The picturesque Pocono mountains are the site of this weeks NASCAR Sprint Cup race. The tri-angled shaped 2.5 mile track is without a doubt the most unique track on the circuit. It combines the three vastly different turns that is flatter than the next with three monstrous straight-aways that give it a feel of being a road course combined with a superspeedway. Among all the cookie cutter tracks on the circuit, Pocono is always a welcomed attraction for NASCAR viewers across the nation.
It’s important to note that this Pocono race will be the first time we have seen the Car of Tomorrow at the track. Along with the 1.5 and two-mile tracks, Pocono wasn’t raced on last season so the only real clues we have to go on is by using a little past history of the drivers at Pocono and also using what we have seen this year on all tracks.
I believe it is safe to say that Las Vegan Kyle Busch is pretty good on just about everything. He has a nice 142 point lead over second place Jeff Burton in the standings that includes four wins through 13 races. He is on his way to what looks like a dominating season in the same fashion like we used to see from Jeff Gordon in the late 90’s. It doesn’t matter what kind of track it is, the fact is that Busch is fast everywhere in anything.
We already know Busch is going to be fast this week and we know that he is the 7/1 favorite for the race, but just fun, lets take a look at how he has been in the past at Pocono Raceway when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports. His rookie year was 2005, one year after his teammate Jimmie Johnson had swept Pocono. In his first start, Busch finished fourth accompanied by all three of his Hendrick teammates in the Top 10. His recent history at the track hasn’t been as successful as that first run, which was also the first year of the new gear ratio rule that took the shifting element away from Pocono.
Kyle Busch is going to have plenty of power and he’ll also have the support of his two Gibbs teammates who haven’t finished outside seventh place in the last four Pocono races. Denny Hamlin swept the 2006 season while Tony Stewart has been in contention for a win in just about every Pocono start of his career. Stewart combined his road course skill and down-shifting ability to be one of the elite Pocono drivers. Down-shifting doesn’t come into play anymore, but there still is a little road course experience required to hit those turns precisely to maximize speed and minimize wiggle.
Last week all the Sprint Cup teams went to Pocono for a test session because the COT had never been on the track. The results of the session looked exactly like the old car because it was the same cast of characters that had been fast in the old cars that were good in the testing as well as a few names from open wheel road racing that can’t seem to cut it on stock car ovals.
Leading the way in testing was two-time Pocono winner and Kyle’s big brother, Kurt Busch. We have been waiting patiently in Las Vegas at PT’s pub for a big Kurt Busch win, but it has eluded him and us all season. Many thought that after the big 1-2 Daytona 500 finish from the Penske drivers that there was a possibility that Busch could be a championship contender. There was no way to know at that point that the Penske COT program was so far behind just about every other major racing program.
The Pocono test session is the first real sign that Penske has made strides with the COT. Being in Las Vegas, we really hope that Kurt Busch is ready to make a run and be competitive like we have seen throughout his entire career. Thus far, he’s languishing in 21st position with his only top 10 finish of the season coming at Daytona when he pushed Ryan Newman to the win and finished second.
The driver that finished just behind Busch in the test session was Mark Martin followed by three open wheelers, Patrick Carpentier, AJ Allmendinger, and JJ Yeley. Martin has bee one of the best Pocono drivers of all time. He has 42 career starts there with 29 Top 10 finishes. His six second place finishes there without are a record and just for fun we’ll throw in his four third places finishes. Needless to say, mark martin is a contender this week with what looks like an obviously improved DEI program.
TOP 5 Finish Prediction:
1. #2 Kurt Busch (12/1)
2. #18 Kyle Busch (7/1)
3. #11 Denny Hamlin (8/1)
4. #8 Mark Martin (19/1)
5. #48 Jimmie Johnson (8/1)
If Kurt Busch wins, you want to be at PT’s Pub in Las Vegas
We think Kurt Busch has a great shot at winning this week. Should that come true, then you want to be at any one of the 36 PT’s Pubs in Las Vegas because not only will you get a free Miller Lite, but you’ll also get $20 of free slot play. This is the week, see you there.
Micah Roberts is a Race and Sports Director for Station Casinos in Las Vegas , Nevada who covers motor sports from both a bettor and bookmaker's perspective.
