NASCAR Pocono Sunday, June 20, 2021
POCONO NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
3 Finished top 5 each Pocono race last season – Kevin Harvick (1st & 2nd), Denny Hamlin (2nd & 1st), Aric Almirola (3rd & 5th)
5 Finished top 10 each Pocono race last season – Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick & Martin Truex Jr.
Aric Almirola led most Pocono laps last season – 65 Total laps led
3 Finished top 5 Pocono Stage 1 & 2 6/27/20: Aric Almirola (2nd & 1st), Ryan Blaney (3rd & 4th), Joey Logano (1st & 2nd)
Brad Keselowski only driver to finish top 5 in Pocono Stage 1 & 2 6/28/20 (5th & 1st)
1-Kurt Busch: 3 Pocono wins with 3 different numbers, teams, manufacturers & crew chiefs
4-Kevin Harvick won Pocono for first time in 39th try (6/27/20) – 2nd most all-time before first Pocono win
4-Kevin Harvick: Finished 6th or better last 3 Pocono races – 2 Straight Pocono top 2 finishes
10-Aric Almirola: Finished 12th or better last 4 Pocono races3 Top 10 finishes
11-Denny Hamlin: 6 Pocono wins – Career win number: 1st, 2nd, 5th, 12th, 34th & 41st (Age: 25, 25, 28, 29, 38 & 39)
11-Denny Hamlin tied Jeff Gordon for 1st all-time in Pocono wins with 6th victory 6/28/20
11-Denny Hamlin: 2 Wins last 3 Pocono races – 3 Straight Pocono top 2 finishes
11-Denny Hamlin: 5 Straight Pocono top 10 finishes – 3 Straight Pocono top 2 finishes
18-Kyle Busch won 3 of last 7 Pocono races
18-Kyle Busch tied Ron Hornaday Jr. in all-time NTS wins at 2018 Pocono (51)
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Straight Pocono top 10 finishes – Average finish: 6th
38 Different winners in 86 Pocono NASCAR Cup Series races
Drivers won first race of the season in 30 of 86 Pocono races (35%)
Stage 1 winner failed to win last 5 Pocono races
Pocono Stage 2 winner winless in race
17 of 86 Pocono races won from 1st starting position
Winner took lead for first time after lap 100 in 19 Pocono races (22%)
Winner took lead for first time at lap 104 or after 7 of last 13 Pocono races
6 Pocono races settled by last lap pass
5 Pocono Overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won all 5
7 Pocono races didn’t run full distance
5 Rescheduled Pocono races – 5 Different winners
Leader of first lap won 18 of 86 Pocono races (21%)
Worst official start position of Pocono winner: 29th – Carl Edwards (6/05)
(Tony Stewart won after starting in the back in a backup car 6/09)
9 Pocono win streaks – Back-to-back Pocono wins
Both Pocono races swept 7 times in same season – Last: 2014 by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin & Richard Petty only drivers to win Pocono in first try
Ricky Rudd won Pocono for first time in 44th try – Most of all drivers
4 Won first career race at Pocono – Jeremy Mayfield, Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher & Ryan Blaney
Hendrick Motorsports: 17 Pocono wins with 7 different drivers
Joe Gibbs Racing: 15 Pocono wins with 6 different drivers
Joe Gibbs Racing won 4 of last 5 Pocono races
Stewart-Haas Racing first NCS win: Pocono 6/7/09 (Tony Stewart)
Chevrolet leads all with 32 Pocono wins – Winless last 9 Pocono races
Ford 2nd with 24 Pocono wins
Toyota won 10 Pocono races including 6 last 7
7/18/93: First race after losing Davey Allison – Dale Earnhardt won & dedicated victory to the memory of Allison
7/17/94: Top 4 finishers on Hoosier tires
7/16/95: Dale Jarrett’s first win with Robert Yates Racing
6/12/11: Jeff Gordon tied Bobby Allison & Darrell Waltrip with 84th career win
6/2/19: Kyle Busch: 55th career win tied Rusty Wallace for 9th all-time
Richard Petty finished top 2 in first 4 Pocono races – 2 Wins
POCONO NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
5 Different winners in 5 Pocono races
First win of season for 3 of 5 Pocono winners
Drivers starting first 1 for 5 at Pocono – 2019 Cole Custer winner
Most consecutive Pocono laps led: Kyle Busch led final 40 laps 2018
Best Rookie finish at Pocono: 2nd – Erik Jones 2016
Austin Cindric Stage 1 winner last Pocono race – Finished 29th in race
Justin Allgaier won Stage 2 last 2 Pocono races – Finished 11th & 6th in race
Stage 2 winner failed to win last 3 Pocono races
2 Pocono races settled by last lap pass –
2017 Brad Keselowski over Kyle Larson & 2019 Cole Custer over Tyler Reddick