POCONO RACEWAY (2.5-MILE TRIANGLE)
LOCATION: LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA
EVENT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 21 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 1:30 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, AUG. 2 (NBCSN/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Aquafina Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 35 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2015 Season
14th in standings
20 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
2 top-five finishes
6 top-10 finishes
46 laps led
Career
416 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
85 top-five finishes
152 top-10 finishes
4,587 laps led
Track Career
23 starts
2 wins
2 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
8 top-10 finishes
219 laps led
AQUAFINA CHEVROLET: The No. 5 Chevrolet will have a refreshing new paint scheme this weekend for the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway. Aquafina will adorn the hood of Kasey Kahne’s Chevrolet SS with a paint scheme inspired by the Drink Up campaign. Powered by Partnership for a Healthier America, Drink Up is a mission to get people to drink more water more often.
THE TASTE OF VICTORY: Pocono Raceway is one of three tracks where Kahne has found Victory Lane on multiple occasions. He won the Pocono 500 on June 13, 2004, and the Pocono 500 on June 8, 2008. The other two tracks where he has earned multiple victories are Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
GOING HOME: The “Tricky Triangle” is the home track for Dave Radney, test truck driver for the No. 5 Aquafina Chevrolet SS team. He originates from Canton, Pennsylvania, a borough 134 miles northwest of the raceway.
FIFTH FOR THE NO. 5: According to NASCAR’s loop data, Kahne’s 161.628 average speed ranks him fifth-fastest in average speed late in a run. Kahne also ranks fifth in laps led at Pocono Raceway, leading 219 laps in his career, and fifth in quality passes, totaling 804 at the track.
FAST LAPS: Kahne ranks third in fastest laps run (306) at Pocono Raceway according to NASCAR’s loop data statistics.
SUMMER SESSION: Kahne is not known to take a summer break during the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, as 10 of his 17 career victories have been achieved between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
RACE TO THE CHASE: Kahne is currently 14th in the standings, having earned 558 points through the first 20 races. He is 219 points away from the leader and just 33 points out of 10th place. Kahne is still seeking his first win this year to help solidify his spot to compete for a championship. Currently he is inside the Chase Grid’s top 16, but is not yet locked in.
MAKE YOUR BODY HAPPY: Aquafina wants to make your body healthy and happy when you enter to win up to $5,000 toward LivingSocial through the Make Your Body Happy Sweepstakes. You could escape to an all-inclusive coastal vacation, rent a kayak for the day or even enter an obstacle course race – whatever makes your body happy. Enter now through Aug. 10 here.
No. 24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet SS / Jeff Gordon
Driver Jeff Gordon Hometown Pittsboro, Indiana
Age 43 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2015 Season
11th in standings
20 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
11 top-10 finishes
164 laps led
Career
781 starts
92 wins
80 pole positions
322 top-five finishes
465 top-10 finishes
24,828 laps led
Track Career
45 starts
6 wins
2 pole positions
19 top-five finishes
31 top-10 finishes
1,038 laps led
Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet SS, is scheduled to visit the Pocono Raceway media center at 1:45 p.m. local time Friday.
FIRST AT POCONO: Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet SS, holds the record for most wins at Pocono Raceway with six. The 43-year-old driver leads active drivers in top-five finishes and top 10s.
UP FRONT AT POCONO: The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has led 1,038 laps at the “Tricky Triangle” during his 23-year career. That ranks Gordon first on the all-time list at the 2.5-mile track, 228 more than second.
BIRTHDAY BOY: On Aug. 4, Gordon will celebrate his 44th birthday.
MEMBER ADVANTAGES AT POCONO: AARP Member Advantages will sponsor four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet SS to spread awareness about the many benefits available to AARP members. The special AARP Member Advantages paint scheme – which debuted at Sonoma Raceway on June 28 – will be featured in six Sprint Cup Series events in 2015 and is part of Hendrick Motorsports’ existing partnership with Drive to End Hunger, which is AARP and AARP Foundation’s multi-year effort to raise awareness of and support for the fight against older adult hunger. AARP Member Advantages is a collection of discounts, products, services and insurance programs available to AARP’s millions of members through third party providers. The provider offers include a variety of health products, financial products, travel and leisure products, and life event services.
No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 39 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2015 Season
4th in standings
20 starts
4 wins
0 pole positions
10 top-five finishes
13 top-10 finishes
467 laps led
Career
491 starts
74 wins
33 pole positions
203 top-five finishes
305 top-10 finishes
17,618 laps led
Track Career
27 starts
3 wins
3 pole positions
11 top-five finishes
18 top-10 finishes
738 laps led
BACK-TO-BACK IN BLACK: For the fourth time this season, Jimmie Johnson will pilot a flat-black and white No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS. The paint scheme appeared last weekend at Indianapolis and earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway. It will next see action at Martinsville Speedway on Nov. 1.
HOMETOWN CONNECTIONS: Four members of the No. 48 team have connections to Pennsylvania. Engine tuner John Boydston hails from Oswego, New York, but attended Luzerne County Community College in nearby Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. Shock specialist Mike Ellershaw is from Levittown, Pennsylvania. Pit crew members Matt Wilps and Zach Thomusseit both graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, where they were members of the wrestling team.
SECOND-HIGHEST DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Johnson has the second-best driver rating at Pocono with a score of 106.9 during the past 10 years at the track. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
FINISHING STRONG: Johnson’s career average finish of 9.6 at Pocono is second among active drivers only to Kyle Larson, who has started just three races at the track. Johnson was the last driver to win from the pole position at the triangle on June 9, 2013, when he started first, led 128 laps and won the event.
UPCOMING JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION WELLNESS CHALLENGE EVENTS: Registration is open for the remaining two events of the 2015 Jimmie Johnson Foundation Wellness Challenge. The Cane Creek Sprint Triathlon will take place on Aug. 11 and the Lake Davidson Sprint Triathlon will take place on Sept. 13. Log on to www.jjfwellnesschallenge.org for more details.
No. 88 Microsoft Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 40 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2015 Season
3rd in standings
20 starts
2 wins
0 pole positions
10 top-five finishes
12 top-10 finishes
204 laps led
Career
561 starts
25 wins
13 pole positions
137 top-five finishes
236 top-10 finishes
8,051 laps led
Track Career
31 starts
2 wins
1 pole position
9 top-five finishes
13 top-10 finishes
178 laps led
POCONO SWEEP: Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured his first career Pocono Raceway win last spring and followed it up with another victory there in the fall to sweep the track in 2014. He will attempt to take the checkered flag for the third time on Sunday in the Windows 10 400.
AT POCONO: In 31 Sprint Cup starts at Pocono Raceway, Earnhardt has completed 97.4 percent of all the laps he’s attempted (5,596 laps of 5,747 total) and has led a total of 178 laps at the 2.5-mile track. Earnhardt, the defending fall race-winner at Pocono, has had an average finish of 4.2 over the last five races.
POCONO POLE POSITION: Earnhardt earned his first and only Pocono Sprint Cup pole position in August 2007 and went on to lead eight laps there for a second-place finish.
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 10: A global leader in technology and innovation, Microsoft will support the upcoming launch of Windows 10 with primary sponsorship of Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet SS. Microsoft will utilize the two-time Daytona 500 champion as a spokesperson to promote Windows 10, which will be available July 29 as a free upgrade for qualified Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices. In addition, its new multi-year partnership with Hendrick Motorsports will incorporate technology solutions and training across the team, including competition, business and IT functions.
Hendrick Motorsports
STREAKY TRIANGLE: Hendrick Motorsports has fielded a winner in at least one Sprint Cup race at Pocono in each of the past four years, including season sweeps in 2013 (Johnson and Kahne) and 2014 (Earnhardt). In total, Hendrick Motorsports has 17 wins, 12 pole positions, 63 top-five finishes and 110 top-10s at the 2.5-mile triangle.
POCONO PROWESS: Hendrick Motorsports’ 17 Sprint Cup victories at Pocono have come with seven different drivers: Gordon (6), Johnson (3), Tim Richmond (3), Earnhardt (2), Geoffrey Bodine, Terry Labonte and Kahne.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 237 victories, 204 pole positions, 966 top-five finishes and 1,604 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 64,722 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“I think we learned a little bit from the June race. We learned some things not to do and I feel like with the less power and the shifting and how all of that worked, we can take our notes back and understand that a little better going into the race this week. Those notes hopefully will give us a little better balance. The bump in the tunnel turn was tough. It was much different than how it had been — it was much bigger. The car moved around quite a bit, so when you were on the throttle or off throttle
