Pocono Driver Chassis Selections: Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500

by Jeff Wackerlin
MotorRacingNetwork.com

1. Kevin Harvick: Fifth-best average finish (11.4) in the five races with the COT; Equaled best finish (fourth) and led first laps (5) in 19 starts in June; Will return in the same car that he raced in June.

2. Jeff Gordon: 10th-best average finish (13.6) in the five races with the COT; Four-time winner; Leader in laps led with 879; 10.7 average finish in 35 starts; 32nd-place finish in June ended streak of three consecutive top 10s.

3. Denny Hamlin: Ninth-best average finish (13.2) in the five races with the COT; Coming off fourth win in nine starts; Swept both races in 2006; Leads all drivers with a 8.6 average finish.

4. Jimmie Johnson: Leads all drivers with a 6.8 average finish in the five races with the COT; Has led 146 laps with the COT; Last of two wins came in 2004 when he swept both events; Won the pole for the 2008 August race; Has finished seventh or better on five of the last six races; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 592) that he finished 37th with at Charlotte in May.

5. Kurt Busch: 19.6 average finish in the five races with the COT; Finished sixth in June; Has scored one win and six top 10s in nine starts with Penske; Also won in 2005 with Roush; Has led 371 laps and posted 10 top 10s in 19 starts; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 712) that he finished 19th with at Dover in May.

6. Kyle Busch: 23.8 average finish in the five races with the COT; Coming off best finish (second) after leading 32 laps from the pole in June; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 277) in the Sunoco Red Cross 500.

7. Jeff Burton: Seventh-best average finish (12.6) in the five races with the COT; Finished seventh in June for 16th top 10 in 33 starts; Five of his top 10s have come with Richard Childress Racing; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 317) in the Sunoco Red Cross 500.

8. Matt Kenseth: Sixth-best average finish (11.4) in the five races with the COT; Last of eight top 10s came in the June 2008 event in seventh; Finished 17th in June for worst finish since this event in 2005; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 644) that he finished 14th with at Michigan in June.

9. Tony Stewart: Third-best average finish (10.2) in the five races with the COT; 4.7 average finish in three starts with Stewart-Haas; Won the 2009 June race in his track debut with SHR; Posted one win and 14 top 10s in previous 20 starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 515) that he finished 23rd with at Darlington in May.

10. Carl Edwards: Second-best average finish (8.4) in the five races with the COT; Second in laps led with the COT with 158; Last of two wins came in this event in 2008; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 639) that he finished 16th with at Charlotte in May. 

11. Greg Biffle: Coming off second DNF in 15 starts with a 28th-place finish; 16.4 average finish in the five races with the COT; Last of two top 10s came in the 2006 June race; Will be back in the same car (chassis No. 696) that he finished third with last weekend at Indianapolis.

12. Clint Bowyer: 13.8 average finish in the five races with the COT; Scored best finish in nine starts last year in this event in third; Finished ninth in June for fifth top 10; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 298) that he led 59 laps with in June after starting second. 

13. Mark Martin: Coming off worst finish (29th) in the last 12 races after a crash; 14.6 average finish in the five races with the COT; Last top 10 in three starts with Hendrick Motorsports came in this event last year in seventh; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 550) that he led 10 laps and finished 11th with at Indianapolis last weekend.

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Finished fourth in track debut with Rick Hendrick in first COT event at track; 18.0 average finish in five events with team; Five top fives and six top 10s in 21 starts with an average finish of 17.5; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 584) that he finished 19th with at Pocono in June. 

15. Ryan Newman: Eighth-best average finish (13.0) in the five races with the COT; 11.0 average finish in three starts with Stewart-Hass; Best finish with SHR came in the 2009 June race in fifth; Posted six top 10s in previous 14 starts with Penske Racing.

16. Jamie McMurray: Finished 36th in first track start with Chip Ganassi since 2005; Last top-10 finish (ninth-place) came with Roush racing in second event in 2008; 21.7 average finish in 15 starts with three top-10s; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 1004) that he finished 24th with at Michigan in June.

17. Kasey Kahne: Won the 2008 June race from the pole after leading 69 laps; Finished fifth in this event last year after leading 35 laps; Fourth-best average finish (11.0) in the five races with the COT; Still holds track qualifying record, which was set in this event in 2004 during rookie season.

18. David Reutimann: 19.2 average finish in the five races with the COT; Finished third in the 2009 June race for only top 10 in seven starts.

19. Joey Logano: 21.0 average finish; 13th-place finish in June is best in three starts; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 278) in the Sunoco Red Cross 500.

20. Martin Truex Jr: 18.8 average finish in the five races with the COT; Two top 10s in nine starts came with the old car; Finished 25th in June in track debut with Michael Waltrip Racing.

21. AJ Allmendinger: Coming off first top 10 in six starts; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 294) that he finished 11th with at Michigan in June.

22. Juan Pablo Montoya: Coming off three consecutive top 10s; Second-place finish in this event last year is best in seven starts; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 910) that he finished eighth with at Pocono in June.

23. Paul Menard: Has yet to finish better than 15th in seven starts; Coming off best finish in 16th; Average finish is 27.4; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 653) that he finished 30th with at Darlington in May.

24. David Ragan: Only top 10 in seven starts came in this event in 2008 in fifth; 23.1 average finish; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 670) that he finished seventh with in the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte.

25. Brad Keselowski: Finished 21st in June in track debut; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 733) in the Sunoco Red Cross 500.

26. Scott Speed: 25.0 average finish in three starts; Coming off best finish in 20th.

27. Marcos Ambrose: 23.3 average finish in three starts; Only finish inside the top 25 came in the 2009 June race in sixth.

28. Elliott Sadler: 21.5 average finish in 23 starts with two top 10s; Finished 25th, 24th and 31st in three starts with Richard Petty Motorsports; Will return in same car (chassis No. 283) that he finished 21st with at Bristol in June.

29. Sam Hornish Jr: Best track on the circuit based on 18.6 average finish; 8.3 average finish in last three starts; Finished a NASCAR career-best fourth in this event last year.

30. Regan Smith: Coming off best finish in four starts in 18th; 26.0 average finish.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 14
Unofficial Race Results for the The Gillette Fusion Proglide 500 Presented By Target
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Pocono Raceway - Long Pond, PA - 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 204 Laps - 510 Miles - Purse: $4,945,083

Fin	Str	Car#	Driver	Sponsor Manu	Laps Run	Points	Bonus Pts	Driver Rating	Total Award	Status	Times Led	Laps Led
1	5	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight Toyota	204	195	10	144.3	$212,875	Running	5	88
2	1	18	Kyle Busch	M&Ms Pretzel Toyota	204	175	5	124.7	$220,854	Running	4	32
3	6	14	Tony Stewart	Old Spice/Office Depot Chevy	204	165		98.2	$163,146	Running
4	22	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell/Pennzoil Chevy	204	165	5	113.2	$153,249	Running	1	5
5	25	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's Chevy	204	155		110.1	$150,243	Running
6	4	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite/Vortex Dodge	204	155	5	81.5	$146,196	Running	1	3
7	13	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevy	204	146		107.9	$123,488	Running
8	7	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevy	204	142		93.8	$117,654	Running
9	2	33	Clint Bowyer	Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevy	204	143	5	119.7	$88,150	Running	2	59
10	17	43	A J Allmendinger	Coleman Natural Foods Ford	204	134		93	$118,149	Running
11	19	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Mobil 1 Dodge	204	135	5	84.2	$85,975	Running	1	16
12	26	99	Carl Edwards	Kellogg's/Cheez-It Ford	204	127		80.8	$112,846	Running
13	12	20	Joey Logano	Home Depot Toyota	204	124		94	$112,138	Running
14	9	39	Ryan Newman	Haas Automation Chevy	204	121		76.5	$107,177	Running
15	29	00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota	204	118		68.4	$103,154	Running
16	33	98	Paul Menard	Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford	204	115		56.4	$79,850	Running
17	15	17	Matt Kenseth	Crown Royal Black Ford	204	112		76.1	$116,399	Running
18	24	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing Chevy	204	109		64.9	$78,800	Running
19	3	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard/AMP Energy Chevy	204	106		81.6	$78,450	Running
20	31	82	Scott Speed	Red Bull Toyota	204	103		61.2	$89,246	Running
21	11	12	Brad Keselowski	No. 12 Penske Dodge Dodge	204	100		61.7	$97,433	Running
22	38	38	Travis Kvapil	Long John Silver's/Ice Flow Lemonade Ford	204	97		46.6	$90,483	Running
23	23	83	Casey Mears	Red Bull Toyota	204	94		54.3	$107,971	Running
24	43	26	David Stremme	Air Guard Ford	204	91		52.6	$82,900	Running
25	27	56	Martin Truex Jr.	NAPA Toyota	204	88		75.6	$68,625	Running
26	35	6	David Ragan	UPS Ford	204	85		54.5	$76,975	Running
27	8	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser Ford	203	82		91.9	$108,363	Accident
28	28	16	Greg Biffle	3M Ford	203	79		77.2	$75,675	Accident
29	14	5	Mark Martin	Hendrickcars.com/GoDaddy.com Chevy	203	76		66.2	$85,025	Accident
30	16	47	Marcos Ambrose	Little Debbie Toyota	203	73		67	$92,496	Accident
31	21	19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley Ford	203	70		52.8	$72,725	Running
32	10	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevy	203	67		84.2	$112,449	Accident
33	37	37	David Gilliland	Taco Bell Ford	202	64		38.9	$80,421	Running
34	20	13	Max Papis	GEICO Toyota	200	61		36.7	$64,150	Running
35	42	34	Kevin Conway #	Extenze Ford	199	58		34.4	$66,000	Running
36	18	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald's Chevy	167	55		57.9	$101,952	Accident
37	36	46	JJ Yeley	Whitney Motorsports Dodge	40	52		34.6	$63,600	Brakes
38	41	71	Bobby Labonte	TRG Motorsports Chevy	32	54	5	31.9	$63,475	Electrical	1	1
39	32	55	Michael McDowell	PRISM Motorsports Toyota	27	46		33.4	$63,350	Brakes
40	34	66	Dave Blaney	PRISM Motorsports Toyota	24	43		34.6	$63,200	Overheating
41	40	36	Geoff Bodine	Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevy	23	40		31.5	$63,045	Rear Gear
42	39	64	Chad McCumbee	Little Joe's Autos Toyota	22	37		27.3	$62,890	Rear Gear
43	30	87	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO Motorsports Toyota	11	34		27.5	$63,276	Transmission

Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 105,000, Denny Hamlin won the The Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500, his 12th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.
To start the race, no cars dropped to the rear of the field
Failed to Qualify: (2) 09 Terry Cook #, 7 Ted Musgrave.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 44 Mins, 30 Secs.
Average Speed: 136.303 MPH
Margin of Victory: Caution
Caution Flags: 8 for 27 laps: Laps: 17-19 (Competition. [None]); 98-100 (Debris Turn 2 [1]); 155-158 (Debris Long Pond Straightaway [2]); 160-165 (#83 Spin Turn 1 [38]); 168-171 (#1, 6 Accident Turn 1 [83]); 176-178 (Debris Turn 3 [12]); 200-202 (#20, 29 Accident Turn 3 [12]); 205-205 ( [None]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers: Kyle Busch 1-4; D. Hamlin 5-17; B. Labonte 18; Kyle Busch 19-37; C. Bowyer 38-77; D. Hamlin 78-79; C. Bowyer 80-98; Kyle Busch 99-100; K. Harvick 101-105; D. Hamlin 106-158; Kyle Busch 159-165; D. Hamlin 166-168; Kurt Busch 169-171; S. Hornish Jr. 172-187; D. Hamlin 188-204
Coors Light Pole Award : Kyle Busch, #18 169.485 mph
DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Kyle Busch, #18 crew chief Dave Rogers
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Kyle Busch, #18 165.773 mph, Lap 2
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Denny Hamlin, #11
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Kurt Busch, #2
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Kurt Busch, #2 S. Addington, 0.258 sec
O'Reilly Auto Parts Position Improvement Award : David Stremme, #26 19 places
Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Kevin Conway, #34
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Denny Hamlin, #11
Tissot Pit Road Precision : Kyle Busch, #18 242.809 seconds
WIX Filters Lap Leader : Denny Hamlin, #11 88 Laps