Biggest NASCAR Storylines to Watch Ahead of Sprint Cup Series at Pocono
It's hard to believe, but we are halfway through the regular season. It seems like yesterday Joey Logano won the Daytona 500, and since then Jimmie Johnson has won four races, Kevin Harvick keeps finishing second (two wins too) and Jeff Gordon has seemingly bid adieu to Victory Lane in his final season.
Speaking of Gordon, that drought could all change soon. He has won six times at our next venue, Pocono Raceway. The race is also his sponsor’s, so that double whammy is in his favor at the Axalta We Paint Winners 400.
So it’s off to the Keystone State for 400 miles around the "Trick Triangle." Let’s get on with some storylines as we summit the hill and walk down to the final half of the regular season.
Is This Where Jeff Gordon Earns That 1st Win of 2015?
1 of 5
Axalta has been painting Gordon’s No. 24 car, but he hasn’t been winning. He has two top fives and eight top 10s in his last 10 races. That’s encouraging as he heads to a track where he has six wins.
The last time Gordon won at Pocono was in 2012. It was a storm-shortened race that saw a fan get killed by a lightning strike in the parking lot.
Back in 2012, it took Gordon until that August 6 race at Pocono to earn his first win.
For all his wins (92), he is no stranger to winless droughts. In 2008 and 2010 he visited Victory Lane a grand total of zero times.
But the premium on winning to lock up spots in the Chase wasn’t like it is now. Maybe Gordon gets in on points, as three drivers did a year ago, but that’s not a chance a driver wants to take with only seven spots up for grabs with 13 races to go.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Goes for Three in a Row
2 of 5
Before last year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had zero wins in 28 starts at Pocono’s “Tricky Triangle.” After 30 starts, he now has two wins. He got the broom out for that last one, sweeping both races where he was previously winless.
“I like the track, and we have run well there since the repave,” Earnhardt said on Autoweek.com. “I anticipate us being competitive again and hopefully getting three in a row.”
Whatever it was about the No. 88’s setup, his crew had the right chassis and the right measure of confidence. After the first win last year, Junior said in Seth Livingstone’s NASCAR.com story:
"Each year we've seen a progression of performance. What I'm seeing us do and how I'm seeing us run makes a lot of sense to me. We've been fast every week. We started (to improve) toward the middle of last year. We haven't peaked, but we're certainly doing some of our best work right now.
"
Junior has been one of the better cars on the circuit this year and already has a win, so he knows he’s Chase-bound come September.
Can he get a third at Pocono? You bet. Once he gets dialed in at Pocono, he can keep the equation balanced for another sustained run.
Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski Not at Cool-Kids Table
3 of 5
Since when are Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski not cool enough to eat lunch with the popular kids?
NASCAR set up a driver council (hopefully like the Stonecutters) to discuss 2016 rules, safety and competition. Johnson, a six-time Cup champion, and Keselowski, a winner of six races in 2014 and the 2012 Cup champ, sat this one out.
"I missed that memo. I wasn't there," Johnson said in Jared Turner’s FoxSports.com piece. "... I don't think I was invited to that meeting. I haven't won enough races or championships."
Keselowski was a bit more diplomatic:
"I didn't earn the spot. To earn the spot you had to be the highest driver in each respective manufacturer, and I wasn't the highest Ford and the numbers games being what they are with the Chevrolet drivers kind of having control of the senate, so to speak, I wasn't going to get voted in, and I understand that.
"
Eating lunch at the cool-kids table were Joey Logano, Earnhardt, Gordon, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Pressure Mounting for Chasers
4 of 5
It’s a bit of running theme here in the storylines as we examine some drivers and teams who are running out of time to qualify for the Chase.
Since we’re at the midway point of the season, that pressure could be mounting. We saw last year how much tension there was within the Chase. Now there’s a chase to reach the Chase.
Martin Truex Jr., who is second in points despite not winning a race, could use that third career win just to clinch the deal. Pointing into the Chase is possible, but why wait if you can help it?
Fox Sports’ Larry McReynolds wrote, “There probably isn't a driver out there right now feeling the pressure to win more than Martin. I keep saying it and it's because I truly believe it, that team can't continue to run that well and not win. It simply has to happen somewhere.”
Truex is a top-10 machine this season and will likely get in no matter what. Thirteen drivers won races in 2014, and nine have won in 2015. That means only four other drivers will likely win, leaving three points positions open.
Brad Keselowski Aims for Redemption
5 of 5
Keselowski may have been excluded from the driver council, but he’ll do everything in his power to win the race he should have won a year ago: the spring race at Pocono.
The No. 2 car was a beast in open air, but a piece of trash stuck to his grill and cooked his car’s insides. That was just enough for Earnhardt to take the checkered flag and keep Keselowski's American flag holstered for another day.
"Brad had the better car; he had me beat," said Earnhardt in Seth Livingstone’s NASCAR.com story. “I've lost some in some strange ways, so it feels good to win one like that.”
Keselowski led 95 laps on the day, and a piece of garbage was his undoing. Keselowski, who ran up on the lapped No. 10 car to try to remove the debris, said:
"I had to do something. (Maybe) I should have just ran it to see if it would have blown off...but I had to make some kind of move or the car wasn't going to make it. The car was starting to blow up. It was going to break or I was going to get passed because we were really down on power in the straightaway.
"
Bad luck cost him the race a year ago, and it will be a big boost to see if a Ford car can compete with the dominant Chevys and the resurgent Toyotas.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
