NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Could Claim Victory at Pocono?
Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway offers the next chance for a potential Playoff-busting NASCAR Cup Series performance. With the Next Gen car making its maiden trip to Pocono, nobody truly knows what to expect Sunday. Several past masters of the Tricky Triangle find themselves winless or in a perilous points position with six races left before the postseason. Can we see a 15th different winner this weekend? Let’s take a deep dive at a few drivers favored for Pocono.
Denny Hamlin
Tied with Jeff Gordon for most all-time Pocono wins with six, Denny Hamlin could make it seven this weekend. Driver 11 is perhaps the best active driver at the Tricky Triangle, with six top-10s in the last seven races. That same span also includes two wins for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Ever since a rookie year Pocono sweep, Hamlin’s held a special regard for the Pennsylvania track. With almost 800 laps led here as well, Hamlin is eyeing a potential third win of 2022 on Sunday.
“I think (Pocono) just fits my driving style and it’s a place I picked up on right from the first time there in my rookie season,” Hamlin said. “It’s a great racetrack, very challenging and it’s tough to get your car balanced for all three turns. Obviously, I have been very fortunate to work with some great teams and crew chiefs throughout my career as well. That gives me a lot of confidence every time I go to Pocono. This week especially, it’s unlike anywhere we have been so far this season, but I feel like our team and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota have been working very hard and making gains throughout the year. I’m looking forward to getting on track Saturday and seeing where we stack up, because I feel like it’s a place that we can take advantage of and hopefully pick up some more Playoff points.”
Pocono is one of Hamlin’s best tracks statistically, so the FedEx 11 is always a strong threat in Pennsylvania. As the Playoffs near, Hamlin’s quest for more bonus points can only boost his seeding entering the 10-week fight. Team 11 will be wanting a max-points effort this weekend, hoping to join Chase Elliott as three-time winners in 2022.
Kevin Harvick
While Kevin Harvick only has one Pocono win from 2020, he’s been close to many more triangle victories. Only twice since 2014 has Harvick finished worse than ninth in Pennsylvania, with five runner-up results. For the longest time, Pocono was seemingly Harvick’s kryptonite. With the 4 team’s recent performance though, Pocono could be the keystone to a Playoff push.
“When you look at Pocono, you know that you’re going to have a challenge of getting your car to handle in all three corners,” Harvick said. “That’s the biggest challenge when it comes to Pocono. You have to make sure you can get all you can coming to turn three because the straightaway after that is really, really long. You can kind of give up the tunnel turn, but you still need to be very good in all three corners. It’s just a different style of racetrack than what we go to on a week-to-week basis.”
“With the Next Gen car’s characteristics, you’re going to be able to push and shove and bump draft and all of the things that you can do. And then you’re going to have options on gears, so add that in with sometimes being difficult to pass, I think it’s going to be interesting to see the restarts. I think the restarts are going to get more intense than they’ve been before.”
At New Hampshire a week ago, Kevin Harvick was among the class of the field. Coming off perhaps their best showing of the season to date, the 4 team could be out for blood at Pocono. Should Harvick get a second win at the triangle this weekend, it would only further blow up the Playoff grid.
Kyle Busch
Nobody has been stronger at Pocono over the last five years than Kyle Busch. Since 2017, the 18 has visited Pocono victory lane four times, including in race two last year. Busch also only has one finish outside the top-10 at Pocono dating back to 2016. Much like with Harvick, Busch was snakebitten from winning Pocono until very recently. Now though, the 18 could leave the triangle with another victory.
“I get asked a lot what my favorite track is and my answer is usually Bristol, but Pocono is one of those places that has really moved up much higher on that list,” Busch said. “It’s always, ‘What have you done for me lately,’ so Pocono has been a really good place for us and a place we started running well starting in 2013, 2014, but really didn’t see the actual results from that until the 2017 season. We were able to make the pit strategy work last year and had enough fuel to get to the finish line first even though we had transmission issues, so it would be great to be able to go back there with this new car and get back to victory lane with our M&M’S Camry. For all that M&M’s has done for the fans over the years, and the cool schemes I’ve been able to drive, it’s also cool to see them sponsor a race and certainly would be pretty cool for them to have the opportunity to hand over the M&M’S Fan Appreciation 400 trophy to me this weekend.”
“Every time you go there, it’s a bit different. The bumps change, the characteristics change, where the bumps are. Are they getting bigger? Are they getting worse? Are there more? That turn-two tunnel turn is always a culprit for the bumps, and the harsh winters up there really change the racetrack. Then, what happens in turn three, where the wind is blowing and stuff like that, is always kind of a convoluted piece to Pocono, and how you get through turn three versus turn one versus two. There are three distinctly different corners, there’s definitely going to be compromise.”
Pocono may be exactly what Kyle Busch needs to stop the hemorrhaging of points the last several weeks. 12th at Loudon a week ago was Busch’s best result since his runner-up at Gateway in June. With an unparalleled streak of winning at the Tricky Triangle, the 18 could become the sixth multi-race winner on Sunday.
Kyle Larson
Coming within a corner of a Pocono win last year, Kyle Larson eyes his first triangle win. Aside from 2021 though, Pocono Raceway has been very kind to driver 5 across his career. Larson boasts eight top-10s in 14 races at Long Pond, with a best finish of second. After a surprisingly quiet last few weeks, the 5 car aims to find victory lane again. Can the defending champion be out front for the entire last lap at Pocono?
“I always enjoy going to Pocono, it’s a track that for some reason suits my driving style,” Larson said. “I’ve had some good runs there and was close to winning there last year, so I’m excited to go back. It should be interesting in the Next Gen car. I don’t know how many times we’ll be downshifting. In the previous car, this was really the only oval we’d downshift at, so it may not be too different.”
Even with the last-corner crash in 2021’s first Pocono doubleheader race, Larson still finished ninth. He would back that run up the next day with a runner-up result, both part of three-straight Pocono top-10s for Larson. The triangle is one of Larson’s best tracks he has yet to win at, that could change on Sunday.
Martin Truex Jr
Two-time winner Martin Truex Jr has been just a step behind his Toyota teammates recently at Pocono. Since last winning here in 2018, MTJ has just three triangle top-10s. After sweeping both Stages and leading 172 laps last week, can Pocono see the 19 break into victory lane for the first time in 2022? Truex looks to Sunday as a chance for a much-needed win to secure his Playoff spot.
“I am optimistic about this weekend,” Truex said. “I feel like James (Small, crew chief) and everyone back at JGR has been working very hard and making gains. From where we were a few months ago, it’s impressive to see all the work that has gone in. I feel like Pocono is a place we can have success based on how we’ve been running. Regardless of the car, it’s going to come down to getting the balance as close as possible in all three corners and then maintaining track position throughout the race.”
Despite being fourth in the regular season standings, Martin Truex Jr is currently the last man in the Playoffs. With a 68-point gap over Kevin Harvick, Truex must look at the next six weeks as must-win to firmly be a part of the championship hunt. With his past successes here, Pocono is perhaps MTJ’s best shot left at victory.
Ryan Blaney
The site of his first career win in 2017, Ryan Blaney enters Pocono needing another checkered flag. Five years ago, Blaney held off both Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick to claim his maiden Cup Series triumph. Blaney’s Pocono success continues, as he saw a pair of top-10s here last season. Team 12 hopes for another strong day this time around. Despite being over 100 points ahead of the Playoff cut line, the Penske team needs a win to ward off possible elimination from the 16-man battle. Blaney has seemingly done everything but win a race this year. Being third in points, Blaney needs a win to guarantee his place in this year’s championship fight. Over the rest of the regular season, Blaney is perhaps the fastest and most consistent non-winner, so expect the 12 to be dangerous at Pocono.
Six races remain in the 2022 regular season, with only two Playoff spots still for the taking. Can Pocono see an unprecedented 15th different winner on the season, or will a repeat winner grace Pocono victory lane? Be sure to not miss a lap of action in the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400, Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to James Gilbert/Getty Images for NASCAR
