TRACK: Pocono Raceway (2.5-oval) DISTANCE: 160 Laps — STAGE 1: 50 Laps, STAGE 2: 50 Laps, FINAL STAGE: 60 Laps, MILES (400-Miles)

TRACK HISTORY/TRENDS

A track shaped as a triangle. The best opportunities for passing are at the end of the straightaways. Pretty straight forward race though with this being a very hard track to actually pass on. Short pitting sometimes gains you track position later, but depending on cautions, could bite you too depending on tire life. Some drivers will elect to pit before the end of stages and give up stage points to restart up front at the next stage. Definitely a track position circuit for sure.

The last 2 years before the Next Gen were doubleheader formats but this season, Pocono remains a single race on a single weekend. The difference? For just the second time since 1981, there’s just one race on the Tricky Triangle.

Chevy has just 2 win in the last 3 tries but they’re also the only victories in the last 12 Pocono races too. Toyota however, has won 7 of the last 10.

Live In Race Betting Trends To Watch
• 5 of the last 7 Stage 1’s at Pocono, the eventual race winner didn’t even score stage points. Keep that in mind as you live bet. May be best to look at drivers who finished 11th on back in Stage 1.
• 7 of the last 8 Stage 2’s at Pocono, the eventual race winner did score stage points but finished 5th or worse each time. For this stage, the winner likely comes from 6th-10th. Chase Elliott was 7th last year.
• Also, the eventual race winner failed to lead the most laps in 7 of the last 10 races at Pocono including 4 straight.

Favorites

Kyle Busch (+550)

Busch has nine Top-10 finishes in his last 11 Pocono starts including four of his last 10 being wins at that. He was second and first respectively in 2021 and while he crossed the finish line second a year ago after leading a race-high 63 laps, he was disqualified too. The car he’s now driving did finish runner-up though as a result. Monday was his first DNF since Kansas in early May. He had a streak of seven consecutive Top-10 finishes snapped.

Denny Hamlin (+550)

Pocono has been his playground. Hamlin, has six wins there including two in the last six at that. It would be seven wins and three in the last six if not for last year’s DQ. He was also runner-up in another race for six top sixes in his last eight Pocono tries.

Martin Truex Jr. (+550)

He won this race in 2015 and 2018. Furthermore, he has five top six finishes in his last 11 tries on the Tricky Triangle and was seventh a year ago. He comes into Pocono after stomping the field on Monday in Loudon. My only fear about this is the fact that he’s gone back-to-back just once in his career in regards to race wins.

Kyle Larson (+750)

He was ninth in the first race of 2021, but should have won that event with a day later being runner-up in the second race of the doubleheader weekend. Larson was also fifth last year, fifth in 2020 and runner-up in June of 2019 making him a legitimate threat on Sunday. He enters having scored five Top-8 finishes in the last six weeks including three Top-5’s in the last four at that.

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Sleepers

William Byron (+900)

He has five top 10’s in his last eight Pocono starts including three of which being in the top six. He did finish 12th last year but was in the top six in both stages prior.

Ryan Blaney (+1100)

He’s a past winner and was fifth and sixth respectively in 2021 but 33rd last year. However, he actually had a better car than last year’s result shows. Blaney qualified sixth, finished fourth in Stage 1, second in Stage 2 but wrecked on Lap 135. So, even with finishes recently of 31st, 36th, 33rd, ninth and 22nd respectively, I think he has a shot. He was the second best car in Loudon before his penalty on his final pit stop.

Tyler Reddick (+1400)

He was 11th, ninth and second in his last three Pocono starts. That plus ending his slump with a sixth place run on Monday in Loudon puts him on this list.

Kevin Harvick (+1600)

He won the Saturday race of 2020 and was second in the Sunday one. Harvick, has nine Top-6 finishes, eight of which being in the Top-4, in his last 12 Pocono starts. Also, he has five runner-ups in 17 starts at Pocono with SHR but none prior. He was 27th however last year. That’s due to a crash late in the race though. He was fourth in the second stage. He finished fourth in Loudon too.

Daniel Suarez (+2800)

Was third a year ago, so curious how he responds this time around. He was also third and sixth respectively in the pair of stages too. I’ll take a risk on him for this odds even though he has one Top-5 finish in the last 18 races.

Bubba Wallace (+2800)

Eighth last year, fifth the year prior and back again in a Toyota. I like him for these odds. He’s coming off of an eighth place run on Monday.

Alex Bowman (+3500)

He has these odds because he’s not had a Top-10 finish since being eighth at Richmond back in the spring. He missed three races too but that plus a slump has him without a top 10 in the last 10 races. However, a win and seventh place finish in 2021 to go along with a ninth in Race 2 of 2020 gives him three Top-10 finishes in his last four tries. He was 11th a year ago.

Brad Keselowski (+3500)

A good track for him and while he was 14th last year, that was a strong finish with a rebuilding team. Prior to that, Keselowski had 12 Top-11 finishes in a 13 race span including eight of which inside of the Top-5. He was sixth and fifth respectively the last two weeks.

Ty Gibbs (+3500)

Was 16th in his first ever Cup start here last year and now has way more starts under his belt and driving for a favorite team. Watch out.

Aric Almirola (+13000)

He has four top 10’s in his last nine starts there including a pair of top fives in 2020. Almirola finished 13th last season. He had a fast car in each of the last two weeks but his team has let him down.

Ryan Preece (+15000)

Eighth his last time out in 2021 and now he has a better car….

Erik Jones (+15000)

Not a terrible play here. Finished third in the second stage and ninth in the race itself. He also had seven Top-8 finishes in his previous 10 starts too. Jones has three Top-11 finishes in the last four races.

Michael McDowell (+25000)

Finished a respectable sixth a year ago here. McDowell has four Top-10 finishes in the last six weeks too.

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Who To Fade?

Chase Elliott (+1200)

Prior to last year, Elliott had no finishes better than fourth and four of his last five had seen him finish 12th or worse at that. Then he goes out and initially finished third before being declared the winner for the two JGR cars in front being DQ’d. Still, he led no laps that day with the win. He enters without much speed lately in being 13th in Atlanta and 12th at Loudon.

Ross Chastain (+1200)

He won the second stage and led 16 laps before being in a crash late in the race to take him out of race winning contention last year. It was a 32nd place result. On the season, he did win Nashville, but his finishes since Mother’s Day weekend outside of that read: 29th (Darlington), 22nd (Charlotte), 22nd (Gateway), 10th (Sonoma), 22nd (Chicago), 35th (Atlanta) and 23rd (Loudon) too.

Christopher Bell (+1400)

He was fourth in his first Pocono start, 39th, 17th and 32nd respectively after, then fourth again last year. But, even when he’s had good cars this year, he hasn’t delivered. Last week, multiple bad stops then a rebound then a crash relegated him to 29th. He was 18th and 23rd in the two races prior. In fact, Bell’s not had a Top-5 finish since his Bristol win (12 races).

Joey Logano (+1600)

Was 20th last year and has just four Top-5 finishes in 27 tries here. His last Top-5 came back in 2016. That’s why despite three Top-3 finishes over the last six races on the season, I’m fading him.

Austin Dillon (+9000)

He’s now 1-for-17 for top 10’s at Pocono after a 10th place run last year. He also only has three Top-10’s over the last 12 races and none of those three were better than ninth at that.

Chase Briscoe (+25000)

He was only 24th and 21st in 2021 and 15th last year.