Race distance: (400 miles, 160 laps). He has one win on the year. Kyle Busch won there in dominating fashion on Sunday.
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While the sport and its tracks are on solid financial ground – courtesy of a 10-year, $8.2 billion TV package with Fox and NBC that runs through 2024 – no one is sanguine about the apparent shrinking interest in the sport.
The victory tied Busch with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rex White for 25th on the all-time series win list, and it all but secured his spot in the 16-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. Also for the second week in a row, Jeff Gordon will be back in the 88-car of the absent Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is still dealing with concussion-like symptoms. Gordon was 13th in his return to the series last week.
Larson was the biggest mover of the week, moving into the 15th spot from No. 19 with his fifth-place finish at Indianapolis. The race can also be watched on NBCSN. “He will again lead the most laps and be the class of the field”. Matt Kenseth is the defending victor of this race, while Kurt Busch won last month’s late spring race at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Busch has won seven Xfinity races so far in 2016. The first championship was won by Stewart himself in the 14 auto in 2011 and by the number four driver of Kevin Harvick in 2014. Joey Gase drove the pace auto for Saturday’s race around nearby Des Moines on Wednesday, operating as an Uber driver for two hours. Busch, who will race in next week’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, teamed up with Watkins Glen International for a charity go-kart race at Pole Position Raceway.
Empire Dragway: IHRA Drag Racing Terry Smiley Blaske Memorial, Saturday, 3 p.m.; One-Eighth Mile Drags, Sunday, 1 p.m.
Over the years Chevrolet has dominated in Long Pond, as the manufacturer has had a victor in seven of the past eight races at Pocono Raceway. Moffitt debuted for Red Horse at Kentucky, finishing 31st after engine trouble.
Gordon admitted after last week’s race – his first since November 2015 – that he had a little trouble with the restarts. The fans, if they hadn’t already made a decision to stay home for either or both of the first two theories I gave, probably guessed it was going to be a snoozefest and took a pass. He finished 32nd last spring, 29th last summer, and was 40th this spring. Scott Dixon has been dominant on this course, winning five times since 2007. However, the last time we saw that patented Edwards celebratory back-flip at Pocono was in the August 2008 race. Simon Pagenaud heads into the weekend with a 47-point lead over Power in the championship race.
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Several drivers enjoyed strong outings at Pocono earlier this season, then were not as much of a factor in Sunday’s race at Indianapolis. “We are all going to work together to do our best to continue to keep that excitement and momentum in the team there for when he is ready to come back, so he comes back and doesn’t miss a beat and can win some races”.
