The NASCAR Cup Series will be joined by the O’Reilly Series at Pocono Raceway. “The Tricky Triangle” is not like any other track on the schedule. Pocono is a 2.5-mile, triangle-shaped track with three completely different corners. It also has the longest straightaways in NASCAR (3,740 feet long). The teams need the horsepower to make speed down the straightaway’s and the aero dynamics to turn in the corners. Fuel mileage always comes into play at Pocono, so that makes this track ever tougher to predict. It should be another wild weekend in the Honeymoon Capital of America.
Here is the schedule for the on-track activity in Pocono this weekend…
Saturday (June 13th) 10:30 a.m. ET: O’Reilly Series Practice
Saturday (June 13th) 11:30 a.m. ET: O’Reilly Series Qualifying
Saturday (June 13th) 1 p.m. ET: Cup Series Practice
Saturday (June 13th) 2 p.m. ET: Cup Series Qualifying
Saturday (June 13th) 4 ET: O’Reilly Series Race
Sunday (June 14th) 1 p.m. ET: Cup Series Race
FANTASY STATS FOR POCONO
So, how do we handicap a race that is so tough for the crew chiefs to hit the perfect set-up for? I am using the stats from the three races at Pocono in the Gen-7 car, the stats from the race last week in Michigan to find out which drivers have the raw speed, the stats from the intermediate track races at Kansas and Texas, since they are the flattest of the intermediate tracks, and I will throw in the stats from Phoenix since turn-3 at Pocono is a lot like the turns at Phoenix Raceway. It is a weird combination of stats, but this is a weird track. You could almost use the stats from the road course race at COTA, since there is a lot of shifting and out-braking at Pocono, but I found this gave too much of a bump to the road course aces.
Here are the stats from the last three races at Pocono and the similar tracks, sorted by Driver Rating…
POCONO RACE REWIND
The race at Pocono last year was delayed by two hours because of rain. That is nothing new at this track. Denny Hamlin won the pole for The Great American Getaway 400 last year. The No. 11 car led every lap in Stage 1. William Byron crashed the No. 24 car in practice so he started in the back. He drove through the field and finished 9th in Stage 1.
Brad Keselowski short-pitted right before the end of Stage 1, so he could start first at the beginning of Stage 2. Keselowski led 27 laps but fell to the back when he pitted when pit road was closed after a caution for a wreck by Bubba Wallace. Keselowski wondered why no-one followed him down pit road but his spotter told him, I screwed up.”
Chase Briscoe took over the race when the track took some rubber. The No. 19 car led the most laps, won Stage 2 and won the race. It was a dominating performance for Toyota as Denny Hamlin led the second-most laps and finished 2nd.
The best cars in The Great American Getaway 400 last year were Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar.
You can watch the highlights of last year’s race here: 2025 Pocono Race Rewind
EARLY WEEK DRIVER RANKINGS
I used the stats from the intermediate track races this year (Las Vegas, Kansas, Texas, Las Vegas and Michigan) and combined them with the stats from the last three races at Pocono Raceway for the Driver Rankings this week. I gave a bump to the drivers who were fast last week in Michigan, since that is the most similar track to Pocono Raceway.
Here is the early week Driver Rankings for The Great American Getaway 400….
* Christopher Bell is dealing with a wrist and ankle injury. He is questionable to drive the No. 20 car this weekend.
** These rankings will be updated after all of the practice sessions are completed and the field is set for the race.
STRATEGY FOR POCONO
SEASON-LONG GAME STRATEGY: Pocono Raceway is a tough track for crew chiefs to dial in the set-up to make their drivers happy. Some teams have figured out the Tricky Triangle better than others. I will consider these drivers for my lineup first. There have also been four races on large intermediate tracks over the last two months (Kansas, Texas, Charlotte and Michigan). I made my final picks based on the drivers who have had speed on the large intermediate tracks this season and have a history of running well at Pocono Raceway.
DFS GAME STRATEGY: The race Sunday is scheduled for 160 laps (400 miles). That means there are 40 points available for leading laps and 72 points available for fastest laps (112 dominator points). The trend in the last three races at Pocono is for one driver to lead roughly 44 laps and score 22 fastest laps (20.9 dominator points). A second driver leads roughly 32 laps and scores 18 fastest laps (16.1 dominator points). A third driver leads roughly 20 laps and scores 20 fastest laps (14 dominator points) and a fourth driver leads roughly 20 laps and scores 12 fastest laps (10.4 dominator points). The dominator points get spread out at Pocono Raceway so I plan to pick as many drivers as possible who can run in the top 10. Hopefully we will get lucky and two or three of these drivers will be dominators and help us win our contests Sunday.
EARLY WEEK BEST BETS FOR POCONO
This is a tough week for betting on The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono. Denny Hamlin has won the last two races after starting last and now he heads to his best track. The odds for Hamlin Sunday are 3-1. You are not going to win much money unless you bet a lot of money on Hamlin this week. My strategy is going to be to wait until after practice and qualifying Sunday. If Hamlin looks like he is going to dominate again, I will put my entire bankroll on the No. 11 car, or I will sit this race out if the odds are too short. If Hamlin does not look great (that would shock me), I will bet on a few other drivers. If you want to get some early bets in, here are the drivers I would wager on now…
Here is my early week Best Bets for The Great American Getaway 400…
CHASE BRISCOE (10-1): Briscoe dominated the race at Pocono last year. He won the pole, led the most laps (72), won Stage 2 and he was able to hold off Denny Hamlin and win the race. Can Briscoe do it again? He will have all of the information that the No. 11 team has. He just needs to execute the perfect plan like he did last year. That is easier said than done, but 10-1 odds are worth of few bucks this week if you want to fade Hamlin.
CHASE ELLIOTT (12-1): This is my favorite bet of the week. I almost pulled the trigger and bet Elliott, but I didn’t do it (yet). Elliott is the one driver I think can out-run Hamlin at his best track. Elliott won the race in Texas and he had the best car last week in Michigan. Elliott won in the Gen-7 car at Pocono in 2022 and he finished 5th last year. 12-1 odds are “almost” too good to pass up on the No. 9 car.
CHRIS BUESCHER (22-1): Buescher won his first Cup Series race at Pocono in 2016. Yes, the race was ended because of fog, but a win is a win. I am sure this track means a lot to Buescher. He finished 4th in this race last year and the No. 17 car has had some speed on the large intermediate tracks this year. Buescher is a good bet at 22-1 odds this week.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (40-1): I keep betting Keselowski to win and so far I have failed to hit on him. Sooner or later it is going to work out. Pocono is always a fuel-mileage race. The No. 6 team is the best in the Cup Series at stealing track position and possibly stealing a race because they gambled with their pit strategy. Keselowski knows how to use the draft at Pocono. If he gets to the front, he is going to be tough to beat. It may not be a bad idea to throw a few dollars on Keselowski to win at Pocono Sunday.
* I will add a one or two drivers to the card that I think are Best Bets after qualifying Saturday.
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