Johnny Benson

As a Nextel Cup rookie last season Denny Hamlin defined dominance at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. He not only swept both events at the 2.5-mile tri-oval, but he captured both poles and led for 234 of 401 laps.

To excel like that is something special and so Hamlin's my favorite to win this Sunday's Nextel Cup race at the Pennsylvania track.

Working in Hamlin's favor
The Cup circuit is making its second visit of the year to Pocono, the first coming in June when Hamlin led a race-high 49 laps and looked to have a car capable of getting to Victory Lane, which would have given him three consecutive wins at Pocono. But Hamlin fell out of pit sequence with the leaders and rain ended the race after 106 laps leaving him with a sixth-place result. That raised Hamlin's career finishing average at Pocono to 2.6.

There's no surprise over what chassis will be used by the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday. It will be the same one that overwhelmed the field in both Pocono races last year and did so well in the first Pocono race this year. But Pocono isn't the only place this chassis has produced. It got a lot of work because it delivered results throughout the 2006 season, scoring seven top-10 finishes. This will be the fourth start of the 2007 season for this car, and Hamlin hopes to once again drive it to Victory Lane.

Hamlin's crew chief Mike Ford has a ton of experience and knowledge about Pocono going back to when he worked with Bill Elliott, who along with Hamlin is the only driver to sweep both Pocono races from the pole in a single season.

Hamlin's confident in his crew chief, team, and equipment, and why not. He's second in points and he won at New Hampshire International Speedway last month. To go with his win, he has seven top-fives and 11 top-10s in 20 starts.

The argument can be made that last season no Cup driver was as good on any track as Hamlin was at Pocono. Chances are real good that his Pennsylvania wins in 2006 were anything but beginner's luck. More likely they were the start of a string of highly competitive runs at this challenging track for the driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet.

Other drivers to watch
Tony Stewart, a teammate of Hamlin's at Joe Gibbs Racing, is one of the handful of drivers who loves taking a crack at Pocono, which because of its design -- part drag strip, part high-banked oval, part flat track -- is not a favorite of most of those competing in NASCAR's top series.

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The two-time Nextel Cup champion, who is known to heat up in the second half of the season, is red hot with wins in his last two races -- July 15th at Chicagoland and last Sunday at Indianapolis. The win at the Brickyard was Stewart's second in the last three years at the historic venue. And Stewart being an Indiana native makes those victories even sweeter.

Stewart won at Pocono in June 2003, and in 17 Cup starts at the tri-oval he has five top-fives and 12 top-10s. Expect the No. 20 Chevrolet to make a strong run at taking the checkered flag on Sunday. When Stewart gets on a roll, he's real tough to beat. He should be a handful in Pennsylvania.

Hendrick Motorsports should be strong at Pocono, especially Jeff Gordon, who is the all-time leading money winner at the track. The four-time Cup champion picked up his fourth Pocono win in June after his crew chief Steve Letarte made a gutsy call to blow off a pit stop. So while the others running up front pitted, Gordon stayed out and cycled to the front just before the rain came to end the race after 106 of 200 scheduled laps. To go with his four wins, Gordon has 14 top-fives and 20 top-10s in 28 Pocono starts.

Of Gordon's three teammates at Hendrick Motorsports -- Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Casey Mears -- Johnson has the best shot at a win or top-five finish. And the defending Cup champion could really use a great run after a fiery crash knocked him out of last week's race at Indianapolis. It was the second straight DNF for Johnson, who in the past three races has fallen from fourth to ninth in points. In 11 Cup starts at Pocono Johnson has one win, one pole, three top-fives and six top-10s.

Another top contender on Sunday is Carl Edwards, who in five Cup starts at Pocono has one win, two top-fives and two top-10s. Edwards is sixth in points and he's excited about this weekend. The Roush Racing driver believes his team has made some significant improvements of late and those could payoff for him on Sunday.

Overshadowed somewhat by Hamlin's 2006 dominance at Pocono was Kurt Busch turning in a pair of second-place finishes. Besides being a strong runner-up twice last season, Busch won at Pocono in July of 2005. In 13 Cup starts at the Pennsylvania track, the Penske Racing driver has six top-fives and six-top 10s.