Unique Pocono A Challenge

Defending Pocono 500 winner Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge) has been on the move in recent weeks with a seventh in the Coca-Cola 600 and a sixth at Dover. A repeat Pocono win would help Kahne rise from his current 14th place in the standings toward a place in the top 12.

Kahne’s 2008 Pocono win was his first at a track where crew chiefs and drivers have to make compromises for speed’s sake.

Pocono’s irregularly shaped triangle also features three turns of varying degrees, forcing teams to pick their turn for the best set-up, knowing in return they’ll not have their cars as good as they would like elsewhere on the track.

While Pocono features the longest front straightaway on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, the variable turns have produced the most Pocono wins for drivers who excel on road courses.

Nine-time road-course winner Jeff Gordon has four Pocono wins as does the late Tim Richmond who had five road course wins. Four time Pocono winner Rusty Wallace had six road course wins. Five time Pocono winner Bill Elliott’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win came on the Riverside (Calif.) road course in 1983.

“Guys who do good on road courses do good at Pocono because they can combine speed with car control,” said team owner Rick Hendrick.