The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series deals with different challenges on a weekly basis as each racetrack presents new elements and characteristics. But when the series races at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. on Sunday, the 43-driver field will face some of biggest challenges of the season from one of NASCAR’s longest and strangest tracks.
First opened in 1971, the 2.5 mile Pocono Raceway has a unique three-turn design, which makes it one of the most unique tracks on the Sprint Cup Series schedule. And to make the design more bizarre, each turn is modeled after three different tracks. Turn 1, which has 14 degrees of banking, was modeled after the now defunct Trenton Speedway. Turn 2, also known as “The Tunnel Turn”, is like Indianapolis Motor Speedway which has nine degrees of banking. And Turn 3, which has six degrees of banking, is similar to The Milwaukee Mile.
This incredible design has dubbed Pocono Raceway as “The Tricky Triangle.”
And the nickname is well earned as the track’s unique turns, along with its other characteristics, present incredible challenges to drivers and teams.
The first curve ball involves the different turns. Since each turn has a difference in banking, the handling characteristics of the cars will change drastically in just a lap. It’s safe to say that many drivers on Sunday will say that their cars are “tight” (understeer) in turns 1 and 3 and “loose” (oversteer) in turn 2 or vice versa. With corners being so vastly different, it’s no surprise that Pocono is one of the hardest tracks for crew chiefs to find the right setup.
Its second challenge involves the length of the straightaways. It’s not uncommon for most tracks to have a difference of length in their straightaways, yet the difference is normally minute. That’s where Pocono continues to differentiate itself.
Along with its three, unique turns, Pocono has three different straightaways. Its front straightaway is an incredible 3,740 feet in length, longer than the front stretch at the massive, 2.66 mile Talladega Superspeedway – NASCAR’s biggest track. Its second stretch, which is off turn 1, is 3,055 feet in length. And third stretch, which is off turn 2, is only 1,780 feet long.
With straightaways being vastly different, teams must adjust their cars accordingly to maximize their racecars’ overall speed. With its front stretch exceeding 3,700 feet, it would be ideal for teams to set their cars to run “looser” off turn 3 – a “tight” handling car would have its speed bound in the corner and thus affect it down the long straightaway. On the other hand, it would be more beneficial for drivers to have their cars “tighter” as they enter turns 1 and 2 for security and comfort as speeds would exceed 200 mph upon entering these corners.
But here’s where another Pocono presents another challenge.
Many of the 43 teams tend to over-adjust their cars during the race to overcome one of the multiple handling conditions. This ultimately throws off the cars’ handling for worse rather than for the better.
Elite teams have realized that their racecars will never handle perfectly around this triangle-shaped superspeedway. Understanding this, they aim to make their racecars maneuver best in two of the three turns (typically off turns 2 and 3 to maximize passing opportunities).
It is this execution that separates the elite racecars from the rest.
And the teams that have been able to execute this best have Joe Gibbs Racing and, lately, Hendrick Motorsports. Since 2006, the teams of Gibbs and Hendrick have combined to win 10 races at Pocono, with Hendrick Motorsports winning the last three times with three separate drivers.
When you look at the roster in these two teams it becomes easy to see why these organizations have remained so dominant there. Jeff Gordon leads the way with six career victories at Pocono (most all time at the track) and he’s won three times since 2007. Denny Hamlin has four victories at the track, including the season sweep in 2006 as a rookie. And Jimmie Johnson has three wins with his most recent coming in last year’s event.
These drivers did not acquire success at Pocono by having perfect-handling racecars. They won because their teams tried to not give them a perfect racecar, but a good racecar. They simply made up the difference by buckling down and grinding out an entire race.
With that said, a great handling racecar won’t always win the race at Pocono. There are always additional factors (e.g. blown engines, flat tires, poor fuel mileage, etc.) that can contribute to winning or losing the race.
But the odds are in one’s favor if they can just get close on the setup.
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Main Photo: AP Photo/NASCAR, Patrick Smith
