Pocono Raceway:

Pocono Raceway:

History

·         Opened in 1968 as a three-quarter-mile track, Pocono Raceway held the first race on the 2.5-mile track in 1971.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was in 1974.

Notebook

·         There have been 67 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono Raceway.

·         There was one race from 1974 through 1981, and two per year since.

·         All NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono have been scheduled for 500 miles.

·         Buddy Baker won the first pole.

·         There have been 37 different pole winners, including David Pearson who won the pole there in June 1984 but did not race; 16 drivers have more than one pole there.

·         The pole has been swept just three times: Bill Elliott (1985), Ken Schrader (1993), Denny Hamlin (2006).

·         Richard Petty won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono.

·         29 different drivers have won races at Pocono, led by Bill Elliott and Jeff Gordon, each with five victories; 20 drivers have won more than once there.

·         There have been six season sweeps at Pocono, the last by Denny Hamlin in 2006.

·         Bobby Allison (1982, ’83) and Tim Richmond (1986, ’87) each won three consecutive races at Pocono.

·         47 of 67 Pocono races have been won from a top-10 start.

·         The June 2005 race was won by Carl Edwards from the 29th starting position, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.

·         13 of 67 races have been won from the pole, Bill Elliott (1985, 2002) and Denny Hamlin (2006 sweep) are the only drivers to have done it twice. Tony Stewart is the most recent driver to win from the pole in 2009.

·         Rick Hendrick leads all car owners with 12 Pocono victories.

·         Mark Martin leads all drivers in top fives (19) and top 10s (33), but has yet to win at Pocono. His best finish was second, six times (most recently in August 2004).

·         Denny Hamlin (9.1) and Jimmie Johnson (9.2) are the only active drivers to average a top-10 finish.

Pocono Raceway Data

Race #: 21 of 36 (8-7-11)

Track Size: 2.5 mile (200 laps/500miles)

·     Banking/Turn 1: 14 degrees

·     Banking/Turn 2: 8 degrees

·     Banking/Turn 3: 6 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 3,740 feet

·     Backstretch: 3,055 feet

·     Shortstretch: 1,780 feet

Driver Rating at Pocono 

Denny Hamlin                118.6

Jimmie Johnson             106.4

Kurt Busch                    104.1

Jeff Gordon                    101.3

Tony Stewart                 100.7

Carl Edwards                  97.7

Ryan Newman                94.2

Mark Martin                    93.8

Kevin Harvick                  92.0

Kasey Kahne                  91.1

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (13 total) at Pocono.

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: Tony Stewart (171.393 mph, 52.511 seconds)

2010 race winner: Greg Biffle, (132.346 mph, 8-01-10)

Track qualifying record: Kasey Kahne (172.533 mph, 52.164 seconds, 6-11-04)

Track race record: Rusty Wallace (144.892 mph, 7-21-96)