season, the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500. Brian Brown took a look at past performances, season trends, and talked to NASCAR contacts to predict how the field should finish on Sunday.


When: Sunday, June 6, 2010; 1:18 p.m./et.


Weather: Scattered thunderstorms with a high around 76; wind out of the WSW at 7 mph. Chance of precipitation 40%.


The Track: Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway is a 2.5 mile tri-oval with three completely different banked turns. It has 14 degree banking in turn one, eight degree banking in turn two, and six degree banking in turn three.


Key to Race: THE POCONO TOUGH TRIANGLE

Pocono has three long straight-aways after each of the turns. This unique configuration forces engines to run at high RPM levels three times on each lap. The increased engine stress and longer than usual length of the race place a premium on brakes and engine durability. Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin (three times) have won the last eight races at Pocono. All six of these drivers are great picks.


Qualifying Procedures:

45 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Cars not in the top 35 in the 2010 owner point standings will have to qualify based on speed. Starting positions 1-43 will be determined by qualifying runs on Friday, June 4 at 3:40 pm/et.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top 5

No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has been awesome at Pocono during in his career. In seven starts he has three wins and has finished worse than sixth just twice.
No. 2 Kurt Busch: Busch won two of the last nine Pocono races and has been the best driver in the circuit the past month. This is a great opportunity for the No. 2 team to notch another strong finish.
No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart won last June's race at Pocono and has finished in the top 10 in the eight of the last nine races at the track. Smoke will be flying again this weekend.
No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin has finished in the top five in 19 of his 46 career starts at Pocono. We project another top five finish for the wily veteran.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has finished 15th or better in 14 of his 15 career starts at Pocono. This will be a good chance for him to find that horseshoe and change his run of bad luck.


6 to 10

No. 99 Carl Edwards: Edwards led the most laps during last June's race at Pocono and has been great at the track the last few races. He is a solid pick this weekend.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon has four career victories at Pocono. He should be battling for the lead all day.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: Newman has finished in the top 18 in the past nine races at Pocono. He will compete for the pole this weekend and should crack the top 10.
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya finally appeared to figure Pocono last season. He has driven well on flat-tracks and is someone to use this weekend.
No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne has always been awesome during qualifying at Pocono and he was one of the better drivers at the track in race-trim the past few races. He is a great fantasy option this weekend.


11 to 20

No. 17 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has finished inside the top 14 in the past eight races at Pocono. He should have another fast sled on Sunday.
No. 29 Kevin Harvick: Harvick has finished 17th or better in nine of his last 10 starts. He should be a top 15 finisher once again.
No. 31 Jeff Burton: Pocono has been a good track for Burton during his career. With some luck he could be in the top 10 when the checkers fly late Sunday afternoon.
No. 56 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex Jr. has averaged a 15th place finish in his five career starts at Pocono. We think he will finish right around his average on Sunday.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished in the top 15 in five of the last six races at Pocono. He will have a good car again this weekend.
No. 00 David Reutimann: Reutimann brought a very strong and fast car to Pocono last June. He should be back in the top 15.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Rowdy doesn't struggle at many tracks, but Pocono is a place he has been terrible. In his career he has cracked the top 10 just twice and he finished 22nd, 43rd, 36th, and 16th in the last three visits to the track. This is a rare weekend we don't recommend using the No. 18 driver.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Pocono has never been one of Biffle's better tracks. He will finish inside the top 20, but we don't think he has the track figured out enough to crack the top 10.
No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish Jr. finished 10th and fourth at Pocono last year. We don't see him matching the success he had last season, but a top 20 finish isn't out of the question.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior had one of the best cars in three of the last five Pocono races. He should have a top 10 car on Sunday, but we expect he will make a mistake and blow another opportunity for a top 10 finish.


21 to 30

No. 20 Joey Logano: Logano finished 23rd and 27th at Pocono last season. He should improve a little this trip to Long Pond.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: McMurray has just three top 10 finishes in 14 career Pocono starts. He won't make it four on Sunday.
No. 83 Casey Mears: Mears was great at Pocono in 2007, but he struggled at the track in 2008. He should finish near the top 20.
No. 12 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski is making his first Cup start at Pocono. The rookie should have no problem with the bumpy surface of the massive triangle.
No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose finished sixth at Pocono last June, but his struggles this season make him a poor fantasy choice.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Sadler has averaged a 25th place finish the last eight races at Pocono. He isn't a great pick.
No. 6 David Ragan: Ragan was terrible at Pocono last year. He isn't worth using this weekend.
No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger: A.J. was couldn't get out of his own way during June's Pocono race, but improved in August. He will be a mid-20s finisher.
No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard's average finish at Pocono is 30th. He should finish right around there again this weekend.
No. 82 Scott Speed: Speed hasn't had much luck at Pocono is his career. He is only worth using as a fifth driver in deep leagues.



31 to 35

No. 37 David Gilliland: Gilliland has quietly notched three consecutive top 30 finishes. Look for him to drive another conservative race this weekend.
No. 71 Bobby Labonte: Labonte is usually decent at Pocono. This isn't a bad weekend to use him.
No. 38 Travis Kvapil: Kvapil has averaged a 23rd place finish at Pocono during his career. He is worth using this race.
No. 78 Regan Smith: Has never finished outside the top 35 at Pocono during his career. Of course he has never cracked the top 20 either.
No. 7 Robby Gordon: Gordon has finished 33rd or worse in eight of his last nine Pocono starts. He isn't a fantasy option.


Field Fillers

No. 55 Michael McDowell
No. 13 Max Papis
No. 34 Kevin Conway
No. 66 Dave Blaney
No. 87 Joe Nemechek
No. 09 Terry Cook
No. 36 Geoff Bodine
No. 46 J.J. Yeley
No. 64 Chad McCumbee
No. 26 David Stremme


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kurt Busch
3. Tony Stewart
4. Mark Martin

Sleepers:

1. Sam Hornish Jr.
2. Kasey Kahne

Bust of the Week:

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

 

[HacheMan]

Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500
Track history: Pocono Raceway is a very demanding track not only on the drivers, but on the equipment as well. It is a 2.5-mile triangular oval with different length straightaways and different banking in the three turns. The front stretch is 3,740 feet where the cars are going 200 mph into a tight 14-degree banked first turn. The backstretch is 3,055 feet leading into an 8 degree sweeping turn 2. The short straight is 1,780 feet running into a tight 6 degree turn 3. The track has been described as "the superspeedway that drives like a road course". The facility was built in 1968 as a three-quarter mile raceway and was expanded to its current 2.5-mile configuration in the early 1970's.

First Pocono Cup race: The first 500-mile NASCAR race, the Purolator 500, was held on August 4, 1974. With a 144.122 mph lap in the Bud Moore No. 15 Ford, Buddy Baker qualified on the pole to lead the 35-car field. He led 11 laps and finished 2nd. Richard Petty started his No. 43 STP Dodge 3rd on the grid, led 152 laps and took the win in the rain-shortened (480 miles) inaugural event. Petty earned $17,000 for the win.

June 2009 Pocono Cup race: Qualifying was rained-out for the June 7, 2009 Pocono 500 and the field was set by owner's points. Tony Stewart led the field to the green in the No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet. The race turned into a fuel mileage event with the top 5 or 6 cars slowing the pace down in the final laps. Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 ran out of gas on the last lap while running 3rd (finished 7th). Carl Edwards, who led the most laps (103 of 200) in the No. 99, stretched it to finish 2nd. Stewart made it to the finish to score the win while running on fumes.

Last Pocono Cup race: Like the June race, qualifying was rained-out for the August 3, 2009 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 and set by owner's points. That put Tony Stewart and the No. 14 Old Spice Chevrolet on the pole. Unfortunately, Stewart wrecked in practice, went to a backup car and had to start the race in 43rd. He never led a lap but managed to get through the field to finish 10th. Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota were the class of the field. He started 6th, led the most laps (91 of 200) and took the checkered flag.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. There were 45 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. Here are our picks for Sunday's Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Mid-Pack picks

Okay, Tony Stewart should be rated one of the top 3 drivers at Pocono, but, for whatever reason, he's not. He's also outside the top 15 in points so we get to go with a no-brainer pick this week. He's the defending winner of the June 2009 race. He came back to Pocono in August and would have started on the pole due to the qualifying rain-out. As noted above in the "Last Pocono Cup Race", he had to start at the rear but still finished 10th. With the exception of a 35th in 2008, that 10th place finish was his worst in the last nine NSCS races at the Long Pond track. This is the week you should consider using Tony Stewart.

No driver has scored more championship points over the last four Cup races at Pocono than Kasey Kahne. He finished 1st, 7th, 15th and 5th in those races. He's coming off a 12th at Charlotte and might have had a great finish at Dover. He led 24 laps at the Delaware track before his shifter broke. He got penalized in the pits for too many men over the wall (to fix the shifter), went to the rear but managed to salvage a 20th place. We think Kahne will continue his string of top 15's (maybe even another win) at Pocono.

Maybe it's his IndyCar background before coming to NASCAR, but Sam Hornish Jr. seems to do better on tracks that are either very flat overall or with long straightaways with minimal banking in the turns. He finished 10th here in June from a 26th place start and 4th in August from 29th. That 4th was his Cup career best finish. He's also one of only four drivers scoring top tens in both Pocono races in 2009. At 29th in the points, Hornish should be a reasonably priced option for this weekend's race.

Brad Keselowski will be making his Pocono debut this weekend but he has done well on other flat tracks. He scored top 5's in his last 3 Nationwide Series races at Phoenix and posted a 16th there in the April 2010 Cup Series race. At Loudon (New Hampshire), he finished 6th in his first Cup start and had a 10th and 3rd in two NNS starts. He also started on the pole for the NNS race at Las Vegas this past February and finished 4th. Aside from his DNF due to a wreck at 'Dega (the day after winning the NNS race), Keselowski has a string of 8 top 20 (5 of them top 15) finishes in the last 9 Cup Series races. We think he's a good choice for a fourth or fifth driver this week.