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 – won by Richard Petty, Dodge, 115.593 mph, 08/04/1974.

·         The 2.5-mile track was repaved during the fall of 2011.

Notebook

·         There have been 70 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono Raceway, one race from 1974 through 1981, and two per year since.

·         2012 marked the first season that NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono were scheduled for 400 miles. Prior to 2012 all NASCAR Sprint Cup races were 500 miles at Pocono Raceway.

·         311 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway; 218 in more than one.

·         Ricky Rudd leads the series in starts at Pocono with 55. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers with 54 starts; followed by Mark Martin with 52.

·         Buddy Baker won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Pocono in 1974 with a speed of 144.122 mph. 

·         39 drivers have Coors Light poles at Pocono, led by Bill Elliott and Ken Schrader with five each; followed by Mark Martin with three.

·         Five drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Pocono. Bill Elliott holds the record for most consecutive poles at Pocono with three; fall 1984 and both races in 1985.

·         Four active drivers have posted consecutive Coors Light poles at Dover: Mark Martin (fall 1990 and spring 1991), Ken Schrader (1993 sweep), Denny Hamlin (2006 sweep) and Joey Logano (fall 2011 and spring 2012).

·         Youngest Pocono pole winner: Joey Logano (08/07/2011 – 21 years, 2 months, 14 days).

·         Oldest Pocono pole winner: David Pearson (06/10/1984 – 49 years, 5 months, 19 days).

·         31 different drivers have won at Pocono Raceway, led by Jeff Gordon with six wins. 

·         Six drivers have posted consecutive wins at Pocono Raceway, including three consecutive by Bobby Allison (1982 sweep and spring 1983) and Tim Richmond (1986 sweep and spring 1987).

·         Youngest Pocono winner: Joey Logano (6/10/2012 – 22 years, 0 months, 17 days).

·         Oldest Pocono winner: Harry Gant (6/17/1990 – 50 years, 5 months, 7 days).

·         Hendrick Motorsports has the most wins at Pocono in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 13: Jeff Gordon (six), Tim Richmond (three), Jimmie Johnson (two), Geoff Bodine (one) and Terry Labonte (one).

·         Eight different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Pocono; led by Chevrolet with 26 victories; followed by Ford with 21.

·         14 of the 70 (20.0%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono have been won from the Coors Light pole; the most recent was Joey Logano in 2012.

·         The Coors Light pole position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (14) than any other starting position at Pocono Raceway.   

·         23 of the 70 (32.8%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono have been won from the front row: 14 from the pole and nine from second-place.

·         49 of the 70 (70.0%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Five of the 70 (7.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Pocono was 29th, by Carl Edwards in the spring of 2005.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in runner-up finishes at Pocono with seven; followed by Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Richard Petty with five each.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in top-five finishes at Pocono with 20; followed by Jeff Gordon with 18.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in top-10 finishes at Pocono with 34; followed by Jeff Gordon with 28.

·         Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Pocono with a 5.571.

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Pocono with a 9.0.

·         11 of the 13 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners at Pocono Raceway participated in at least one or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards won at Pocono in their first appearances.

·         Terry Labonte competed at Pocono Raceway 17 times before winning in the fall of 2010; the longest span of any the 13 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.

·         Among the 13 active NSCS Pocono winners Terry Labonte (17), Greg Biffle (15) and Bobby Labonte (12) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.

·         Mark Martin leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Pocono without visiting Victory Lane at 52; followed by Jeff Burton with 38.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Pocono Raceway was the July 23, 2000 race won by Rusty Wallace over Jeff Burton with a MOV of 0.126 second.

·         There has been three NASCAR Sprint Cup races resulting in green-white-checkered finishes at Pocono Raceway (Scheduled No. of Laps/Actual No. of Laps): spring of 2005 (200/201); fall of 2005 (200/203); spring of 2010 (200/204).

·         Six of the 70 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the event on 6/6/2010.

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Pocono Raceway four times; most recently the fall of 2009 race.

·         Casey Mears (8/1/2004) posted his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Pocono Raceway.

·         One active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver has posted his first career win at Pocono Raceway: Denny Hamlin (06/11/06).

·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Pocono with 965 laps led in 40 starts.

·         One female driver has competed at Pocono in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie.

 

Driver	Starting Position	Finishing Position	Date
Janet Guthrie	10	11	7/31/1977
Janet Guthrie	22	31	7/30/1978
Janet Guthrie	21	28	7/27/1980

NASCAR in Pennsylvania

·         There have been 104 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Pennsylvania.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Pocono Raceway	Long Pond	70
Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne	17
Lincoln Speedway	New Oxford	7
Heidelberg Raceway	Pittsburgh	4
Reading Fairgrounds	Reading	2
Bloomsburg Fairgrounds	Bloomsburg	1
New Bradford Speedway	Bradford	1
Pine Grove Speedway	Shippenville	1
Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg	1
Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth	0

·         140 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Pennsylvania.

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

 

Pocono Raceway Data

Season Race #: 14 of 36 (06-09-13)

Track Size: 2.5-miles

Banking/Turn 1: 14 degrees

Banking/Turn 2: 8 degrees

Banking/Turn 3: 6 degrees

Frontstretch Length:  3,740 feet

Backstretch Length:  3,055 feet

Shortstretch Length:  1,780 feet

Race Length: 160 laps / 400 miles

 

Top 12 Driver Rating at Pocono

Denny Hamlin............................ 115.1

Jimmie Johnson........................ 107.6

Kurt Busch................................ 103.7

Jeff Gordon.............................. 100.9

Tony Stewart............................... 98.6

Carl Edwards.............................. 97.4

Ryan Newman............................. 95.4

Mark Martin................................. 94.4

Kasey Kahne.............................. 91.4

Matt Kenseth.............................. 90.7

Kevin Harvick.............................. 89.6

Jeff Burton................................. 87.1

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (16 total) among active drivers at Pocono Raceway.

 

Qualifying/Race Data

2012 pole winner:

Joey Logano, Toyota, 179.598 mph, 50.112 secs. 6-8-12

 

2012 race winner:

Joey Logano, Toyota, 131.004 mph, (03:03:12), 6-10-12

 

Track qualifying record:

Joey Logano, Toyota, 179.598 mph, 50.112 secs. 6-8-12

 

Track race record:

Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 145.384 mph, (03:26:21), 6-12-11

 

POCONO-SPECIFIC STATISTICS

 

Greg Biffle (No. 16 Rite Aid/Ace Ford)

·         One win, two top fives, four top 10s

·         Average finish of 17.5

·         Average Running Position of 14.6, 12th-best

·         Driver Rating of 87.1, 13th-best

·         92 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most

·         1,274 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.009 mph, 11th-fastest

·         1,930 Laps in the Top 15 (64.9%), eighth-most

·         616 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), eighth-most

 

Jeff Burton (No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet)

·         Seven top fives, 17 top 10s

·         Average finish of 16.2

·         Average Running Position of 14.5, 11th-best

·         Driver Rating of 87.1, 12th-best

·         1,301 Green Flag Passes, sixth-most

·         1,854 Laps in the Top 15 (62.4%), 10th-most

 

Kurt Busch (No. 78 Furniture Row/Sealy Chevrolet)

·         Two wins, nine top fives, 12 top 10s; one pole

·         Average finish of 16.1

·         Average Running Position of 11.0, fourth-best

·         Driver Rating of 103.7, third-best

·         300 Fastest Laps Run, second-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.544 mph, third-fastest

·         2,068 Laps in the Top 15 (73.5%), seventh-most

 

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Subway Ford)

·         Two wins, five top fives, eight top 10s

·         Average finish of 13.2

·         Average Running Position of 14.9, 13th-best

·         Driver Rating of 97.4, sixth-best

·         169 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.284 mph, sixth-fastest

·         1,867 Laps in the Top 15 (62.8%), ninth-most

·         595 Quality Passes, 11th-most

 

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 AARP Credit Cards from Chase Chevrolet)

·         Six wins, 18 top fives, 28 top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 10.2

·         Average Running Position of 10.3, third-best

·         Driver Rating of 100.9, fourth-best

·         110 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most

·         1,244 Green Flag Passes, eighth-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.425 mph, fourth-fastest

·         2,231 Laps in the Top 15 (75.1%), third-most

·         692 Quality Passes, third-most

 

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Freight/Autism Speaks Toyota)

·         Four wins, eight top fives, nine top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 10.7

·         Series-best Average Running Position of 9.1

·         Series-best Driver Rating of 115.1

·         Series-high 430 Fastest Laps Run

·         Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 160.936 mph

·         2,105 Laps in the Top 15 (82.0%), fifth-most

·         559 Quality Passes, 13th-most

 

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Jimmy John's Chevrolet)

·         Five top fives, eight top 10s

·         Average finish of 14.1

·         Average Running Position of 14.3, 10th-best

·         Driver Rating of 89.6, 11th-best

·         Series-high 1,380 Green Flag Passes

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.000 mph, 12th-fastest

·         1,835 Laps in the Top 15 (61.7%), 11th-most

·         640 Quality Passes, seventh-most

 

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's/Monsters University Chevrolet)

·         Two wins, nine top fives, 15 top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 9.0

·         Average Running Position of 9.8, second-best

·         Driver Rating of 107.6, second-best

·         223 Fastest Laps Run, third-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.687 mph, second-fastest

·         Series-high 2,376 Laps in the Top 15 (79.9%)

·         725 Quality Passes, second-most

 

Kasey Kahne (No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet)

·         One win, four top fives, six top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 16.8

·         Average Running Position of 13.8, ninth-best

·         Driver Rating of 91.4, ninth-best

·         192 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most

·         1,304 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.219 mph, eighth-fastest

·         1,835 Laps in the Top 15 (61.7%), 11th-most

·         645 Quality Passes, sixth-most

 

Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Dollar General Toyota)

·         Three top fives, 10 top 10s

·         Average finish of 14.3

·         Average Running Position of 13.1, eighth-best

·         Driver Rating of 90.7, 10th-best

·         1,203 Green Flag Passes, 11th-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.162 mph, ninth-fastest

·         1,820 Laps in the Top 15 (61.2%), 13th-most

·         661 Quality Passes, fifth-most

 

Mark Martin (No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota)

·         20 top fives, 34 top 10s; three poles

·         Average finish of 11.1

·         Average Running Position of 12.2, seventh-best

·         Driver Rating of 94.4, eighth-best

·         93 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.311 mph, fifth-fastest

·         2,100 Laps in the Top 15 (70.7%), sixth-most

·         600 Quality Passes, ninth-most

 

Ryan Newman (No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet)

·         One win, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 12.4

·         Average Running Position of 11.1, fifth-best

·         Driver Rating of 95.4, seventh-best

·         1,232 Green Flag Passes, ninth-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.068 mph, 10th-fastest

·         2,287 Laps in the Top 15 (77.0%), second-most

·         Series-high 750 Quality Passes

 

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet)

·         Two wins, 11 top fives, 20 top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 11.3

·         Average Running Position of 12.1, sixth-best

·         Driver Rating of 98.6, fifth-best

·         80 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most

·         1,340 Green Flag Passes, third-most

·         Average Green Flag Speed of 160.272 mph, seventh-fastest

·         2,138 Laps in the Top 15 (71.9%), fourth-most

·         685 Quality Passes, fourth-most

 

Chase Contenders

The Top 12

Following Race 13 of 36

                                                                                Rank        Season

                                                                                Last          Driver

Driver                             Points   Wins      Poles        Week        Rating

1. Jimmie Johnson       473       2           1              1           111.7

2. Carl Edwards             443       1           0              2             91.5

3. Clint Bowyer              423       0           0              4             95.7

4. Matt Kenseth              399       3           2               3           116.4

5. Kevin Harvick            399       2           0               7             95.1

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.     398       0           0               6            92.7

7. Kasey Kahne              392       1           0               5           102.1

8. Brad Keselowski        375       0           0            10             90.3

9. Kyle Busch                 374       2           2             11           105.4

10. Paul Menard               371       0           0              8             77.7

11. Jeff Gordon               361       0           0             15             89.2

12. Aric Almirola              354       0           0             12             76.9

_______________________________________________________

 

ADDITIONAL DRIVERS

13. Greg Biffle                      353         30. David Gilliland            219

14. Martin Truex Jr.               343         31. Dave Blaney              219

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.        343         32. David Reutimann        190

16. Tony Stewart                  338         33. J.J. Yeley                  187

17. Kurt Busch                     337         34. David Stremme          178

18. Joey Logano                   335         35. Travis Kvapil              136

19. Jamie McMurray             332         36. AJ Allmendinger         122

20. Ryan Newman                323         37. Michael McDowell        76

21. Jeff Burton                     323         38. Scott Speed                75

22. Juan Pablo Montoya        307         39. Timmy Hill                   71

23. Marcos Ambrose             294         40. Michael Waltrip            63

24. Mark Martin                    271         41. Terry Labonte              52

25. Casey Mears                  259         42. Ken Schrader               29

26. Denny Hamlin                 249         43. Scott Riggs                   7

27. David Ragan                   238         44. Brian Keselowski           4

28. Bobby Labonte                238        

29. Danica Patrick                231

Note: The first 26 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season determine which 12 drivers qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, contested over the final 10 races of the season. After race No. 26, the top 10 earn a berth in the Chase. Spots 11 and 12 – the Wild Cards – will go to those drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20.

 

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2013 Top 12 at Pocono Raceway

	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
1	Jimmie Johnson	22	2	2	9	15	0	9.0	107.6
2	Carl Edwards	16	0	2	5	8	0	13.2	97.4
3	Clint Bowyer	14	0	0	1	7	0	15.1	79.9
4	Matt Kenseth	26	0	0	3	10	0	14.3	90.7
5	Kevin Harvick	24	0	0	5	8	2	14.1	89.6
6	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	26	1	0	5	9	1	17.3	86.1
7	Kasey Kahne	18	2	1	4	6	2	16.8	91.4
8	Brad Keselowski	6	0	1	2	2	0	14.5	79.0
9	Kyle Busch	16	1	0	4	5	4	19.2	84.6
10	Paul Menard	12	0	0	0	2	1	20.8	64.9
11	Jeff Gordon	40	2	6	18	28	5	10.2	100.9
12	Aric Almirola	2	0	0	0	0	0	23.0	63.7

* – Based on last 16 races at Pocono Raceway.