With its triangular shape, Pocono is unique among not only NASCAR circuits, but in all of auto racing. That doesn't mean it stands alone, however. The flat corners at Indy make that track a useful comparative and the infamous tunnel turn at Pocono was patterned after it.
2008 Streaks
Jimmie Johnson is in top form with a second-place finish two races ago at Chicagoland and a victory in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
After crashing out of the Coke Zero 400, Greg Biffle has gotten back on track with a pair of top-10s.
Kasey Kahne has not earned a top-five since Michigan, but his last three efforts have ended in top-15s.
For the second time this season, David Ragan has a three-race top-15 streak, but he's heading the wrong direction with a fifth at Daytona, an eighth at Chicagoland and a 14th at Indy.
For the first time in his career, A.J. Allmendinger posted back-to-back top-15s and last week at Indy he finally cracked the top 10. That snapped a streak of 47 races outside that mark—including failures to qualify.
Negative Streaks
Momentum is fickle. When it abandons a driver he often finds it difficult to recapture.
The following drivers have failed to earn a top-10 finish in at least 10 consecutive attempts (including failures to qualify):
64: Paul Menard
56: Bill Elliott
52: Joe Nemechek
47: Scott Riggs
40: Jason Leffler
28: Sam Hornish Jr. *
27: Regan Smith *
21: Patrick Carpentier *
18: Johnny Sauter
17: Terry Labonte
15: Michael McDowell *
11: Tony Raines
* entire career
Running at the End
A team can’t earn a good finish in the garage; the following drivers have avoided that fate for at least the last 10 races.
64: Kevin Harvick (and 103 of 104)
57: Clint Bowyer
26: Regan Smith
25: Matt Kenseth
21: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
21: Kasey Kahne
17: Mark Martin
16: Carl Edwards
13: Jeff Gordon
11: Dave Blaney
11: Martin Truex Jr.
10: Kurt Busch
10: Casey Mears
10: Reed Sorenson
10: Michael Waltrip
Finishing on the Lead Lap
More important still, a driver needs to finish on the same lap as the leader in order to have a chance at victory. The following drivers have at least three consecutive finishes on the lead lap.
12: Jeff Gordon
8: Martin Truex Jr.
7: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (and 12 of 13)
7: Jimmie Johnson
6: Kyle Busch (and 13 of 14)
6: Tony Stewart
5: Clint Bowyer
4: Robby Gordon
4: Bobby Labonte
4: David Reutimann
3: Dave Blaney
3: Kasey Kahne
3: Mark Martin
3: David Ragan
Matt Kenseth was the unwitting guinea pig in an experiment to see how far the god-awful Goodyears could go at Indy last week. When his right rear tire exploded during a 12-lap run, the debris shredded half that side of his car.
When Kurt Busch spun early in the race, he collected Kevin Harvick and snapped that driver's streak of six races during which he was running on the lead lap at the end.
Brian Vickers' blown engine at Indy snapped a six-race streak of complete races.
Flat track streaks
Flat tracks require heavy braking and special skill to navigate the corners. The following drivers have excelled at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Phoenix International Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway in recent races.
Four victories highlight Jimmie Johnson's current streak of nine top-10s on the flat tracks.
Denny Hamlin is a flat track master with five consecutive results of eighth or better on this track type.
With a fifth at New Hampshire and a fourth at Indy, Elliott Sadler has back-to-back flat track top-fives.
Jeff Gordon logged 13 consecutive top-10s on the minimally banked courses before earning three straight results of 11th through 14th at Phoenix, Pocono and New Hampshire this season. Finally, last week he was back in top form with a fifth at Indy.
Jeff Burton's ninth last week at Indy was his seventh consecutive top-15 on this track type and his 15th consecutive top-20.
He slipped at New Hampshire, but four of Carl Edwards' last five flat track races ended in top-10s.
His 11th last week in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was Mark Martin's worst flat track finish in six starts.
The following active drivers have won on the flat tracks (driver's name is followed by the number of victories):
Jeff Gordon, 19
Jimmie Johnson, 12
Tony Stewart, 8
Jeff Burton, 7
Kurt Busch, 7
Bill Elliott, 7
Bobby Labonte, 5
Denny Hamlin, 4
Kevin Harvick, 4
Terry Labonte, 3
Mark Martin, 3
Ryan Newman, 3
Kyle Busch, 2
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2
Clint Bowyer, 1
Carl Edwards, 1
Robby Gordon, 1
Kasey Kahne, 1
Matt Kenseth, 1
Joe Nemechek, 1
Kyle Petty, 1
The following active drivers have earned "cookie-cutter" track top-fives:
Jeff Gordon, 63
Mark Martin, 52
Tony Stewart, 32
Jeff Burton, 30
Bill Elliott, 28
Terry Labonte, 25
Bobby Labonte, 23
Jimmie Johnson, 23
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 20
Matt Kenseth, 19
Ryan Newman, 19
Kurt Busch, 17
Denny Hamlin, 13
Kevin Harvick, 10
Kyle Busch, 9
Kyle Petty, 8
Kasey Kahne, 7
Brian Vickers, 7
Michael Waltrip, 7
Carl Edwards, 7
Greg Biffle, 6
Joe Nemechek, 5
Clint Bowyer, 4
Martin Truex Jr., 4
Elliott Sadler, 4
Jamie McMurray, 3
Robby Gordon, 2
Casey Mears, 1
Juan Montoya, 1
Reed Sorenson, 1
J.J. Yeley 1
Pocono streaks
Denny Hamlin has never finished worse than sixth at Pocono and he swept victory lane in his freshman year.
Mark Martin's last three Pocono races have all ended in top-10s.
Crash damage in June 2007 stranded Jimmie Johnson many laps off the pace, but that is the only time in 13 career starts that he has finished worse than 15th at Pocono.
In his last six attempts at Pocono, Kurt Busch has two victories, two runner-up finishes and an eighth-place result, which makes him a compelling dark horse this week.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s career at Pocono has been sporadic, but he enters the weekend with a pair of top-fives in his last two races there.
Jeff Burton's fifth-place finish at Pocono in June was his first top-five in a while, but it was his fifth consecutive top-15.
Matt Kenseth has finished in the top 10 three times during his current streak of five consecutive top-15s at Pocono.
Pocono's three-year average finish
| Driver | 3 Yr Avg Finish | 3 Yr Avg Start | Attempts |
|---|
| Denny Hamlin | 2.80 | 5.20 | 5 |
| Kurt Busch | 5.00 | 8.50 | 6 |
| Ryan Newman | 10.17 | 8.67 | 6 |
| Tony Stewart | 10.50 | 13.17 | 6 |
| Kevin Harvick | 10.83 | 17.33 | 6 |
| Mark Martin | 10.83 | 19.17 | 6 |
| Jeff Gordon | 11.50 | 16.50 | 6 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 13.50 | 8.33 | 6 |
| Jeff Burton | 14.00 | 12.67 | 6 |
| Matt Kenseth | 14.17 | 23.33 | 6 |
| Brian Vickers | 14.67 | 11.33 | 6 |
| Bobby Labonte | 14.67 | 27.00 | 6 |
| Martin Truex Jr | 15.20 | 14.60 | 5 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 17.83 | 16.00 | 6 |
| Carl Edwards | 18.67 | 27.33 | 6 |
| Kasey Kahne | 19.17 | 5.83 | 6 |
| Greg Biffle | 19.17 | 20.00 | 6 |
| Scott Riggs | 21.00 | 16.67 | 6 |
| Casey Mears | 21.17 | 24.83 | 6 |
| Tony Raines | 22.00 | 21.00 | 4 |
| Joe Nemechek | 22.40 | 16.60 | 5 |
| Kyle Busch | 22.67 | 10.33 | 6 |
| Jamie McMurray | 23.00 | 17.67 | 6 |
| Clint Bowyer | 23.80 | 22.20 | 5 |
| J J Yeley | 24.40 | 20.75 | 5 |
| Juan Montoya | 24.67 | 22.67 | 3 |
| Dave Blaney | 24.67 | 23.50 | 6 |
| Elliott Sadler | 25.83 | 20.67 | 6 |
| Paul Menard | 26.33 | 24.33 | 3 |
| Travis Kvapil | 26.75 | 35.25 | 4 |
| David Ragan | 27.67 | 34.00 | 3 |
| Bill Elliott | 28.67 | 31.00 | 3 |
| Reed Sorenson | 29.40 | 24.20 | 5 |
| David Gilliland | 29.67 | 30.33 | 3 |
| Terry Labonte | 31.33 | 39.67 | 3 |
| A J Allmendinger | 32.00 | 18.00 | 3 |
| David Reutimann | 32.67 | 30.00 | 3 |
| Robby Gordon | 33.00 | 32.17 | 6 |
| Michael Waltrip | 35.50 | 31.40 | 6 |
| Chad Chaffin | 40.00 | 37.00 | 2 |
