Pocono Raceway Odds & Ends: Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 presented by Target

compiled by Mike Forde
NASCAR Media Services

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 64 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 35 different pole winners, including David Pearson who won the pole there in June 1984 but did not race (Donnie Allison ran the pole-winning car in the event); 15 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.

·         28 different drivers have won races at Pocono, led by Bill Elliott, 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 and Tim Richmond each won three consecutive races at Pocono.

·         46 of 64 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.

·         Rick Hendrick leads all car owners with 11 Pocono victories.

·         Mark Martin leads all drivers in top fives (19) and top 10s (32), but has yet to win at Pocono. His best finish was second, six times (most recently in August 2004).

·         Denny Hamlin (9.5) and Jimmie Johnson (9.8) are the only active drivers to average a top-10 finish.

NASCAR in Pennsylvania

·         There have been 98 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Pennsylvania.

·         137 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Pennsylvania.

·         There are three race winners from Pennsylvania in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Dick Linder	3	0	0
Jimmy Spencer	2	12	1
Mark Donohue	1	0	0

Pocono Raceway Data

Race #: 14 of 36 (6-6-10)

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

Driver Rating at Pocono

Denny Hamlin                115.9

Kurt Busch                    105.9

Jimmie Johnson            103.1

Tony Stewart                 101.7

Carl Edwards                100.3

Mark Martin                   98.8

Jeff Gordon                  97.3

Ryan Newman               96.3

Brian Vickers                 93.9

Kasey Kahne                 92.0

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2009 races (10 total) at Pocono.

Qualifying/Race Data

2009 pole winner: None (inclement weather)

2009 race winner: Tony Stewart, 138.515 mph, 6-7-09)

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

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

Estimated Pit Window: Every 28-30 laps, based on fuel mileage.