The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to Pocono Raceway this weekend to take on the “Tricky Triangle.” Pocono is a 2.5-mile, triangle-shaped track, with three completely different corners. It is unlike any other track on the schedule. Pit strategy often comes into play at Pocono, just like it does on a road course. This often shakes up the field and brings drivers who are running in the back to the front of the pack. It will likely be a crazy race at Pocono. We will need some luck to have everything play out perfectly on this “Tricky Triangle.” The Great American Gateway 400 can be seen Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on USA.
The Cup Series had a 20-minute practice session Saturday to shake down their cars for Sunday’s race. Pocono is a large track, so it was tough for all of the teams to make a long run in practice. We can use the speeds from the single-lap and five-lap average speed charts for our picks this week. Track position should also be important, so the drivers who start up front with have some extra value Sunday.
Here is my starting lineup for the Great American Gateway 400 …
DENNY HAMLIN (5): Hamlin has been the best driver at Pocono and the switch to the Gen-7 car did not slow him down. Hamlin has seven wins at the Tricky Triangle and he took the checkered-flag in both races in the Gen-7 car. He was disqualified for having illegal tape on his car in 2022, but that doesn’t mean the No. 11 car couldn’t have been fast without the tape. Hamlin looks fast again this week. This is the best track for Hamlin, so it would be a good idea to use and allocation with the No. 11 car Sunday.
TY GIBBS (3): Pocono has a habit of being the track where drivers get their first win. Denny Hamlin did it in 2006, Chris Buescher did it in 2016 and Ryan Blaney won his first race at the Tricky Triangle in 2017. I would not be surprised if Gibbs broke his maiden at Pocono. The No. 54 car posted the sixth-fastest speed in practice and he won the pole for the race. I will take a chance with Gibbs Sunday.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (2): Keselowski has not won at Pocono since he did it with a broken ankle in 2011. He has been pretty consistent at the track. Keselowski has an average finishing position of 8.8 since 2015 at Pocono (15 races). That is a large sample size with a lot of positive results. The No. 6 car has the speed to finish up front again this weekend.
* TYLER REDDICK is a better pick than BRAD KESELOWSKI but I am running low with my allocations with Reddick. The plan entering the week was to use Reddick for qualifying points and it paid off. I am going to stick to the plan and play Keselowski to save an allocation with Reddick.
NOAH GRAGSON (5): Gragson won in the Xfinity Series at Pocono in 2022, so he knows his way around the Tricky Triangle. The No. 10 car was always fast with Aric Almirola behind the wheel at Pocono and it looks fast again this weekend. The choices are not very good in Group C this week, so hopefully we can get lucky with Gragson at a track he has had some success at.
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