100-mile Shorter Race This Weekend
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Madagascar Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway on June 3, 2012 in Dover, DE.
Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson is a clown. No, I mean he looked like a clown in victory lane, literally. Johnson donned a clown wig in the winner’s circle after dominating the race at Dover last weekend. It was his 7th win at the Monster Mile, tying him with Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for the most wins at this track. Congratulations Jimmie!
This week the series heads to Pocono Speedway in the Pocono Mountains for the running of the Pocono 400. I for one am glad that they shortened this race from 500-miles to 400-miles. It seems that they are always battling the elements to get these races in the books in the first place, plus with a 2.5-mile track it just gets boring after a while.
Pocono 400
Denny Hamlin: Denny is my pick to win the race this week in Pocono. He has four career wins here in only twelve races and always seems to lead a lot of laps here. He struggled a bit here last year, finishing both races in the teens, but he lead quite a few laps on both of those races.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie hasn’t won here since he swept both races back in 2004. However, he has finished in the top ten in eight of his last nine starts here and had the lead at one time or another in six of those races.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has finished in the top five in three of his last four starts here. This is a track that he has never won at and in fact has led only five laps in twenty-two starts at this track.
Kyle Busch: Kyle is another driver who has never won a race at Pocono. However, he has finished in the top three in three of the last four races run here. I think that he has learned a lot about this track and is a threat every time he comes here now.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff won this race last year and has finished in the top ten in nine of his last eleven starts here. He had a very good car at Dover last week until a tire issue took him out of contention late in the race. He needs a few wins to try and get himself into the Chase.
Tony Stewart: Tony has won twice at this track and has finished in the top ten in ten of his last thirteen starts here. Tony always seems to run well on the flatter tracks and Pocono is one of those.
Mark Martin: Mark has always run very well at Pocono throughout his career, and yet he has never won a race here. He has finished in the top five nineteen times in the fifty races that he has run here. This could be the year that he gets that elusive win at this track.
Carl Edwards: Carl has two wins at this track in his career and really needs one of those right now. Currently he is twelfth in the point standings, the last spot in the Chase, at the halfway point to the start of the Chase.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale is having a great season but is still looking to break into the win column in a points race. He finished in the top ten here in both races last year and has been much more consistent this year. Look for him to have another good run this weekend.
Greg Biffle: Greg holds a 1-point lead over his teammate, Matt Kenseth, right now. He hasn’t had a lot of success here during his career, with only four top ten finishes in the eighteen races he has run here. However, he did win here two years ago.
Yahoo Fantasy NASCAR Picks for Pocono Raceway
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Denny Hamlin
- Jimmie Johnson
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Mark Martin
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ryan Newman
Yahoo Driver Group C*
- Bobby Labonte
- Landon Cassill
* I like Sam Hornish Jr. if he is entered this week.
My Top-5 For Pocono Raceway
- Denny Hamlin
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Busch
- Mark Martin
- Jeff Gordon
Dark Horse: Martin Truex Jr.
Stay Away From: Aric Almirola
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