Pocono
Event: Explore The Pocono Mountains 225
Date: Saturday July 13, 2024
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Pocono Raceway 1234 Long Pond Road, Long Pond, Pennsylvania 18334
Layout: 2.5 mile asphalt Triangle Oval “The Tricky Triangle”
Laps: 90 Laps
Miles: 225 Miles
Stage Lengths: Stage 1 ends on lap 20, stage 2 ends on lap 40 and the final stage ends on lap 90.
TV: USA Network
Radio: Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN affiliates. Click here for the station near you.
Driver Points: 495, 9th place
Notes:
“What an awesome week for our team in Chicago,” says Parker, “loved that event, and to get a top 5 finish was a great reward. With that day we have made up some serious ground in the points. Now heading to my home track, Pocono was the first place I saw a NASCAR stock car in person and is only 2 hours from where I grew up. I love this track and how unique it is. We had a solid top10 run there last year, that I know we can improve on this year. Let’s keep the momentum rolling!”
NASCAR Xfinity Series takes on Pocono Raceway
This weekend marks the ninth time the NASCAR Xfinity Series has visited NASCAR’s unique 2.5 mile three-turn racetrack with the inaugural race held on June 4, 2016, won by Kyle Larson.
The race day festivities start off with practice beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET followed by qualifying at 10:30 a.m. ET on USA Network and the NBC Sports App.
Hot Streak: Conquering the Tricky Triangle
In the first eight Xfinity Series races at Pocono, never has there been a repeat winner at the Tricky Triangle.
Kyle Larson won the inaugural event in 2016, followed by Brad Keselowski (2017), Kyle Busch (2018), Cole Custer (2019), Chase Briscoe (2020), Austin Cindric (2021), Noah Gragson (2022), and Austin Hill (2023).
Six out of eight race winners started within a top-10 starting position, with the farthest starting position to win being Austin Cindric in 2021 from 13th on the grid.
Will Austin Hill go back-to-back?
Austin Hill is set to defend his victory here from a year ago where he took the lead with two laps remaining, picking up one of his four wins last season. The 30-year-old Georgia native looks to become the first multi-time winner at Pocono in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and seeks to join Shane van Gisbergen as the only drivers to have three wins this season.
Hill’s only other Xfinity Series appearance at Pocono came in 2022 with an eighth-place finish.
Drivers to watch at Pocono Raceway
Apart from Austin Hill, the only other driver entered in this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway is Cole Custer, but there are several drivers worth keeping an eye on this weekend.
SHR’s Cole Custer won in 2019 after starting from pole position and dominated the race leading 58 of 103 laps. In his five starts at Pocono, along with his sole win, Custer has two top fives, and four top 10s.
Shane van Gisbergen is set to visit Pocono for the first time where he hopes to win back-to-back races for the second time this season. Van Gisbergen returned to Victory Lane at Chicago this past weekend for his third victory of the season, leading all Xfinity Series drivers. The New Zealander became the 12th rookie and the first since Ty Gibbs in 2021 to win three or more races in their rookie season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Van Gisbergen’s teammate A.J. Allmendinger has shown impressive consistency across his only two starts at Pocono. Allmendinger finished in the top-five on both occasions with a fifth-place finish in 2021, and fourth-place in 2022. Allmendinger is also scheduled to compete on Sunday in the No. 16 Chevrolet.
Justin Allgaier is one of four drivers to have competed in all previous eight races at Pocono. Despite that experience, he continues his search for his first win at the track. The Illinois native has posted two top fives, and four top 10s with a best finish of second-place in 2017 at Pocono.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Standings following Chicago
With another win by Shane van Gisbergen last weekend in Chicago, six Playoff spots remain filled by virtue of wins and the seventh spot is guaranteed to the points leader if they do not have any wins, leaving just five open spots.
Currently five drivers are holding those spots on points - Riley Herbst (+91), AJ Almendinger (+90), Sheldon Creed (+73), Parker Kligerman (+63), and Sammy Smith (+23).
Ryan Sieg (-23) is the first driver below the Playoff cut line, followed by Brandon Jones (-67), and Anthony Alfredo (-85).
Sunoco Rookie of the Year update – Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love continues to hold his lead in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with 548 points after scoring consecutive top-five finishes with a fifth-place finish at Chicago this past weekend. The 19-year-old rookie this season has one win, five top fives, and nine top 10’s.
One hundred and one points behind Love is Shane van Gisbergen with 457 points in total. Van Gisbergen is the only other rookie to reach Victory Lane with three wins to his name, which leads all drivers this season.
Leland Honeyman has earned 246 points throughout the season, while Hailee Deegan rounds out the rookie points standings with 174 points. Deegan announced this week she is parting ways with AM Racing for the remainder of the season.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Josh Berry will be piloting the No. 15 Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race this Saturday. This will be Berry’s first start in the Xfinity Series since the conclusion of the 2023 season at Phoenix. Berry has made three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Pocono Raceway putting up one top five and two top 10s.