POCONO RACEWAY (2.5-MILE TRIANGLE)
LOCATION: LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 14 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 3 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, JUNE 11 (FS1/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 37 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2017 Season
20th in standings
13 starts
0 race wins
0 stage wins
0 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
7 laps led
Career
481 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
91 top-five finishes
172 top-10 finishes
4,614 laps led
Track Career
26 starts
2 wins
2 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
9 top-10 finishes
219 laps led
FARMERS INSURANCE: This weekend at Pocono Raceway, Kasey Kahne will pilot the blue-and-black Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS. Pocono marks the seventh time this season Kahne has driven the familiar paint scheme. He most recently drove it at Kansas Speedway where he finished 15th. Kahne will also drive the Farmers Insurance Chevy next week at Michigan, New Hampshire in July and later this season at Dover, Talladega and Phoenix.
WINNING WAYS AT POCONO: From the start of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Kahne has had success at the three-turn track. The 37-year-old earned the pole position at Pocono in his first Cup Series visit to the track in 2004. He followed it up with another pole award in June 2008, when he not only started from the first position, he went on to visit Victory Lane for the ninth time in his career after leading 69 laps. In the last 10 years Kahne is one of only two drivers to complete the weekend sweep by winning the pole and the race. Kahne visited Victory Lane for the second time at Pocono Raceway in August 2013 after he led 66 laps while driving the Farmers Insurance Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports.
KAHNE AT POCONO: In addition to his two victories and two pole awards, Kahne has led 219 laps at the “Tricky Triangle” throughout eight races, which ranks him fifth for most laps led among active drivers. While driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Kahne has collected four top-10 and six top-15 finishes at the Long Pond, Pennsylvania, track. Kahne started 11th in last year’s June race and crossed the finish line in sixth.
POCONO LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics since 2005, Kahne is third in the fastest laps runs category with 311 and in quality passes with 923. Quality passes are the number of times a driver passes another car that is running in the top 15 while under green-flag conditions. He’s fourth in average speed late in a run at 163.002 mph, fifth in green-flag speed at 163.572 and sixth in both average speed early in a run at 165.079 mph and green-flag passes with 1,862. The Enumclaw, Washington, native is eighth in the laps spent in the top 15 category with 2,603.
SONOMA SPONSOR: You can find out Kahne’s sponsor for the upcoming Sonoma Raceway weekend by staying tuned to Hendrick Motorsports’ Instagram story on Thursday.
No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 21 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2017 Season
8th in standings
13 starts
0 race wins
2 stage wins
1 pole position
4 top-five finishes
7 top-10 finishes
169 laps led
Career
54 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
14 top-five finishes
24 top-10 finishes
527 laps led
Track Career
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
1 top-10 finish
51 laps led
SUNENERGY1 RETURNS: SunEnergy1, one of the world’s largest privately held solar energy companies, returns to the hood of the No. 24 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Pocono Raceway. This weekend’s race marks the second of four races that SunEnergy1 will serve as the primary sponsor for Chase Elliott. The first appearance came at Martinsville Speedway, where Elliott collected a third-place finish.
TRICKY TRIANGLE STATS: Elliott is set to make his third NASCAR Cup Series start at Pocono Raceway this weekend. In his previous two starts, Elliott has collected one top-five finish, one top-10 and 51 laps led. The second-year driver averages a starting position of 10.5 and finishing position of 18.5 at the track. According to NASCAR’s loop data, Elliott currently has the fourth-highest driver rating at Pocono with a score of 102.7. 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.
DOVER RECAP: Elliott took the green flag in 16th at Dover. On Lap 53, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native received a pit road speeding penalty, which dropped him to 30th. Elliott recovered to complete the first stage in 15th. By the end of Stage 2, the 21-year-old driver had entered the top 10 and when the final stage began, Elliott wasted no time advancing to the fourth position. When a late-race caution waved on Lap 397, crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for right-side tires only and he restarted seventh. Elliott quickly picked up two positions before a multi-car incident on the backstretch forced the race to end under caution in overtime. The fifth-place result was Elliott’s fourth top-five finish of the season.
TESTING AT CHICAGOLAND: Elliott and the No. 24 team represented Hendrick Motorsports at the Chicagoland Speedway Goodyear tire test on Tuesday and Wednesday. During the lunch break on Wednesday, Elliott is scheduled for media availability in media center at 12:20 p.m. local time. The Cup Series will return to Chicago for the first race of the playoffs on Sept. 17.
HOME SWEET HOME: As the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season heads to Pocono, there are four members of the No. 24 team that call the Keystone State home. Car chief Josh Kirk (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), engineer Matt Barndt (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), primary truck driver Dave Ott (St. Marys, Pennsylvania) and co-truck driver Heath Edler (Williamsport, Pennsylvania).
CARS 3: In February, it was announced that Elliott would voice the character of “Chase Racelott” in the upcoming Disney Pixar movie “Cars 3” and would be among a few other familiar voices. To see the first image of Elliott’s “Cars 3” character, click here. Like Elliott, Racelott is a second-generation Piston Cup racer. “Cars 3” is set to premiere in theaters on June 16.
No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 41 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2017 Season
6th in standings
13 starts
3 race wins
0 stage wins
0 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
172 laps led
Career
556 starts
83 wins
35 pole positions
221 top-five finishes
335 top-10 finishes
18,618 laps led
Track Career
30 starts
3 wins
3 pole positions
11 top-five finishes
19 top-10 finishes
738 laps led
MONSTER MILESTONES: Jimmie Johnson’s win at Dover last weekend was one for the record books — literally. It was Hendrick Motorsports’ 248th NASCAR Cup Series win, the 771st win for manufacturer Chevrolet and Johnson’s track-record 11th win at Dover, linking him with the likes of Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip as one of the only three drivers to win 11 or more races at a single track. The win was the 83rd of Johnson’s Cup career, tying him with childhood hero Cale Yarborough in all-time wins.
COMPARING TO CALE: There are some interesting parallels between the careers of Johnson and Yarborough. Johnson reached his 83rd win at the age of 41 years old in his 556th start – Yarborough reached his 83rd and final win in his 518th start at the age of 46. Yarborough was the first driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive titles, and Johnson was the first to win five. Over his storied career that spanned 560 starts, Yarborough amassed 83 wins, 69 poles, 255 top-five finishes and 319 top-10s. Johnson is currently at career start 556 and still going strong with 83 wins, 35 poles, 221 top-five finishes and 335 top-10s.
THIRD-HIGHEST DRIVER RATING AT POCONO: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Johnson has the third-best driver rating at Pocono with a score of 104.8 since 2005. 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 and is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
LAST TRIP TO VICTORY LANE: Johnson’s last win at the “Tricky Triangle” was on June 9, 2013, when Johnson dominated, starting first and leading 128 of 200 laps en route to his third win at the 2.5-mile track. In recent outings, Johnson has a pair of sixth-place finishes and two finishes outside the top-35 due to incidents.
HOMETOWN CONNECTION: Shock specialist Mike Ellershaw hails from Levittown, Pennsylvania, a town roughly two hours south of Pocono Raceway.
No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 42 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2017 Season
22nd in standings
13 starts
0 race wins
0 stage wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
2 top-10 finishes
10 laps led
Career
608 starts
26 wins
13 pole positions
149 top-five finishes
254 top-10 finishes
8,197 laps led
Track Career
33 starts
2 wins
1 pole position
11 top-five finishes
15 top-10 finishes
182 laps led
DOVER RECAP: After an up-and-down day for the No. 88 team at Dover International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home with an 11th-place finish after missing a multiple-car incident on the final lap. His last two results – the Dover finish and the top-10 finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway the prior week – have helped Earnhardt move up three spots in the championship points standings, from 25th to 22nd.
FRONT-RUNNER AT POCONO: Earnhardt swept both NASCAR Cup Series events in 2014 to earn his two career victories at Pocono Raceway. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has also finished in the top five in a third (33.3 percent) of the races he’s competed in at the “Tricky Triangle,” including his most recent trip to the 2.5-mile facility last spring, when he earned a runner-up finish. The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS also has one pole at the Pennsylvania track, which he earned in August 2007.
LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt has the sixth-best driver rating among active drivers since 2005 at Pocono with a 93.9 average rating. 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 driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS ranks seventh in average speed early in a run (164.905 mph), average speed late in a run (162.737 mph), green-flag speed (163.311 mph), quality passes (823) and laps in the top 15 (2,646) in that span. He ranks eighth in fastest laps run (112 laps) and laps led (93 laps).
PRESENTED BY: Earnhardt’s primary sponsor at Pocono will also be the presenting sponsor of the 400-mile Cup event, a race it has sponsored for three consecutive years. Axalta presents the Pocono 400, which will air live on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, June 11, at 3 p.m. ET. Use #AxaltaPocono400 to join in the conversation on race weekend.
HOMETOWN CONNECTION: The shock specialist for the No. 88 Axalta team, Jason Seitzinger, hails from Shartlesville, Pennsylvania, which is just over an hour southwest of Pocono Raceway. Nicknamed “Penske” for his first job in racing – he worked in the parts room at Penske Racing Shocks in Reading, Pennsylvania – Seitzinger has been with Hendrick Motorsports for more than 15 years. He initially started at Hendrick Motorsports as a shock specialist on the No. 24 team and was part of Jeff Gordon’s 2004 Brickyard 400 victory.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT POCONO: Hendrick Motorsports has accumulated 17 wins at Pocono Raceway, with the four most recent coming as season sweeps in 2013 (Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne) and 2014 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.). In addition, the organization has 12 pole positions, 67 top-five finishes and 116 top-10 finishes at the 2.5-mile triangle.
POCONO PROWESS: Hendrick Motorsports’ 17 NASCAR Cup Series victories at Pocono have come with seven different drivers: Jeff Gordon (6), Johnson (3), Tim Richmond (3), Earnhardt (2), Geoffrey Bodine, Terry Labonte and Kahne.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 248 race victories, 211 pole positions, 1,019 top-five finishes and 1,711 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led 66,730 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“I really like going to Pennsylvania to race. There are a ton of race fans up there. The track is very unique since it only has three turns and they are all totally different. It’s a wide track and people block there a lot, so the restarts can be especially tricky going into Turn 1.”
Kasey Kahne on racing at Pocono
“Just corner exit. The straightaways are so long, a little mistake on corner exit lasts for such a long time, especially off (Turn) 3 and out of (Turn) 1. I think just really making sure you have some good forward drive in your car and you are able to maximize the straightaways. Just a little bit can go a long way because it carries you down the long straightaway.”
Chase Elliott on the keys to success at Pocono
“Pocono is such a unique place. We’re always stuck in an engineering kind of mindset of is it better to be faster on the straightaways or through the corners or how you set the car’s ride heights, the drag or downforce you might put in the car due to the ride heights. And I know from crew chief Chad Knaus’ standpoint, it’s a track he’s always enjoyed because he has options and you can set the car up differently. From a driver’s standpoint, it’s frustrating because a small loss of time through the center of the corner after you have almost a mile-long front straightaway, you can look at a stopwatch and be five, six, or seven-tenths off and think, ‘Wow, we’re really out of it.’ But, honestly, it was just a small little thing that happened in the center of Turn 3 that compounded down the front. So, it is a very challenging track. It’s unique unto itself. And there are some awesome roads to go cycling on, so I’ll have fun.”
Jimmie Johnson on racing at Pocono
“I remember as a child, sitting on that old, dirty couch in El Cajon, California, with my parents. We didn’t want to turn the A/C on because it cost too much, so we were sweating it out in 100-degree heat pulling for that No. 28 of Cale Yarborough. To tie him is just mind-blowing. I was very fortunate to have a similar experience when I tied him with the three consecutive championships and he surprised me at the awards banquet and presented me with my championship ring. But to tie him at 83 wins, I swear to you, I only dreamed of winning a race, and to have 83 and to tie him is just absolutely mind-blowing. We’ve done it all with Lowe’s on our car and it’s just something I never could have dreamed of.”
Johnson on tying Cale Yarborough
“Pocono is a good track for us. I like both Pocono and Michigan, so we have some solid tracks coming up for the No. 88 gang. We were in the simulator this week working on Pocono. We’ve been working really, really hard the last three weeks. It’s been going great – the cars have gotten better in practice and we’re seeing some good improvements, so we’re going to keep grinding. We’re going in the right direction.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at Pocono
