Pocono Raceway – Sports Venue
Pocono Raceway (Previously Pocono International Raceway), also known as The Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
It is the site of four NASCAR national series races and also an ARCA Menards Series occasion in June: a NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader with service occasions by the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. From 1971 to 1989, and from 2013 to 2019, the track also hosted an Indy Car race, now sanctioned from the IndyCar Series.
Pocono is one of just a couple of NASCAR tracks not possessed by either NASCAR or Speedway Motorsports, the dominant monitor owners in NASCAR. Pocono CEO Nick Igdalsky and president Ben May are members of those family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.
Outside NASCAR and IndyCar Series races, Pocono is used during the year by the Stock Car Expertise, Bertil Roos Driving School, Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) as well as many other clubs and organizations. The triangular track also includes three separate infield sections of the racetrack — the north course, east course, and south class. Every one of those infield segments uses different parts of the trail or can be combined for more and more technical course configurations. In total Pocono Raceway offers 22 different road course configurations ranging from.5 miles to 3.65 mph. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs or forcing schools can use the trail simultaneously by working on various infield sections. All the infield sections can also be conducted in either clockwise or counter-clockwise management that doubles the 22-course configuration to 44 complete course options.
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Significance
- American racecar driver Mark Donohue won the inaugural USAC Pocono 500, which was held here on 3rd July 1971.
- Bob Hope, the Jackson Five, Helen Reddy, Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Cash, Mac Davis, Lawrence Welk, along with other renowned stars performed in the raceway between 20th and 29th July 1973.
- It played host to the inaugural Pocono 500 which was acquired by Richard Petty on 4th August 1974.
- On 15th August 1982, the raceway hosted the CART Domino’s Pizza Pocono 500, the first CART IndyCar-sanctioned race.
- The Camping World Truck Series was hurried here for the very first time, in the”Pocono Mountains 125″ on 31st July 2010.
Track configuration
- The track was created by 1959 and 1962 Indianapolis 500 winner Rodger Ward, Pocono Raceway has a unique design, as each turn is modeled after a turn in a different course.
- Turn two (8° banking) also known as the”Tunnel Turn” – modeled after Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Spin three (6° banking) – modeled after the Milwaukee Mile
- The circuit is sometimes regarded as a tri-oval, but the endings are considerably more severe than those of a more typical tri-oval like Daytona and other intermediate speedways. An additional complication is a fact that the 3 endings are in no way the same, nor are any of those three straights equal in length. The banking of each turn is considerably less than on a number of other long superspeedways.
- Although the track is extended [2.5 mi (4.023 km)], the sharp nature of the turns and the very low banks have a tendency to create the typical speeds on NASCAR racecars lower compared to other tracks of similar lengths. Due to its unique attributes, Pocono is occasionally known as a roval (an oval track that behaves like a road course). Others refer to Pocono as a modified street training course, due to the use of shifting gears to deal with the range between the slowest turn and the fastest straightaway.
- The exceptional design makes the setup of the car and the crew’s ability to make chassis adjustments more crucial than at many other tracks. Frequently it is the distinction between a winning operation and a bad performance.
Latest Events
- June 4, 2016: The NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Pocono for the first time in the Pocono Green 250.
Kyle Larson would go on to win the race after persistent rain showers finished the race after 53 of the scheduled 100 laps. - August 1, 2016: Chris Buescher gets his first career win in the fog shortened 2016 Pennsylvania 400 after extending his gas window.
June 10, 2017: The second running of the Pocono Green 250 goes the full 100-lap/250-mile distance with Brad Keselowski creating a - last-lap pass on the inaugural race’s winner Kyle Larson on the backstretch.
- June 11, 2017: Ryan Blaney holds off Kevin Harvick to win against his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race at the 2017 Axalta gifts the Pocono 400.
- June 2, 2018: Kyle Busch becomes the first and only driver so far to win in all three top divisions of NASCAR in Pocono Raceway later winning the next running of this Pocono Green 250. He also led 64 of the 100 laps, which is the record of today.
August 19, 2018: Alexander Rossi dominated and won the ABC Supply 500 IndyCar race. On lap 7, Robert Wickens and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact in turn 2, which delivered Wickens’ car into the catch fence and caused a multicar wreck which also involved James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato, and Pietro Fittipaldi. The race has been red-flagged for 2 hours to fix the catch fence while Wickens was airlifted to Lehigh Valley Hospital with injuries to his legs, spine, and right arm in addition to pulmonary contusion. Wickens survived but is still recovering from paralysis sustained as a consequence of his injuries.
