TRACK: Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile Triangle Oval) DISTANCE: 130 Laps – STAGE 1: 25 Laps, Stage 2: 52 Laps, FINAL STAGE 53 LAPS 325 Miles)
WEATHER: RAIN 40%, 80 degrees high

Starting Lineup

Betting favorites

Kyle Busch

Busch has six straight top 10 finishes in Pocono including three of his last five being wins.

Martin Truex Jr. 

He won this race in 2015 and 2018. Furthermore, he has four top six finishes in his last six tries on the Tricky Triangle.

Kevin Harvick

It’s hard to believe that he’s made 38 starts at Pocono but has never won. Maybe that changes this weekend. It’s not like Harvick hasn’t been close though. He has four runner-up finishes in his last 10 starts there. He also has nine top 10 finishes, seven of those being in the top four, in his last 11 tries.

Denny Hamlin

Pocono has been his playground. Hamlin, has five wins in Long Pond including just last year. He also has a series leading three wins on the season too.

Brad Keselowski

He’s been solid at Pocono. Keselowski, won in 2011 and has six top five finishes in his last nine starts since. Also, over his last nine starts at Pocono, Keselowksi has three runner-ups and three fifth place finishes too.

Betting long shots

Ryan Blaney

This is the site of his first career Cup win. He’s had a top 12 in all but one of his eight Pocono starts.

Erik Jones

This is one of his better tracks. Jones, finished third and second respectively a year ago and has four top five finishes and five top 10’s in six tries.

Kurt Busch

He’s been a top 10 machine this season. Busch, also has 10 top 10 finishes in his last 17 Pocono starts as well including seven of which being in the top five.

William Byron

Why not here? His last three Pocono starts have been sixth, ninth and fourth respectively.

Clint Bowyer

In his last five Pocono starts, Bowyer has a top 11 in four of them, two of those being in the top six.

Aric Almirola

Two straight top five finishes on the season and three top 12 finishes in his last four Pocono starts. This is a wise choice.

Pocono Organics 325 Race Preview

The first doubleheader weekend in the Cup Series is here. While both races at the Pocono Raceway this weekend will take place behind closed doors, it will still be met with high expectations.

You have a group of usual suspects that are going to be the ones to beat. They’ve typically been great at Pocono and are nearly unstoppable on the season as well. But, Pocono also has a tendency to reward either first time winners or ending winless droughts.

This spring race has been produced some surprise winners. In 2014, Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his first Cup win in two years. Same for the next year in 2015 with Martin Truex Jr. In 2016, Kurt Busch ended his 35 race winless streak in the June Pocono race while Chris Buescher earned his first and only Cup win in the rain shortened August race. In 2017, Ryan Blaney earned his first career win in the series.

Will 2020 do it again?

Kyle Busch is a prime candidate to end a winless drought. He has three wins in his last five Pocono starts and hasn’t won since last year’s season finale at Homestead.

Clint Bowyer (four top 11’s in his last 5 tries) could get his first win since June 2018.

What about a third first time winner? William Byron has three top 10 finishes in-a-row at Pocono and was fourth his last time out.

What about a first time Pocono winner?

Kevin Harvick has made 38 starts at Pocono but has never won. Maybe that changes this weekend. It’s not like Harvick hasn’t been close though either. He has four runner-up finishes in his last 10 starts there. He also has nine top 10 finishes, seven of those being in the top four, in his last 11 tries.

Erik Jones fits that mold. He’s won twice in his Cup career, neither being at Pocono though. Jones, has four top five finishes and five top 10’s in six Pocono starts. He’s coming off of a fifth place finish on Monday in Talladega too.

Those are all great choices, but when you factor in Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski combining to win six races already this season and eight times at Pocono, you can see why they’ll be tough to beat too. I mean, Hamlin has three straight top 10’s, Truex two wins since 2015 and four top six finishes in his last six and Keselowski with six top fives in his last nine there, three of which being runner-ups, and you get a clash of greatness shaping up.

Toyota has won five straight and six of the last nine with Ford only scoring two wins on the 2.5-mile track since 2011, neither by Stewart-Haas or Penske. With these stats, I’d say this could be another Joe Gibbs Racing race to lose.

The race is 75 miles shorter in length, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Stat To Watch

Starting position matters at Pocono. Four of the last five race winners have come from the top 10 including three of the last four. In fact, since 2014, 10 of the 12 Cup Series races have been won from a top 10 starting spot with one of those two not being Chris Buescher’s fluke rain shortened win in 2016. Furthermore, we’ve started a Pocono race on points five times — all five were won by a top 10 starter with four of which from the top five itself.

They Said It

“That and you have an invert, right?” Kyle Busch said on if you kind of conserve a little bit on Saturday. “Kind of depends on what’s going on and what’s happening. If you’re struggling along, or pit strategy throws you off and there’s three to go and you’re back in 15th, maybe you want the pole for the next day. We’ll see what happens with that. Obviously, you want as many points as you can possibly get. We’ve run real well there the last few years. We definitely want to keep that going and try to get a win. If you’re up in the front, or up in the top-five or whatever, you’re going to try to get as much as you can get there and not worry about the next day. You’ll just refocus the next day.”