NASCAR Cup Series

Some things matter. Some do not. Every weekend, no more than 30 entries matter to some degree. The rest do not. Most weekends NASCAR features a race and while some matter to race fans, most do not. Bristol, Charlotte, Darlington, Daytona, Sonoma, and Talladega races matter due to what they deliver and a long history of tradition.

Matt Kenseth will make his 37th start at Pocono Raceway this weekend, a track he’s visited victory lane once at along with 15 top-10 finishes.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back on the road this week after two races in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA will be the site of this weekend's Pocono 400. A unique racetrack on the NASCAR schedule, Pocono Raceway is infamous for its saying, "What Turn 4?", due to being the only racetrack with three-corners on the racing circuit. At 2.5-miles long, it is also one of the longest tracks on the NASCAR schedule as well.

Richard Childress Racing at Pocono Raceway ... In 157 starts at Pocono Raceway, RCR team owner Richard Childress has two wins, both with Dale Earnhardt, who won on July 19, 1987 and July 18, 1993. Additionally, RCR has earned one pole award, 16 top-five and 54 top-10 finishes with 610 laps led at the uniquely-shaped three-turn track. Childress, a former driver in NASCAR's top division, contributed two of those top-10 finishes under the RCR banner.

Roush Fenway Racing hits the road for Pocono this weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) return to action at the Tricky Triangle. The trip north marks the first in a two-month span, as the Cup series will make a return trip before summer’s end in July.

Historic Weekend for Busch… Camry driver Kyle Busch is coming off a historic race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he won the Coca-Cola 600 for the first time in his career to become the first driver to win at all 23 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) tracks. On the way to his milestone victory, Busch started from the pole – his 100th in a Toyota in NASCAR competition, – and captured all three stage wins as he led 377 laps (of 400). Busch also became the 10th Cup Series driver to lead 15,000 laps. He goes to Pocono Raceway as the defending winner after earning a victory in the July race last season.

Chevrolet established a winning tradition at Pocono Raceway in 1977 when Benny Parsons took the brand to Winner’s Circle for the first time at the ‘Tricky Triangle’. Since then, Chevrolet has gone on to record 31 more victories for a total of 32, making the Bowtie Brand the most successful manufacturer at the 2.5-mile venue.

Martin Truex Jr.’s performance has been mostly steady and stable with 50 percent of the regular season completed (13 of 26 races).

Chase Elliott on if a Turn 4 would make Pocono easier to navigate: “No, I like Pocono. I enjoy Pocono. It’s been another fun place and unique with the shifting and things that we do there that we don’t do at other places. I like that challenge, it’s something that we don’t do and obviously road courses we do, but it’s just different. I enjoy racing there.”

Ford driver Ryan Blaney is the defending winner of this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono. He’s one of four current Ford drivers with at least one series win on the three-turn track (Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch). Here’s a look at some Ford highlights through the years.