Scouting Report: Pocono 5 Hour Energy 500
How to make an informed pick at Pocono
1. Past Pocono History: NASCAR has visited Pocono plenty of times and some trends are obviously clear. Thinking outside the box will not do you any favors this week. This week you should go with what you know, as long as you’ve done your homework.
2. Starting Position: Track position is very important at Pocono. Passing is nearly impossible unless a driver has superior horsepower. Pocono is essentially a short race, not because you fall asleep in the middle of it but because there will be long green flag runs and teams will have limited opportunities to make adjustments.
3. Practice: Practice is important at Pocono but not as important as 1 & 2. The reason why I think practice should be downplayed is because there won’t be much practice. I really don’t expect anybody to run ten laps consecutively this week. Look for 5 lap averages this week.
4: Similar Tracks: Not all flat tracks are created equal. Pocono is pretty much a unique track only similar shape wise to Indy. The one race this year I would really study is what happened in the Auto Club 400. California is a horsepower track and so is Pocono.
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Drivers to watch:
Denny Hamlin – Need a fantasy pick this week? Pick Denny Hamlin, everyone else is. Hamlin’s a four-time winner who’s a natural at Pocono. In the last three Pocono races he’s won two of them and finished 5th in the other.
Carl Edwards – The FR9 engine is going to make him tough to beat this week. Last year using the FR9 engine Edwards finished third and teammate Greg Biffle took the checkered flag. Carl Edwards has two wins at “The Tricky Triangle”.
Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson has led 20 or more laps in every Pocono race except one dating back to 2008. He’s both a good qualifier (7.7 avg start) and finisher (9.6 avg finish). Johnson has two wins at Pocono but they were both back in 2004.
Tony Stewart – Since 2005 he’s finished in the top ten every race but one. This two-time winner will have Hendrick power under his hood and will be a major challenger for the win.
Kevin Harvick – There was a time when people would make jokes about Harvick at Pocono because he never led a lap. To those people I say get some new jokes, he led 5 last year. In 2010 Harvick finished 4th twice.
VegasInsider.com odds to win Pocono:
Denny Hamlin 7/2, Jimmie Johnson 5/1, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7/1, Tony Stewart 8/1, Kyle Busch 8/1, Kevin Harvick 8/1, Jeff Gordon 10/1, Carl Edwards 10/1, Matt Kenseth 12/1, Greg Biffle 16/1
