The Track: There is no track in the world quite like Pocono. The track is shaped in a triangular pattern, not the traditional oval. Off of turn 3(Or turn 6, whichever you fancy) drivers will head down the longest straightaway in NASCAR before diving in to the most traditional of the corners. Turn 1 is banked at 14 degrees. The drivers then head down the "Long Pond Straight" towards the "Tunnel Turn." The Tunnel Turn is a near 90 degree left hand turn that drivers call one of the trickiest on the circuit. The nearly flat turn three is huge because the driver has to be able to get a good launch down the long front stretch.
Two big unknowns for this weekend: The track has new pavement and looks to be extremely fast. Also, the race has been shorted to 400 miles.
What To Expect: A long boring afternoon. I don't see a race with a lot of passing or even side by side racing this Sunday. The long straights favor a team that has a lot of horsepower, so expect the Hendrick, Roush or Gibbs cars to be the class of the field.
Pocono's high speeds have also given us some scary wrecks over the years, including what Jeff Gordon called his hardest hit ever.
Also, ask Ken Schrader.
Or Dale Jr and Steve Park
Dark Horse: Marcos Ambrose - The Tazmanian Devil has been getting better each week. The Richard Petty Motorsports team as a whole is on a roll and have shown signs of becoming a weekly player. Pocono is often refered to as a "roval." The track is an oval but drives a lot like a road course, and no one is better than Ambrose on the roadies.
My Pick: Denny Hamlin - Hamlin is a multiple time Pocono winner and has been quietly lurking inside the top ten almost every week. Hamlin has two wins and is almost a lock for the Chase. After this weekend, and a third win of 2012, Hamlin can take a couple weeks off and still make the cut off in September.
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