Pocono Sunday NASCAR

[The General]

Jimmie Johnson is a good pick and if you agree somewhat, then I suggest the 48 be wagered before qualifying. I like Jimmie Johnson to rebound here from a very poor Indianapolis Brickyard 400 showing. Pocono is a very similar racing format in comparison to Indianapolis also with the long straights. A strong engine program is a necessity. Stewart-Haas, Ganassi-Earnhardt and Hendricks are front runners. Obviously the Toyota's past has been good here also with JGR.

As usual, there is a forecast of this Sunday so we need be careful of a shortened race with no lighting.

[The General]

BTW, The Craftsman truck series is running here for the first time this weekend. Qualifying will involve several trucks on track simultaneously, sent out 20 seconds apart based on practice speed, the slowest speed going out first. Should be entertaining. I think only 50 laps of racing, too.

[hawk 5]

Might be able to snag Jimmie at decent odds if you hit him early. Hamlin on the other hand... This is a qualifiers track. Need to qualify up front to have a decent shot at the win.

[avssakic]

Definitely will be using early results from last race and Indy since they are similiar

[Optional]

Does anyone think the TRD engine Toyotas have any chance to compete here?

[hawk 5]

Does anyone think the TRD engine Toyotas have any chance to compete here?

Yes they do.

[Optional]

I was wondering if being a bit down on horsepower was a killer for them here or not.

[The General]

The Greek odds for Pocono current:


7/30/2010 10:00 AM Driver to win the Pennsylvania 500
101 Denny Hamlin +350
102 Kyle Busch +600
103 Jimmie Johnson +600
104 Kevin Harvick +1000
105 Jeff Gordon +1000
106 Clint Bowyer +1200
107 Tony Stewart +1200
108 Kurt Busch +1800
109 Jeff Burton +1800
110 Kasey Kahne +2000
111 Juan Montoya +2000
112 Jamie McMurray +2000
113 Carl Edwards +2000
114 Greg Biffle +2000
115 Mark Martin +2500
116 Matt Kenseth +3000
117 Dale Earnhardt Jr +3500
118 David Reutimann +4000
119 Ryan Newman +4000
120 Joey Logano +3500
121 Martin Truex Jr +4500
122 Field +2500

[The General]

Top 2 listed are Toyota's.

[The General]

Trucks

7/30/2010 7:00 AM Odds to win the Truck Series Pocono Mountains 125 Race is @ Pocono Raceway
601 Denny Hamlin +175
602 Ron Hornaday +400
603 Kasey Kahne +400
604 Elliot Sadler +600
605 Johnny Sauter +800
606 Todd Bodine +800
607 Matt Crafton +1000
608 Aric Almirola +1200
609 Austin Dillon +1200
610 Mike Skinner +1500
611 Field +800

[avssakic]

Like Kahne and Montoya at their odds

[hawk 5]

Like Kahne and Montoya at their odds

Like Kahne alot. Montoco I'm still pissed at.

[avssakic]

Yea Montoya is becoming a regular fck up these days...

[brxbmbers42]

Where is the guy who posts the average finish overall and at track race is at. That is a great tool.

[KC]

Where is the guy who posts the average finish overall and at track race is at. That is a great tool.

just go to nascar.com and click on drivers

[The General]

2010 Pocono II: NASCAR Sprint Cup Starting Line-up & Race Preview


By Mike Sulka

Since 1974, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series has been racing at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. In all, the Cup series has raced here 65 times. Bill Elliott has the most all-time victories at the track with five, while the most recent winner - Denny Hamlin - and Jeff Gordon trail by just one with four each. Richard Petty won the first event at the 2.5-mile tri-oval in his '74 Dodge.

Pocono Raceway was track was built in 1968. It has 14 degree banking in Turn One, 8 degree banking in Turn Two, and 6 degree banking in Turn 3. The straights are flat at two degree banking and very long. The frontstretch is 3740 feet with a backstretch of 3055 feet. The shortstetch is still 1780 feet. In all, the track seats nearly 77,000.

Over the last five years, there are three drivers who have performed better than any other at Pocono: Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin is the clear favorite since he has won the last two races at Pocono, and leads active drivers with four wins. In fact, Hamlin has won four of the nine races he's qualified at Pocono, and finished third two times more.

His chief rival is today's polesitter, Tony Stewart. 'Smoke' has the best results over the last three and four races including a win at Pocono I in 2009. Stewart also has three top-threes in that span and a 10th place finish in 2009 being his lone blemish. But Tony has had a miserable 2010 though he's shown recent signs of breaking out of his slump for his first win of the season. Currently, Stewart has just five top-fives in 20 races in 2010, and just 10 top 10s.

The next best driver over the last three years at Pocono is Jimmie Johnson. But he has no wins, but he has been consistent with four finishes of the last six between fifth place and seventh place.

Hardly the kind of stats we are looking to cling to as we try to pick a winner.

So with the continued unpredictability of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season weighing on our minds, we are not going out on a limb as we did at Pocono I. Our pick to win today's is Denny Hamlin. Yes, its a safe pick, but if you look at the trends, its a good one. Plus Hamlin has won five times this season, so he's not been a fast fluke.

But, should that pick fail us, keep an eye on Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon to possibly end their win-less streaks, or Clint Bowyer and Juan Pablo Montoya. They all have solid recent records at Pocono.

Enjoy the race! It is sure to be another NASCAR Sprint Cup thriller!




Starting Line Up by Row
Pocono Raceway
The Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 (37th Running)
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, July 30, 2010 @ 05:31 PM Eastern
Track Race Record: Rusty Wallace 07/21/96 03:27:03 144.892
Row Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed

1 1 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 52.511 171.393

2 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 52.602 171.096

2 3 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 52.826 170.371

4 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 52.872 170.222

3 5 39 Ryan Newman U.S.Army Chevrolet 52.961 169.936

6 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet 52.972 169.901

4 7 43 A J Allmendinger Insignia HDTV Ford 52.979 169.879

8 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 53.013 169.770

5 9 1 Jamie McMurray AXE Twist Chevrolet 53.036 169.696

10 5 Mark Martin Hendrickcars.com / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 53.062 169.613

6 11 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 53.084 169.543

12 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 53.114 169.447

7 13 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite / Vortex Dodge 53.116 169.440

14 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 53.203 169.163

8 15 77 Sam Hornish Jr. PPG / Olympic Dodge 53.216 169.122

16 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford 53.223 169.100

9 17 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota 53.247 169.024

18 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 53.256 168.995

10 19 47 Marcos Ambrose Clorox / Kleenex Toyota 53.349 168.700

20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet 53.358 168.672

11 21 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota 53.359 168.669

22 71 Bobby Labonte TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 53.380 168.602

12 23 98 Paul Menard CertainTeed / Menards Ford 53.440 168.413

24 00 David Reutimann Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 53.455 168.366

13 25 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 53.461 168.347

26 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford 53.478 168.294

14 27 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 53.545 168.083

28 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 53.587 167.951

15 29 19 Elliott Sadler Air Force Ford 53.631 167.813

30 46 J J Yeley Cash America Dodge 53.690 167.629

16 31 83 Reed Sorenson Red Bull Toyota 53.773 167.370

32 38 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver's Ford 53.786 167.330

17 33 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 53.842 167.156

34 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 53.896 166.988

18 35 09 Landon Cassill Phoenix Construction Chevrolet 53.896 166.988

36 55 Michael McDowell PRISM Motorsports Toyota 53.899 166.979

19 37 37 David Gilliland Gander Mountain Ford 54.068 166.457

38 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 54.089 166.392

20 39 36 Casey Mears Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 54.112 166.322

40 33 Clint Bowyer The Hartford Chevrolet 54.377 165.511

21 41 34 Kevin Conway # Extenze Ford Owner Points

42 7 P J Jones SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Owner Points

22 43 64 Todd Bodine FRED's Hometown Discount Store Toyota 54.127 166.276

Did Not Qualify: # 26 David Stremme; # 13 Max Papis.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 15 0 Ford 11 1

http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/story-141578.html

[The General]

Rain in the area as usual so we may see a shortened race or a Monday race.

[hawk 5]

Rain in the area as usual so we may see a shortened race or a Monday race.

Don't want to hear this.

[THE HITMAN]

Might give Jeff Gordon a pop here........good history here, has as many wins here as Hamlin and must be hungry as hell for a win this season.

[The General]

I like Jeff also, Hitman

GL

[The General]

Every time I hear Pocono I think Rain. It's synonymous.

[The General]

BTW, The Craftsman truck series is running here for the first time this weekend. Qualifying will involve several trucks on track simultaneously, sent out 20 seconds apart based on practice speed, the slowest speed going out first. Should be entertaining. I think only 50 laps of racing, too.

Pretty good format yesterday and Elliot Sadler wins the inaugural Truck series Pocono race.

[Optional]

Where is the guy who posts the average finish overall and at track race is at. That is a great tool.

Sorry about that. Didn't think anyone was interested. I'll post them earlier, in the official thread again next week


First number is how much better they qualify here than career average, 2nd number is how much better they finish.

Hamlin 125% 62%
Newman 14% 28%
Johnson 38% 24%
Martin 33% 21%
Almendinger 1% 13%
Kahne 65% 11%
Montoya 13% 8%
Kurt B 29% 8%
Stewart 35% 6%

[The General]

I Grabbed some long shots for a chance in Mark Martin 25/1, Ryan Newman 30/1 and Dale Earnhardt Jr 35/1.

[The General]

[cankid]

thx for the info General, always liked your Nascar input

[The General]

Thank you.

Looks like the rain is en route soon.

[Jay Price]

Thanks Jimmy for knocking my two top ten guys out!

Hope Sadler is okay

[The General]

Rain has fallen under red. Looks like Jeff Gordon may get his 1st win in his last 50 tries. I need the 24 to beat the 18 and 42.

[SaviorTebow]

Congrats to Biffle on the win. Sadler took a hard hit too, glad he is OK.

[The General]

Great timing for Jack Roush

[jjgold]

gordon is afraid that is why he does not win anymore, also he cannot close races

[THE PROFIT]

I thought it was Gordons race, but good to see a Roush team get a win today!

[BadNina]

I have never seen an engine sitting on the track without its car like that before. The safety features that NASCAR uses are really awesome. Wrecks like that make you appreciate how much value they place on their drivers safety.

[THE PROFIT]

too bad the safety precautions couldnt have saved the man who made the sport what it is