{"id":39930,"date":"2022-07-23T16:30:02","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T21:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=39930"},"modified":"2022-08-08T11:19:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T16:19:47","slug":"nascar-pocono-raceway-weekend-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/23\/nascar-pocono-raceway-weekend-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Pocono Raceway Weekend Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service <\/em><\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin wins the pole for the M&M\u2019s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin earned the pole position for Sunday\u2019s M&M\u2019s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) turning in a blazing fast lap of 169.498 mph around the iconic 2.5-mile oval \u2013 easily out-qualifying the field by .15-seconds to earn his third pole position of the season.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 23, 2022 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

It will be an all-Joe Gibbs Racing front row with Hamlin starting his No. 11 Toyota alongside teammate Kyle Busch, who was second fastest in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.<\/p>\n

The last time Hamlin qualified on the pole, at Charlotte in May, he went on to win the race. And he already boasts a stellar resume at Pocono. His six wins at the track are tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for the NASCAR Cup Series-most at six each.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as it keeps driving like that, it\u2019s all good,” Hamlin said with a smile. \u201cJust made some big strides from practice. The biggest thing is that the team just did a phenomenal job getting this car ready for qualifying. I made some adjustments and it\u2019s good.”<\/p>\n

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Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 23, 2022 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson were third and fourth fastest in qualifying and will make up the second row on the grid, followed by 2016 Pocono race winner Chris Buescher, who will start the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford fifth.<\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney, who earned his first career win at Pocono in 2017 will start his No. 12 Team Penske Ford sixth followed by the Toyotas of Bubba Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, in the lone Chevrolet, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10 starting positions. 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch, will be starting from the rear of the grid, however, after spinning his No. 45 Toyota into the wall just as he was approaching the green flag for his final qualifying attempt.<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch, who won Pocono races in four of the last five years, and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman split the Pocono Raceway doubleheader race victories last year.<\/p>\n

TWO-TIME NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPION KYLE BUSCH\u2019S FUTURE<\/b><\/p>\n

In recent weeks there has been a lot of speculation over where two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will race after his current contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires this year.<\/p>\n

Conventional thinking expects Busch to continue driving the No. 18 Toyota for the Joe Gibbs Racing organization where he\u2019s raced for the last 16 seasons (dating back to 2008) and earned 56 of his 60 race wins and a pair of series championships in 2015 and 2019.<\/p>\n

And while there doesn\u2019t appear to be any immediate news on the situation, the race team has said it wants Busch back and is looking intently for a sponsor. On Saturday at Pocono Raceway, Busch also echoed his desire to remain at JGR next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all working as hard as we can obviously, and the goal hasn\u2019t changed, and that goal is for me to be able to continue at Joe Gibbs Racing with Toyota and have that chance to continue to race for race wins and race for championships,” Busch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what everybody is striving for. That\u2019s the first goal and we\u2019ll continue to try to push for that.”<\/p>\n

Busch has already qualified for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a victory in the Bristol (Tenn.) Dirt Race this Spring. He has six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes (including that win and runner-up showings at Charlotte and Gateway) through the opening 20 races. He\u2019s currently ranked sixth in the series driver standings and will be starting on the front row of Sunday\u2019s Pocono race.<\/p>\n

His Kyle Busch Motorsports team won Saturday\u2019s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono with driver Chandler Smith, and he has two trucks (driven by Smith and John Hunter Nemechek) that have advanced into the 2022 series Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, you\u2019d like to be done obviously,” Busch said of making sure the contract talks don\u2019t distract from his title hopes. \u201cSo certainly, that would be key but obviously, you\u2019ve got to kind of weigh out everything that\u2019s in front of you and see what the best thing is not only for myself, in Kyle, for my family and of course, the KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) family.”<\/p>\n

PLAYOFF BUBBLE DRAMA<\/b><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Daytona 500 winner, Austin Cindric became the first race winner of the 2022 season, but 20 races later, the Team Penske rookie acknowledges even that big victory may not provide a sure-bet Playoff appearance.<\/p>\n

With six races left to set the 16-driver field there are already 14 different race winners. Cindric goes into Sunday\u2019s race ranked 10th in the Playoff outlook as it is now. Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are both inside the Top 16 in points but have not won a race yet. Should there be more than 16 winners heading into the Playoffs, the drivers with just one win will revert back to points to decide who makes the 16-driver postseason field. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is certainly a domino effect,” Cindric said. \u201cI think you have to be cognizant of it.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThat points picture is incredibly tight so it certainly could be a talking point,” he added. \u201cFrom my standpoint, I just do my job and try to stay above that top 16 and the rest will work itself out.”<\/p>\n

ALLGAIER TO LEAD XFINITY SERIES FIELD TO GREEN AT POCONO<\/b><\/p>\n

JR Motorsport’s Justin Allgaier continued his strong summer streak winning his first pole position of the season for Saturday afternoon\u2019s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 (5 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet earned the top starting spot as the last qualifier with a lap of 168.669 mph around the 2.5-mile Pocono (Pa.) Raceway \u2013 his 12th career pole position, but first at Pocono. A three-time winner \u2013 all his victories coming since May \u2013 Allgaier, 36, has moved into second place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, only 16-points behind leader A.J. Allmendinger.<\/p>\n

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs will start his No. 54 JGR Toyota alongside Allgaier on the front row, hoping to snap out of a little funk. He\u2019s finished outside the top-20 for the last two races \u2013 the first time in his career he\u2019s had that misfortune in back-to-back race weekends. He dropped to third in the standings last week and now trails Allmendinger by 28-points.<\/p>\n

Gibb\u2019s JGR teammate Brandon Jones \u2013 who was fastest in practice – will start third Saturday, alongside Allmendinger on the second row. Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed make up the third row on the grid.<\/p>\n

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SETS PLAYOFF FIELD<\/b><\/p>\n

Zane Smith was officially declared the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Regular Season Champion following Stage 1 of Saturday\u2019s regular season finale, the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway. Smith will head into the seven-race, 10-driver championship run with a 15-point bonus.<\/p>\n

Chandler won the Truck Series race. And the two Smiths \u2013 Zane and Chandler will top the 2022 Playoff-eligible field that also includes 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger and three-time series champion Matt Crafton, who held off 19-year-old Derek Kraus to earn the 10th and final Playoff berth.<\/p>\n

The 2022 Playoffs begin Friday with the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

BODINE FAREWELL<\/b><\/p>\n

Two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Todd Bodine made his 800th and final NASCAR national series start Saturday but was collected in an accident only 12 laps into the race.<\/p>\n

He was officially scored 36th in the 36-car field, but Bodine managed a smile and focused on the impressive big picture which now includes 241 NASCAR Cup Series, 333 Xfinity Series and 226 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been so blessed to do what I love to do for 800 times,” said Bodine, who now works as a race broadcaster for FOX Sports. \u201cPretty blessed life to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the early ending, \u201cThat\u2019s racing,” Bodine said managing a smile. \u201cI\u2019ve been here before. I\u2019ve been wrecked before. That\u2019s part of the game.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to all the fans who supported me all these years, it\u2019s truly meant the world to me, and I have appreciated it. I\u2019ll see you on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service  Denny Hamlin wins the pole for the M&M\u2019s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin earned the pole position for Sunday\u2019s M&M\u2019s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) turning in a blazing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":39933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,252],"class_list":["post-39930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-pocono-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1410523437-1-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-ao2","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39930"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39934,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39930\/revisions\/39934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}