Red-hot Johnson the pick to win at Pocono
Driver confident after Brickyard win, but track can be very difficult
 Jason Smith / Getty Images for NASCAR Starting from the pole gives a big boost to Jimmie Johnson at Pocono, NBCSports.com contributor Johnny Benson writes. |
|
 | Slideshow |
 | NASCAR champions Take a look at the drivers who have raced their ways to series titles since the circuit's inception. |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| INTERACTIVE |
 | NASCAR wives and girlfriends They're fixtures in pit row, but they don't drive on the track or work on the cars. Take a look at some notable NASCAR wives and girlfriends. |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
|
It will be the second time this summer that NASCAR’s top series makes a stop at the 2.5-mile, triangle-shaped tri-oval in Long Pond, Pa.
Working in Johnson’s favor
The two-time defending Cup champion has rebounded after a slow start to the season. After finishing outside the top 15 in four of his first seven races, Johnson has shown signs of finding a groove — especially on tracks of two miles or longer.
Two weeks after nearly pulling out a win at Chicagoland Speedway, Johnson won for the second time in three years at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard last Sunday following a seven-lap sprint to the finish in the first Car-of-Tomorrow race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where consistent tire problems on the notoriously abrasive track surface brought out 11 caution flags.
It appears the Hendrick Motorsports team of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus is growing in confidence. They have moved into fourth place in the points standings with just six events left before the start of the Chase for Championship — the 10-race, twelve-driver playoff to decide the Sprint Cup Series title.
Any driver coming off running well at the Brickyard has a good chance of running well at Pocono simply because the tracks are similar in distance and layout.
Johnson, who won the pole Friday, knows what it takes to win at this layout, having swept the Pocono races in 2004. For his career, Johnson, who crossed the checkers in sixth place in last June’s Pocono race, has posted four top-fives and eight top-10s in his 13 Pocono starts. He also will pilot the same chassis this weekend he drove to a second-place finish at Chicagoland three weeks ago.
Other drivers to watch
Kyle Busch was a surprising disappointment last week at Indy as he struggled to finish 15th. What’s more, an accident in the June race at Pocono resulted in the only DNF this season for the Sprint Cup Series points leader.
But Busch is too talented and competitive to ignore as a top threat to win this race. Busch’s run of four straight top-10 finishes at Pocono dating back to the August 2006 race proves he’s capable of a real good ride at Pocono.
Kyle’s older brother, Kurt, took the checkers in this race last season. Although front splitter problems pushed him outside the top five in last June’s race, Kurt has two wins and a pair of second-place finishes in his past six Pocono starts.
|
The Columbia, Mo. native, who is currently fifth in points, will drive the same car that ran well enough to keep him among the leaders earlier this summer at Pocono race before a problem on pit road forced Edwards to settle for ninth.
Third-year driver Denny Hamlin is riding high following a third-place finish at the Brickyard, which allowed him to jump from 12th to eighth in the Cup standings.
For Hamlin, Pocono will mark career Cup start No. 100 and he’s been very successful at this venue. He swept both races from the pole as a rookie in 2006. Hamlin also finished third in last June’s race at Pocono and he led for 17 laps despite a damaged front fender.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
LowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM NASCAR / MOTORS |
 NASCAR / Motors Section Front |
| Add NASCAR / Motors headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links