NASCAR XFINITY Series teams will race 100 laps covering 250 miles in the Pocono Green 250 this Friday, June 4th at Pocono Raceway. Television coverage is on FOX starting at 12:30 pm ET with a green flag around 1 pm ET with radio coverage available on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
XFINITY Series Makes Track Debut at Pocono Raceway
For the first time in its storied history, the XFINITY Series will compete for 100 laps over 250 miles at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, June 4th in the inaugural Pocono Green 250.
Since its inception in 1982, the XFINITY Series, has only raced in the state of Pennsylvania 17 times at one track, before this weekend’s festivities – Nazareth Speedway from 1988 to 2004.
Pocono Raceway will become the 52nd track to host a race in what is now the XFINITY Series. The XFINITY Series has competed all across the country and internationally including Mexico City, Mexico and Montreal, Canada.
Pocono Raceway is one of the most distinct tracks in existence. It has three turns that are all different with inspiration by other tracks – Turn one has a banking of 14 degrees and takes its inspiration from Trenton Speedway; Turn two has a banking of eight degrees and comes from Indianapolis Motor Speedway and turn three is six degrees similar to the Milwaukee Mile.
Pocono’s uniqueness doesn’t end there. The competitors’ challenge involves not only adapting to the three different turns but also the three different lengths of the straight-a-ways including the Front-stretch 3,470 ft., Back-stretch 3,055 ft. and the Short-stretch 1,780 ft.
Two extra practices were held Thursday, June 2nd with Kyle Busch leading the first practice and Erik Jones leading the second practice session. Both sessions were 55 minutes.
Daniel Suárez Leaps Elliott Sadler for the Series Championship Points Lead
It took all of three races for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Suárez to leap JR Motorsport’s Elliott Sadler and retake the XFINITY Series championship standings. For the seventh time this season the Monterrey, Mexico native is tops in the title hunt.
Suárez finished 12th at Charlotte last weekend after rebounding from an accident early in the race involving Elliott Sadler and his JGR teammate Erik Jones. Sadler and Jones weren’t as fortunate, and both finished outside the top-20. Suárez’s turnaround yielded him a solid finish that has opened up the biggest points lead of the season to 14 points over second-place in the standings.
In 11 starts this season, Suárez has one pole, four top-fives and nine top-tens. His average finish in 2016 is a stout 7.1.
NASCAR’s season-to-date loop data further details Suárez’s early success this season. He is second in average running position (7.632), third in driver rating (104.5) and third in percentage of laps run on the lead lap (91.5%).
This weekend is Suárez’s NASCAR national series track debut at Pocono Raceway.
Listen to Fan4Racing NASCAR Weekend Preview of Pocono Raceway
w/guest XFINITY Series Driver, Dakoda Armstrong with JGL Racing
Sadler is Down But Not Out, Veteran Status Plays to his Favor at Pocono
With an accident involving fellow championship contenders Daniel Suárez and Erik Jones on lap 25 of last weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sadler posted his worst finish this season of 28th and was ultimately bounced from the XFINITY Series standings lead.
Before Charlotte, Sadler’s season had been one of solid-run after solid-run; posting one win at Talladega, four top-fives and nine top-tens. The 28th-place finish at Charlotte last weekend was his first finish outside the top-20 this season. As a result, Sadler is now second in the standings, staring at 14 points between himself and the standings leader Daniel Suárez.
With the series track debut at Pocono this weekend, Sadler’s veteran status might play in his favor with his earlier experience at the Tricky Triangle. Sadler has made 24 Sprint Cup Series starts at Pocono, posting an average finish of 22.0. But his most recent start at Pocono came in the Camping World Truck Series in 2010 where he led 31 laps and won from the pole.
Allgaier, Dillon are Scaling Mountain of Points Between Themselves and Suárez
Two drivers hoping points leader Daniel Suárez’s good luck comes to an end are title contenders Justin Allgaier in third-place, -23 points from the leader and Ty Dillon in fourth-place, -24 points. With a 20-plus mountain of points to scale to even catch Suárez, any help closing the points gap would be welcomed.
But half that battle is looking up for Allgaier as he jumped to third in the points after posting his fifth top-five and ninth top-ten of the season last weekend. The JR Motorsports veteran is now poised to capitalize this weekend at Pocono as well. He has made four Sprint Cup Series starts at Pocono, posting an average finish of 21.8.
Ty Dillon dropped to fourth in the standings, but is only one point behind Allgaier. Dillon has logged three top-fives and seven top-tens this season.
Dillon also has some experience competing at Pocono. He made two Truck Series starts at ‘The Tricky Triangle,’ recording an average finish of 13.0. He also made a Sprint Cup Series start at Pocono last June, starting 29th and finishing 18th.
Consistency Could be Erik Jones’ Achilles Heel
He can win poles and races, but Joe Gibbs Racing Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Erik Jones hasn’t been consistent this season.
In 11 starts in 2016, the 20-year-old from Byron, Michigan has been one of the most dynamic drivers in the series, posting two wins at Bristol and Dover, two poles, six top-fives and an average finish of 13.1. But that average finish would most likely be inside the top-ten and he wouldn’t be sitting seventh in the series standings if it weren’t for his two DNFs – Did Not Finish – at Richmond and then Charlotte last weekend.
Last season, Chris Buescher won the championship with zero DNFs. Since 1982, the driver to win the XFINITY Series title with the most DNFs is Greg Biffle in 2002 – he had five DNFs that season.
Luckily for Jones, the new XFINITY Series Chase promotes winning. Jones is not only virtually locked into the series playoffs provided he stays in the top-30 in points and qualifies for the remaining regular season races, but he also will be reseeded to the XFINITY Series Chase standings lead due to his bonus points for his two wins.
Jones has made two Camping World Truck Series starts at Pocono Raceway where he’s notched a pole and two top-tens.
Also Noteworthy in the XFINITY Series
Custer’s Solid Finish Keeps JR Motorsports Out Front in Owner Points: Following another solid showing by up-and-coming star Cole Custer, who finished fourth at Charlotte last weekend, the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet team continues to hold on to the XFINITY Series owner standings lead by six points over second-place Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota. This weekend it will be Alex Bowman’s turn to wheel the No. 88 and build on the points lead.
Sprint Cup Stars: Each week some of the best in the sport on Sunday dabble in the XFINITY Series the day before. This week’s Sprint Cup drivers entered in the XFINITY Series race at Pocono include: Kyle Busch, Matt DiBenedetto, Paul Menard, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Josh Wise and Aric Almirola.
NASCAR In Pennsylvania: NASCAR has hosted 139 national series races among ten different tracks in the state of Pennsylvania (NSCS 110, XFINITY Series 17, and Truck Series 12). The very first NASCAR national series event held in Pennsylvania was a Sprint Cup Series race on September 11, 1949 at Langhorne Speedway – won by Curtis Turner in a Oldsmobile. The XFINITY Series has held 17 races in the state of Pennsylvania and all were at Nazareth Speedway. The very first XFINITY Series race at Nazareth Speedway was on May 7, 1988 – won by Rick Mast in a Buick. Pocono Raceway held its first NASCAR national series race in 1974 – the Sprint Cup event winner was NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty in a Dodge. The first Camping World Truck Series race held at Pocono Raceway was in 2010 and won by Elliott Sadler in a Chevrolet.
Pennsylvania Drivers In NASCAR: A total of 141 drivers who have made at least one start in a NASCAR national series race have their home state recorded as Pennsylvania. Only three Pennsylvania drivers have won a NASCAR national series race: Dick Linder with three Sprint Cup wins, Jimmy Spencer with two Cup wins and Mark Donohue with one Cup win. Of the 141, only 20 have competed in the XFINITY Series. Of the 20, only one has won in the XFINITY Series – Jimmy Spencer with 12 XFINITY Series wins.