TRACK: Pocono Raceway
RACE: Pocono Green 225 (90 laps / 225 miles)
DATE: Sunday, June 28, 2020
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1
RADIO: 12 p.m. ET on MRN and SiriusXM Ch. 90
Quotes:
Michael Annett: “Our Pilot Flying J Chevrolet has been so good this year, and at Talladega we were as good as any car out there. We’ve been leading laps, running at the front and following our strategy, and that’s going to get us to the front every week. Pocono presents a unique challenge for our teams, but with (crew chief) Travis Mack and our No. 1 team, we’re up for it and looking forward to Sunday.”
Justin Allgaier: “I love racing at Pocono. It’s just such a unique, fun track and this No. 7 team has been very strong there even though some of our finishes may not show it. Hopefully we draw a good starting position this week and start near the front and stay there in our Hellmann’s Drizzle Sauce Chevrolet. We’ve had fast cars this season, but these last three races haven’t quite ended the way we’ve wanted them to and it’s time to turn that around. ”
Daniel Hemric: “I’m really happy to get back behind the wheel of this No. 8 Chevrolet this weekend in Pocono. This place is such a unique, challenging track that is actually a lot of fun to race on. Hopefully we can have a solid run on Sunday and be in contention when it counts in the end, especially since this will be OnDeck Capital’s first race onboard our No. 8. I have all the confidence in Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and all the guys on this JR Motorsports team that we will be right where we need to be come race time.”
Noah Gragson: “Pocono Raceway is a tough track to get ahold of because all three turns are completely different from each other. You can get the setup perfect for one turn but be way off through another and that is what makes it so exciting. The fact that we don’t get any practice should provide even more entertainment throughout the race. This No. 9 team has been bringing a great car for me each week and I hope we can continue to ride this wave of momentum into Pocono.”
Notes:
• Michael Annett will seek to improve on last year’s eighth-place finish on the 2.5-mile triangular track of Pocono Raceway. The finish is his best at the track in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition.
• On 2.5-mile tracks in NXS competition, Annett has a victory (Daytona 2019), two top-five and six top-10 finishes.
• In three starts at Pocono in the series, Annett has finished 13th in 2017, 35th in 2018 after a crash, and eighth last season. Minus the 2018 event, his average finish is 10.5.
• Annett’s ninth-place run at Talladega moved him up a spot to ninth in the series standings after 11 races, solidly in the mix for the playoffs.
• NASCAR veteran Justin Allgaier has competed in every NXS race run at Pocono. In four starts, the 34-year-old driver has a best finish of second.
• Last year, Allgaier led 27 laps in the Pocono event and rallied back to an 11th-place finish after a late-race spin.
• Allgaier leads full-time NXS drivers in the number of laps led at Pocono with 40.
• The Illinois native has one NXS win on tracks measuring 2.5 miles in length, claiming the victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2018. Allgaier has also scored eight top fives and 12 top 10s across all tracks measuring 2.5 miles.
• Daniel Hemric makes his ninth NXS start of 2020 in the No. 8 Chevrolet this weekend in Pocono.
• Hemric has scored one top five and two top 10s in two previous NXS starts at Pocono, including a best finish of third in this event in 2018.
• In six combined starts across the NASCAR Cup Series, NXS and the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Pocono, Hemric has earned one top five and four top 10s.
• This weekend marks the first race for OnDeck Capital with the No. 8 Chevrolet. OnDeck is the largest US online lender for small businesses.
• Noah Gragson has one start in the NXS at Pocono Raceway, resulting in a sixth-place finish during the 2019 season.
• After 11 races in the 2020 season, Gragson leads the way for JRM with two wins, seven top fives, nine top 10s, including five straight, and is currently leading the championship standings.
• Since NASCAR’s return to racing at Darlington last month, Gragson has an average finish of 5.3 with only one finish outside of the top 10.
• At tracks that are greater than 2 miles in length, Gragson has an average finish of 9.2, including a win at Daytona to kick off the 2020 season.