Pennsylvania 500 Picks and Predictions
This week NASCAR returns to Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 500 and thanks to a strange schedule, the last race was also held here, which should make handicapping this event just a little easier.
In case you have forgotten what happened last week, Tony Stewart started last after crashing his primary car in practice, yet still drove to victory in his first win as an owner-driver.
When handicapping the Pennsylvania 500, we have to look at last week’s race since Indianapolis and Pocono are very similar. Pay close attention to those drivers who bring the car they raced last week, especially if they had a good day at Indy.
Denny Hamlin 7/1
The amount of bad luck Denny Hamlin and his team have encountered this year is mind boggling to say the least and last week’s race is a prime example of what we’re talking about. In his first five races at Pocono, Hamlin looked unbeatable with two wins, two top-3’s and a sixth place finish. But after that, he has been victimized with bad racing luck. We have said it a few times already this year and we will say it again: If he can just stay away from the bad luck, Hamlin should return to the winners circle at Pocono.
Mark Martin 6/1
Mark Martin has always run extremely well at Pocono and it is one of the few tracks he has never won at despite usually racing well. If you remember back to the first race here, Martin was not very happy with his performance and promised to redeem himself when they came back to Pocono. Though we couldn't find out if he was bringing the car at Indy to Pocono, if he does, we think he might just redeem himself with his first win here.
Live Longshot
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 30/1
If you listened to Earnhardt Jr. after he blew up last week, you would have heard him say how much he liked the car and that they will be bringing that same car to Pocono. While this year has been a major disappointment for Earnhardt Jr., we have noticed a change in this team since they switched crew chiefs and is just too good not to have a win by now.
Significant Chassis Info
Tony Stewart: Will race the same car (chassis No. 450) that went to Victory Lane last month.
Jimmie Johnson: Will return in the same car (chassis No. 504) he raced last month.
Kurt Busch: Will race the same car (chassis No. 594) that dominated at Atlanta.
Carl Edwards: Will race the same car (chassis No. 558) that he drove in June.
Ryan Newman: Will race the same car (chassis No. 506) that he ran in June.
Mark Martin: Will race the same car (chassis No. 550) that finished second last weekend at Indianapolis.
Juan Pablo Montoya: Will race the same car (chassis No. 628) that led 116 laps last weekend at Indianapolis.
Greg Biffle: Will race the same car (chassis No. 585) he drove in June.
Kyle Busch: Will debut a new chassis (No. 228).
Clint Bowyer: Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 268) that last finished 10th at Michigan.
Jeff Burton: Will race the same car (chassis No. 271) that most recently competed at Pocono.
Marcos Ambrose: Will debut a new car on Sunday.
Jamie McMurray: Will race the same car (chassis No. 594) that finished 15th at Atlanta.
Casey Mears: Will be back behind the wheel of the same car (chassis No. 261) that raced at Bristol.
Dale Earnhardt Jr: Will race the same car (chassis No. 556) that raced inside the top 10 for a majority of the Brickyard 400 until an engine failure.
Kevin Harvick: Will race the same car (chassis No. 281) that finished sixth at Indianapolis last weekend.
Martin Truex Jr: Will race the same car (chassis No. 803) that finished 18th in June.
Bobby Labonte: Will race the same car (chassis No. 609) he ran last month.
David Ragan: Will race the same car (chassis No. 620) that finished 26th in June.
Got Stewart, Ambrose, Newman and Edwards this week.
Won last week in my fantasy league that is 2 wins overall on the season.
As they're similar, I thought I'd look to re-use my Indy matchups
Smoke over Jeffie, KK over Pablo and Harvick over Jr.
Also checked to see who I gave out in the first stop at Poconos, and see Smoke over Jeffie again and Kyle over Kurt.
Didn't expect to get similar prices but so far the only one I see that I can duplicate is KK over Pablo and it's at -150 this time; no thanks.
Back to work and I'll get back in here before the race with my blog and picks.
Looks like you got till tomorrow to work on that blog 😉
I got rid of Stewart and put Newman in there after his crash in practice. I don't think he will be able to repeat what he did last month
99% of the time you root for it to not rain, but today . . .
I found Kyle vs Kurt, similar price to last race so I'll grab that at -125.
Also using Hamlin -125 (no one can be permanently jinxed, can they?) over Gordon, since they're not offering JG vs Smoke.
And in the weekly "JR SUX" play, slim pickens as usual, but I'll use Bowyer -130
JR sux pick, lol too funny.
Good luck to you gents today or tomorrow
Might get this race in after all. ;D
Pennsylvania 500 moved to Monday due to weather
NASCAR.COM
LONG POND, Pa. -- A heavy morning shower, coupled with groundwater seepage in Pocono Raceway's asphalt surface, forced NASCAR officials to postpone the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 until Monday at 12:15 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN beginning at noon ET.
The rain tapered off more than an hour before the scheduled start time of 2:20 p.m., but then two other issues presented themselves. Thick fog made it difficult to see the front grandstand from the infield, making it almost impossible for spotters to see all three corners of Pocono's 2.5-mile racing surface. However, a combination of a light breeze and a rise in the temperature allowed the clouds to lift.
But the second issue turned out to be the biggest problem. Track crews were unable to solve the issue of a series of "weepers" in the turns, areas where the groundwater continually seeps through cracks in the surface of the asphalt. Part of the problem stemmed from the amount of rain that peppered the area Friday, resulting in the cancellation of Friday's qualifying. In addition, light showers continued to pop up in the area during the afternoon, hampering some of the track-drying efforts.
"When you're sitting here and see blue skies at one end and dark clouds on the other end, it's really frustrating," NASCAR president Mike Helton said shortly before the decision was announced. "We're trying everything we can ... to get this thing started. The worst enemy we've got right now is time because it's going to be dark about 8:30 and this is a four-hour race."
Two hours after the green flag was supposed to fly, NASCAR officials made the postponement announcement as the sun came out from behind the clouds for the first time all day.
Monday's weather calls for partly cloudy skies with a 10 percent chance of rain and a high temperature of 77 degrees.
NASCAR also announced that a scheduled late Monday afternoon visit by three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and some other NASCAR personalities to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama "will be rescheduled and we'll provide further details when they're available."
That event never impacted NASCAR's consideration for rescheduling the event to Monday, a NASCAR spokesman said.
Red Bull Racing truck driver Jim Gilbert said the rescheduling wouldn't impact teams' trip later this week to the next event at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York.
"It's not going to be too bad this week even if we're here Monday," Gilbert said. "We've got enough people at the shop to turn the truck around so everything will be good. We'll still leave on Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday evening and we have to park [at WGI] Thursday at 7 p.m., so it's really not too bad of a deal.
"We'll still be back at the shop Monday evening and they'll turn the truck around on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and we'll be back on the road again."
Why in gods name didn't they red flag this ???
Best race I have seen in a long time. ;D
I'm usually a "glass half full" kind of guy, but somehow, after watching this race(and sympatico with Blade's comment above) I find myself thinking, "Why can't it be like this every week?"
If my tv had balls I would of kicked it square in them last week
If my tv had balls I would of kicked it square in them last week
Been there done that before many,many time while watching a race. 😀