NASCAR Cup PR

Martin Truex Jr. is not only the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ most recent winner – earning the victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night - he is the defending winner of this week’s race, the Pocono 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Pocono Preview: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be heading to the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania for a 400-mile event at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 2. With four wins to his name at Pocono, Hamlin and the #11FedEx team will be seeking a fifth victory, making it the team’s third win of the 2019 Cup Series.

Pocono Hot Streak… Toyota drivers have captured wins in the last three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) events held at Pocono Raceway with Kyle Busch victorious in July 2017 and July 2018 and Martin Truex Jr. the defending race winner in last year’s June event. Denny Hamlin is the winningest active driver at the Pennsylvania track with four victories.

William Byron on believing there is momentum for the No. 24 team: “Definitely. I think there’s a lot of merit to momentum and confidence. As a driver and as a team, when you’re in an upward swing a lot of times bad situations don’t seem as devastating or race-ending as they usually would. I think we have a lot of momentum on our side right now. The cars have been faster which is something everyone has been working hard to improve. That always helps the success on-track for sure. I’m really excited for what we can do in the upcoming races especially since this is a stretch of really good racetracks for myself and the team starting at Pocono.

This weekend’s Pocono 400 on the Tricky Triangle at Pocono Raceway promises to be a little trickier than usual, according to Paul Menard, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang.

"Pocono is such a unique track and each turn is so different. If your car is good in 1, chances are it's not good in 3, so you need to figure out what's going to be the most important corner. I've always felt like Pocono is a little more similar to road courses, with each corner being different, high braking, downshifting and all those things. There's a lot of strategy involved in the race, which I think makes it fun. I'm looking forward to having another good run in our No. 34 Ford this weekend..”

Richard Childress Racing at Pocono Raceway ... In 161 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.

Newman will make his 35th Cup start at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway this weekend. In 34 prior events, Newman has 15 top-10s, nine top fives and one win at ‘The Tricky Triangle.’

Stenhouse has 12 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Pocono Raceway with an average starting position of 21.5 and average finishing position of 22.7.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is at the halfway mark of the 2019 season and seven Ford drivers currently hold Playoff spots. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano are assured spots after posting victories earlier this season while Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez are in point-transferring positions.