Pocono: New Pavement, New Race Distance

Pocono: New Pavement, New Race Distance

Pocono Raceway is unlike any track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule: Three distinctly different turns and three straightaways of varying lengths and top speeds.
But this week, there are two new wrinkles. Pocono’s surface has received its first new coat of asphalt since 1995. And for the first time in the track’s history, neither 2012 race will be a 500-miler. Both Sunday’s Pocono 400 and August’s Pennsylvania 400 will be scheduled for 160 laps/400 miles over the 2.5-mile layout that became a part of NASCAR’s premier series in 1974.
This also will be the first race since January’s passing of Pocono founder Joseph "Doc" Mattioli. Each car in the starting field will carry a special decal in "Doc’s" memory.
Goodyear Tire tests suggest the "new" Pocono can be summed up in one word: speed. Smooth is another description that comes to mind. Teams test Wednesday and Thursday in advance of the weekend’s schedule.
Last year’s Pocono 400 winner Jeff Gordon said crew chiefs can leave their notes at the shop. "I am definitely not thinking about being the defending champion of that race at all just because there is nothing to compare to with a repave," said Gordon, whose five wins are tied with Bill Elliott for the all-time Pocono lead. "I think there is very little that we’re probably going to have in our set-up that would compare to what we had there last year."
Jimmie Johnson said repaving shouldn’t be a radical departure from the past because the same kind of materials were used in both old and new asphalt.
"Normally, it’s an edgy race track regardless of the tire that you come with on a new repave," said Johnson, whose two Pocono victories came in 2004. "It sounds like we didn’t have that [during the test] and Pocono made sure they used the same mix, the same asphalt that we were racing on.
"I would imagine that it’s going to be super smooth and really fast."
Greg Biffle won the track’s August race in 2010. He looks forward to the new format and thinks the fans should too. "I think the racing being shortened to 400 miles will create some excitement with the fan," said the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader. "There will be more urgency to go and different strategy."