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[/media-credit]DENVER, Colo. (June 6, 2012) — While the storyline for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway is all about newness, Furniture Row Racing driver Regan Smith would also like to start anew.
The Pocono 400 will not only have a new race distance — from 500 to 400 miles — but the 3-turn, 2-5-mile track, located in Long Pond, Pa., will also have new pavement.
The weekend newness also affects the television coverage for the 14th Sprint Cup event of the season with TNT taking over as the broadcast partner for the next six races.
Smith, who will drive the No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet for the single-car team out of Denver, Colo., is looking for a reversal from Dover, where he was involved in a multicar wreck on Lap 9 of 400. Though he finished 94 laps down, he still managed to post a 27th-place result.
“After what happened at Dover we need to have a strong result in Pocono to get some of those points back that we lost at the Monster Mile,” said Smith. “We were improving going into Dover but due to the accident we didn’t have enough time on the track to see if we were continuing to make progress. Pocono will be an important weekend for Furniture Row Racing.”
Smith is currently at Pocono Raceway taking part in a two-day test session on the new track surface. Before Smith arrived at the Pennsylvania venue, he already had a gut feeling about what to expect.
“I spoke to our crew guys earlier in the week and they said the resurfacing looked great,” stated Smith. “I think the translation for that meant — the track will be bad fast. Being able to test before Friday’s official practice will obviously be helpful in determining a setup for this weekend’s race.”
Smith’s best finish at Pocono was 15th, which came in last year’s June event. In seven career starts at Pocono, he has an average finish of 23.0.
“I feel confident that if we can avoid wrecks, mistakes and malfunctions we should have a solid result,” explained Smith, who is 25th in points. “But we have to eliminate problems — we’ve had too many this season. We have 23 races to go and Pocono would be a good place to begin a new season for our race team.”
Smith’s Pocono Raceway Sprint Cup Results
St Fn 2008 4 28 36 25
2009 42 33 (June race)
2010 24 18 34 21
2011 5 15 17 21
Smith’s 2012 Results
Date
Event
St
Fn
Laps
Status Prize Money Driver Points
Standing 2/27 Daytona 6 24 200/202 Running 357,034 21 23 3/4 Phoenix 3 20 311/312 Running 93,483 24/45 19 3/11 Las Vegas 28 15 267/267 Running 129,413 29/74 20 3/18 Bristol 6 24 496/500 Running 111,343 20/94 20 3/25 Fontana 22 20 128/129 Running 114,163 24/118 19 4/1 Martinsville 17 16 513/515 Running 106,343 28/146 18 4/14 Texas 26 23 332/334 Running 130,238 21/167 21 4/22 Kansas 29 24 263/267 Running 103,443 20/187 22 4/28 Richmond 15 27 398/400 Running 95,968 17/204 25 5/6 Talladega 31 40 15/194 Engine 87,275 4/208 27 5/12 Darlington 9 14 368/368 Running 117,488 30/238 26 5/27 Charlotte 10 17 398/400 Running 128,488 27/265 23 6/3 Dover 26 27 306/400 Running 103,702 17/282 25
Avg. Start: 17.538 Avg. Finish: 23.385 Money: $1,678,381
No. 78 Over-the-Wall Crew Front-tire changer Shane Pipala, Frankfort Square, IL Front-tire carrier Jon Bernal, Holland, Mich. Rear-tire changer Coleman Dollarhide, Hickory, N.C. Rear-tire carrier: Dwayne Moore, Griffin, Ga. Jackman Gabe Martin, Lake Wylie, S.C. Gasman Justin White, Lynnville, Tenn. 2nd Gasman Ryan Bergenty, Plainville, Conn. 7th Man/Windshield Todd Carmichael, Redding, Calif. _____________________________________________
No. 78 Road Crew Crew Chief Pete Rondeau, Saco, Maine Competition Director Mark McArdle, La Crosse, Wis. Car Chief Robert Huffman, Hickory, N.C. Engineers Phil Jiminez, Germantown, Tenn. Matt Faulkner, Memphis, Tenn. Spotters Rick Carelli, Arvada, Colo. Clayton Hughes, Thomasville, N.C. Engine Specialist Scott Meesters, Hanford, Calif. Engine Builder Earnhardt-Childress Racing Shock Specialist Nick Kerlin, Old Fort, Ohio Tire Specialist Chad Krauch, Loveland, Colo. Technical Support Michael McCullough, Imperial, Calif. Mechanics Ryan Bergenty, Plainville, Conn. Todd Carmichael, Redding, Calif. Joe Kerrigan, Canon City, Colo. Transportation Henry Benfield (also gas runner), Statesville, N.C. Jim Gilbert, Belleville, IL Dave Hicks, Montcalm, WVa. Chuck Lemay, DeKalb, IL John Slingerland, Sacramento, Calif. Dennis Valverde, Albuquerque, N.M.
