Turn 4 Transitions

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

By Natalie Anthony

 

 

Pocono 500

June 7, 2009 (Sunday) 2:00 pm – TNT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seemed as if Denny Hamlin was Pocono Raceway’s (PR) biggest contender since 2006, but in the last race at PR, Denny finished a discouraging 23^rd place.  His work this season has left him with decent points standing of 7^th position, so it might not be too far fetched to think that Denny will perform well this Sunday.  If Denny doesn’t make it to Victory lane then show stealer Jimmie Johnson has a fair chance of being first at the finish line on lap 500.  Once Kasey Kahne was shuffled back out of the Top 5 with only fifteen laps to go last weekend at Dover International Speedway, I had no choice but to pull from either Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson to win the Autism Speaks 400.  I was hoping for Smoke to pull off his first official win for Stewart- Haas Racing (All Star Race doesn’t count for points or the regular season statistics), but he was denied in a very stressful and climatic finish.  And if Jimmie comes up a little short at the end of the race, teammates at Hendrick Motorsports Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin both have equal probability to take a win.  All three of the Hendrick drivers are ranked 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th for best average finish at Pocono; respectively.  Jeff Gordon however, has the most wins (4) at PR.  

Pulling up right behind the Hendrick boys for the best average finishes at PR is Stewart-Haas Racing’s Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.  They are ranked 5^th and 6^th; respectively and will be applying some extra pressure from the Stewart stable to pay Mr. Johnson back for taking away a well deserved win for the #14 team.

Does defending race winner Kasey Kahne have any business trying to maintain his winning streak at PR?  Kasey has momentum coming off last weekend’s race at Dover by finishing 6^th with the new Dodge engine (R6) and his last two races at Pocono resulted in two Top 10’s.  Kasey said the new motor was fast and made the car fun to drive, so I am going to give the #9 two thumbs up for this Sunday’s race.

 

 

Pocono 500

 

(June 1, 2008) 

Top 10 Results  

1.  Kasey Kahne

2.  Brian Vickers

3.  Denny Hamlin

4.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   

5.  Jeff Burton

6.  Jimmie Johnson

7.  Matt Kenseth

8.  Kurt Busch

9.  Carl Edwards

10.Mark Martin

 

 

Track Stats

Pocono Raceway

(Long Pond, PA)

 

 

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