NASCAR 2019 Race 14: Pocono 400 race thread

[dara]

Schedule:

Friday, May 31
11:00 AM-7:30 PM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
1:00 PM MENCS ROOKIE MEETING & RANDOM DRAWING
2:05 PM-2:55 PM MENCS 1ST PRACTICE
4:05 PM-4:55 PM MENCS FINAL PRACTICE

Saturday, June 1
7:00 AM-12:30 PM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
11:35 AM MENCS QUALIFYING IMPOUND (SINGLE VEHICLE / ONE LAP ALL POSITIONS)

Sunday, June 2
9:00 AM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
12:00 PM MENCS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING (NASCAR XFINITY GARAGE AREA)
1:20 PM MENCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS
2:00 PM MENCS RACE (STAGES 50/100/160 LAPS = 400 MILES)





Distance 400 miles (643.738 km)
Laps 160
Stage 1: Lap 50
Stage 2: Lap 100
Race: Lap 160+

Track facts

Track Specifications: Superspeedway: 2.5 mile tri-oval Banking: turn 1: 14 degrees; turn 2: 8 degrees; turn 3: 6 degrees; Straights: Front - 3740 feet; Long Pond(between turns 1 and 2) - 3055 feet; North(between turns 2 and 3) - 1780 feet Last repaved: early 2012 Grandstand Seating: 70,000

Three Different Turns at Pocono: Turn One is modeled after the now defunct Trenton Speedway Turn Two is like Indianapolis Motor Speedway Turn Three is similar to The Milwaukee Mile

Track Records & Statistics (Based on 2017 Jayski)

June 2018 Race Winner: Martin Truex, Jr, 139.535mph, started 4th
August 2018 Race Winner: #18-Kyle Busch, 132.46 mph, started 2st

Oldest Winner: Harry Gant, 50 years, 5 months, 7 days, 6/17/1990
Youngest Winner: Joey Logano, 22 years, 0 months, 7 days, 6/10/2012
1st Race 400 mile Record: Jeff Gordon, 6/12/2011, 145.384mph
1st Race 500 mile Record: Alan Kulwicki, June 1992, 144.023mph
2nd Race Record: Rusty Wallace, July 1996, 144.892
Slowest Race Record: Jimmie Johnson, June 2004, 112.129mph
Worst Starting Spot to Win: Carl Edwards, June 2005, started 29th
Different Race Winners: 36

June 2018 Pole Winner: Ryan Blaney, 176.897mph, finished 6th
July 2016 Pole Winner: Kevin Harvick, 176.988mph, finished 4st

Track Qualifying Record: Kyle Larson, August 1, 2014, 183.438mph
Oldest Pole Winner: David Pearson, 49 years, 5 months, 19 days, 6/10/1984
Youngest Pole Winner: Joey Logano, 21 years, 2 months, 13 days, 8/6/2011
Different Pole Winners: 41

Most Wins: 6 - Jeff Gordon; 5 - Bill Elliott; 4 - Denny Hamlin
Most Poles: 5 - Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader; 4 - Denny Hamlin
Most 2nd Place Finishes: 7 - Mark Martin (no wins)
Most Top 5s: 20 - Mark Martin & Jeff Gordon
Most Top 10s: 34 - Mark Martin; 32 - Jeff Gordon

Most Lead Changes: 56 - 7/30/1979
Fewest Lead Changes: 10 - 7/26/1998
Most Leaders: 16, Three times, most recently 6/13/2004
Fewest Leaders: 4 - Three times, most recently, 6/9/1985, and 6/9/2013

Most Cautions: 13 - 6/17/1990 and 7/24/2005
Fewest Cautions: 1 - 7/30/1978
Most Caution Laps: 57, 6/13/2004
Fewest Caution Laps: 3, 7/30/1978

Most Finishers on a lead lap: 36, 6/10/2007 [rain shortened to 106 laps]
Fewest Finishers on a lead lap: 2 - twice, most recently 6/6/1982

Most Running at the Finish: 42, 6/10/2007 [rain shortened]
Fewest Running at the Finish: 18, 7/25/1982

Most Laps Led [400 miles]: 142, Cale Yarborough, 7/4/1968
Most Laps Led [500 miles]: 175, Kurt Busch, 8/5/2007
Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 4, Bobby Labonte, 7/29/2001

Most Wins by Manufacturer: 32 - Chevy; 23 - Ford; 7 - Dodge 7; 6 - Pontiac; 4 - Buick; 5 - Toyota; 2 - Mercury; 1 - Oldsmobile.

Race statistics (June 2018)

Lead changes: 7 among different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 6 for 23
Red flags: 0
Time of race: 2 hours, 52 minutes and 0 seconds
Average speed: 139.535 miles per hour (224.560 km/h)

[Ryu]

Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch*
Joey Logano
Martin Truex Jr

[4me2c]

1) Martin Truex Jr
2) Kyle Larson
3) Kyle Busch
4) Kevin Harvick

Not because Truex Won last week but because Truex Won Last Year here...!

[Marley]

Kyle Busch ****
Kevin Harvick
Martin Truex Jr.
Brad Keselowski

[ranagee]

Martin Truex Jr.*****
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch
Joey Logano

[82harley]

Kyle Busch ***
Martin Truex Jr.
Kevin Harvick
Joey Logano

[dara]

Starting Order:

No. 1 William Byron 24
No. 2 Kyle Busch 18
No. 3 Clint Bowyer 14
No. 4 Erik Jones 20
No. 5 Brad Keselowski 2
No. 6 Denny Hamlin 11
No. 7 Kyle Larson 42
No. 8 Jimmie Johnson 48
No. 9 Daniel Suarez 41
No. 10 Austin Dillon 3
No. 11 Kevin Harvick 4
No. 12 Chase Elliott 9
No. 13 Aric Almirola 10
No. 14 Paul Menard 21
No. 15 Alex Bowman 88
No. 16 Joey Logano 22
No. 17 Ryan Blaney 12
No. 18 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17
No. 19 Ryan Newman 6
No. 20 Martin Truex Jr. 19
No. 21 Kurt Busch 1
No. 22 Matt DiBenedetto 95
No. 23 Daniel Hemric 8
No. 24 Chris Buescher 37
No. 25 Ty Dillon 13
No. 26 Bubba Wallace 43
No. 27 David Ragan 38
No. 28 Michael McDowell 34
No. 29 Ryan Preece 47
No. 30 Matt Tifft 36
No. 31 Landon Cassill 00
No. 32 Ross Chastain 15
No. 33 Corey Lajoie 32
No. 34 Bayley Currey 51
No. 35 Reed Sorenson 27
No. 36 Quin Houff 77
No. 37 JJ Yeley 52

William Byron will start on pole for the third time this season in Sunday's NASCAR Cup race at Pocono Raceway.

Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer qualified second and third, respectively, on Saturday. Busch and Martin Truex Jr. won last year's two Pocono races.

Other drivers to watch Sunday are Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman. Blaney, who is looking for his first victory of the year, won at the "Tricky Triangle" in 2017 for his first Cup win. Bowman has rocketed to 10th in the standings in the past month, up from 21st. Bowman, who has yet to win in the Cup series, posted second-place finishes in three consecutive races before finishing seventh last week at Charlotte. Blaney qualified 17th and Bowman 15th.

Drivers participated in a slightly different format Saturday to determine the starting lineup for the Pocono 400. Cars were released in groups of three, and each car was separated by 15 seconds for single-car qualifying. When all three of those cars got through Turn 2, NASCAR released the next group of cars.

Teams were informed before qualifying started that drafting would not be allowed, and any attempt would result in their qualifying times being disallowed. The change was made in an effort to speed up the process because it's a big race track.

It took the fastest cars 52 seconds to make it around the 2.5-mile course.

The Pocono 400 is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET Sunday (FS1).

[dara]

Kyle Busch***
Clint Bowyer
Brad Keselowski
Denny Hamlin

[dishuser]

Kyle Busch ***
Kevin Harvick
Brad Keselowski
Martin Truex Jr.

[Orziz]

Brad Keselowski *
Clint Bowyer
Chase Elliot
Martin Truex Jr