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Talladega was a wild ride from on the track to off the track, but I will stick to what happened on the track. And all of my sleepers and dark horse picks were spot on. With three of four of them ending in the top 6. That is good as you will get at a place like Talladega. As unpredicable as Talladega was, I really don't know what to expect from Pocono. Maybe I have an less idea what to expect than I did last weekend! Sounds crazy, but Pocono is the first large flat racetrack that we will go to in 2020. The only other flat track that we went to were at Phoenix and it isn't comparable at all! We can take a wild guess based on past track record here and how teams has performed in 2020, though. Trying to predict how drivers will do in 2020 has been a real challenge for everyone without seeing any cars on track until raceday!
Alright, let's get rolling!
Sleepers -
William Byron - Byron is an very interesting driver for Pocono. He actually has a really good track record at Pocono. Including 3 straight top 10 finishes at the track in his last three starts. Not just good finishes, but he has actually performed pretty well, too. In his last three races at Pocono, he has posted 6.3 average finish with 11.4 average running position and 92.8 driver rating. What is really incrediable about Byron? In 2 of those 3 races, he started outside of the top 30. Yet, he still able to post strong numbers across the board. This season, he hasn't been bad. He has been really strong at times, but far too often he is just good enough to be around 12th-17th place driver. I will have Byron on my radar for the second race of the weekend, if he looks good on Saturday's afternoon!
Aric Almirola - Almirola is starting on the pole, but nobody believes that he will be able to stay there. Especially with him starting alongside a guy like Ryan Blaney! With that said, he could be a solid pick for the first race this weekend. As he has finished 3 of his last 4 races here in 12th or better. In his last 4 races at Pocono, he has finished 10th, 12th, 25th and 7th. He wasn't a standout in any of those races, but he wasn't awful. Aric has some question marks to him, though. He has performed well in certain races this season, but a lot of bad luck has also found him. And other races? Well he just has sucked. What Aric will show up this weekend at Pocono?
Dark Horses -
Eirk Jones - Jones should be one of the favorite to contend for a strong finish today as he has been a stud here so far in his career. There's no question about the talent that is Erik Jones, but his bad luck is really hurting him in 2020. On a weekly basis, he has enough speed to contend for a top 10 and more. But in 2020, we have seen him fall completely outside of the top 10 because of kind of crappy luck. Will it change this weekend? Well he is really good here at Pocono. In 5 of his 6 career starts, he has finished 8th or better. In 4 of those 5 races, he has finished in the top 5. So overall, he has finished in the top 5 in 66% of the races here at Pocono! He reminds me of a lesser young Denny Hamlin at Pocono. Found unexpected success early on, but he wouldn't be the first young driver to really well at Pocono. It seems to be more common for young drivers these days to run well than it was back in 2006. Still, it is very hard to do what Jones has accomplished at any track. He should be on your radar for both races at Pocono!
Ryan Blaney - Not sure if I would consider him a dark horse (he's a favorite in my eyes), but there's a lot of really strong drivers at Pocono. So I will put him as a dark horse, even though he's a former winner at the track. He is also coming off a win at Talladega, he was on a varge of a win sooner or later. Blaney may be the best driver in the series, since we have returned to racing in May. And that saying something since Kevin Harvick has been pretty amazing himself as well. The speed that Blaney has shown this season is proving to us that he can be a star in this series. In my mind, he arrived a long time ago as a star, but the consistency isn't always there. But over the past month or so has showed us exactly what he could be! Is he due for a bad race soon? Most likely, but it's hard to bet against him right now.
****All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FRCS.PRO
Email - GarryBriggs265@gmail.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
Talladega was a wild ride from on the track to off the track, but I will stick to what happened on the track. And all of my sleepers and dark horse picks were spot on. With three of four of them ending in the top 6. That is good as you will get at a place like Talladega. As unpredicable as Talladega was, I really don't know what to expect from Pocono. Maybe I have an less idea what to expect than I did last weekend! Sounds crazy, but Pocono is the first large flat racetrack that we will go to in 2020. The only other flat track that we went to were at Phoenix and it isn't comparable at all! We can take a wild guess based on past track record here and how teams has performed in 2020, though. Trying to predict how drivers will do in 2020 has been a real challenge for everyone without seeing any cars on track until raceday!
Alright, let's get rolling!
Sleepers -
William Byron - Byron is an very interesting driver for Pocono. He actually has a really good track record at Pocono. Including 3 straight top 10 finishes at the track in his last three starts. Not just good finishes, but he has actually performed pretty well, too. In his last three races at Pocono, he has posted 6.3 average finish with 11.4 average running position and 92.8 driver rating. What is really incrediable about Byron? In 2 of those 3 races, he started outside of the top 30. Yet, he still able to post strong numbers across the board. This season, he hasn't been bad. He has been really strong at times, but far too often he is just good enough to be around 12th-17th place driver. I will have Byron on my radar for the second race of the weekend, if he looks good on Saturday's afternoon!
Aric Almirola - Almirola is starting on the pole, but nobody believes that he will be able to stay there. Especially with him starting alongside a guy like Ryan Blaney! With that said, he could be a solid pick for the first race this weekend. As he has finished 3 of his last 4 races here in 12th or better. In his last 4 races at Pocono, he has finished 10th, 12th, 25th and 7th. He wasn't a standout in any of those races, but he wasn't awful. Aric has some question marks to him, though. He has performed well in certain races this season, but a lot of bad luck has also found him. And other races? Well he just has sucked. What Aric will show up this weekend at Pocono?
Dark Horses -
Eirk Jones - Jones should be one of the favorite to contend for a strong finish today as he has been a stud here so far in his career. There's no question about the talent that is Erik Jones, but his bad luck is really hurting him in 2020. On a weekly basis, he has enough speed to contend for a top 10 and more. But in 2020, we have seen him fall completely outside of the top 10 because of kind of crappy luck. Will it change this weekend? Well he is really good here at Pocono. In 5 of his 6 career starts, he has finished 8th or better. In 4 of those 5 races, he has finished in the top 5. So overall, he has finished in the top 5 in 66% of the races here at Pocono! He reminds me of a lesser young Denny Hamlin at Pocono. Found unexpected success early on, but he wouldn't be the first young driver to really well at Pocono. It seems to be more common for young drivers these days to run well than it was back in 2006. Still, it is very hard to do what Jones has accomplished at any track. He should be on your radar for both races at Pocono!
Ryan Blaney - Not sure if I would consider him a dark horse (he's a favorite in my eyes), but there's a lot of really strong drivers at Pocono. So I will put him as a dark horse, even though he's a former winner at the track. He is also coming off a win at Talladega, he was on a varge of a win sooner or later. Blaney may be the best driver in the series, since we have returned to racing in May. And that saying something since Kevin Harvick has been pretty amazing himself as well. The speed that Blaney has shown this season is proving to us that he can be a star in this series. In my mind, he arrived a long time ago as a star, but the consistency isn't always there. But over the past month or so has showed us exactly what he could be! Is he due for a bad race soon? Most likely, but it's hard to bet against him right now.
****All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FRCS.PRO
Email - GarryBriggs265@gmail.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
