NASCAR Cup PR

DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Pocono, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 29.9, an average finish of 31.0, and he’s completed 1,103 of 1,422 (77.6 percent) career laps at the 2.5-mile triangular-shaped track in Long Pond, PA.

Stenhouse has 13 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Pocono Raceway with an average starting position of 21.2 and average finishing position of 23.4.

Newman will make his 36th MENCS start at Pocono on Sunday. In 35 prior starts, Newman has one win, nine top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. His overall average finish if 13.1 with 185 laps led at the 2.5-mile track.

All three of NASCAR’s top series will be in action this weekend with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Gander Outdoors Truck Series competitors running at Pocono Raceway and the NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers at Iowa Speedway.

Pocono Gander RV 400 Preview: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will return to Pocono Raceway for Sunday’s 400-mile race around the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle.” After a close second-place finish last weekend in New Hampshire, Hamlin and team will be looking to extend their strong form and capture the team’s third win of the season, as well as Hamlin’s fifth career victory at Pocono.

Five Toyota drivers placed inside the top 10 for a second time this season. All four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers and Matt DiBenedetto scored top-10 finishes after accomplishing the same milestone at Sonoma Raceway in June.

After earning a career high 11th-place starting position at the ‘Magic Mile’, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. cut a tire sending the Fastenal Ford into the outside wall forcing him to settle with a 36th-place finish in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 12th YOU GUYS CAME FROM THE BACK AND BATTLED HARD FOR A DECENT FINISH “It was okay, we were just tight. We never had super-great track position and its tough to pass. I felt like our last run was decent, so going on to Pocono I think we will have a good race there.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Beer/National Forest Foundation Ford Mustang – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – WHAT MORE CAN THIS WIN DO FOR YOU? “We’ve run well enough a few times this year to win, but we’ve just made mistakes and to finally battle and get over that hump is a great day for everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and everybody on the 4 car. I was really questionable about how that was gonna go and the thing took right off. The only thing that wasn’t good was we got the traffic and my car started pushing. I knew that he was gonna take a shot. I would have taken a shot. I stood on the brakes and just tried to keep it straight. I just didn’t want to get him back from the inside and let him have another shot. I wanted to at least be in control of who was gonna have contact in turn three and four. It was a heck of a finish, closer than what we wanted, but it was our only chance. I would have never done it, but that’s why he’s on the box and not me.”

HOW MUCH IS THE TRACK GOING TO CHANGE DURING THE COURSE OF THE WEEKEND? “I don’t know if it was a different mixture or what, with the grip. The grip compound feels so much different than it did last year or the year before. It’s weird, to be honest. So, I don’t know. It definitely doesn’t feel nearly as gripped-up as it has in the past. But that could also be my car.”