Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup drivers ahead of Pocono weekend
Ten races remain before the playoffs as the NASCAR Cup Series goes to Pocono Raceway this weekend.
Four organizations have won the last 10 Pocono Cup races: Joe Gibbs Racing (six wins), Hendrick Motorsports (two), Penske (one) and Stewart-Haas Racing (one).
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup drivers heading into Sunday's race at Pocono.
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick has finished runner-up in two of the last three Pocono races. … Reddick's average finish of 3.3 at Pocono in the Next Gen era (since 2022) is the best among all drivers. … Bubba Wallace has three consecutive finishes of 12th or better. Bad news: Reddick has finished 13th or worse in seven of the last eight races. … Riley Herbst is one of three drivers without a top-finish who have started every race this season, joining Ty Dillon and Cody Ware.
Dustin Long,
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland has finished 18th or better in six of the last 10 races. … Zane Smith has five top-20 finishes in the last seven races. Bad news: Noah Gragson has finished 27th or worse in each of the last three races.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer finished a season-best eighth last weekend at Mexico City, earning his first top-10 result of the year. Bad News: Custer ranks 35th in the points.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Chase Elliott is coming off a season-best third-place finish in Mexico. … Elliott has scored the most points of all drivers at Pocono in the Next Gen car (since 2022). … Elliott has run all but one lap this season. … William Byron's average finish of 9.36 at Pocono is the best all-time there. … Byron's 604 points scored through 16 races is the most at this point in the season in the Next Gen era (since 2022). … Alex Bowman finished fourth at Mexico, ending a streak of three consecutive finishes of 29th or worse. … Bowman has four top-10 finishes in his last six Pocono starts. … Kyle Larson's nine top-five finishes this season are the most in the series. … Larson has led a series-high 851 laps this year. Bad news: Elliott has gone 43 races since his last Cup victory.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has five top-20 finishes in the last seven races. … Stenhouse has made 380 consecutive Cup starts to rank third on the active list. Bad news: Stenhouse had his second incident with Carson Hocevar in the last three weeks and confronted the driver after the Mexico race.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin returns after missing last weekend's race in Mexico after the birth of his son. … Hamlin finished second last year at Pocono. … Hamlin's seven Pocono wins are the most all-time at the track. … Hamlin has won three of the last eight Pocono races. … Christopher Bell has seven top-three finishes in 16 races after his runner-up showing in Mexico. … Chase Briscoe has three finishes of fourth or better in the last eight races. … Ty Gibbs has been top five in speed and long run speed in each of the last two Pocono races. … Gibbs started a season-best fourth last weekend in Mexico. Bad news: Briscoe has never finished better than 15th in five Pocono starts.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger has scored four consecutive top-20 finishes, his longest streak of the season. Bad news: Ty Dillon has not finished better than 17th in 12 Pocono Cup starts.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones has four top-15 finishes in the last six races. … Jones has five top-five finishes in 13 Pocono starts, tied with Darlington for his most at any Cup track. … Jones has two top-10 finishes in the last three Pocono races. … John Hunter Nemechek's sixth-place finish gives him three top 10s in the last six races and also a career-best five on the season. Bad news: Nemechek has three finishes of 27th or worse in the last six races.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch has four wins and four poles at Pocono. Bad news: Austin Dillon has finished 19th or worse in the last five races. … Busch finished last and fell from tied for the final playoff spot to 50 points behind with Shane van Gisbergen's victory moving the cutline up. … Busch's average finish of 29.7 at Pocono in the Next Gen car (since 2022) is the worst among drivers who have started all three Pocono races in that time.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware has a best finish of 25th in five Cup starts at Pocono. Bad news: Ware ranks last among the 36 full-time drivers in the points.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher holds the final playoff spot with 10 races left in the regular season. … Buescher is the only driver to have finished in the top 10 in each of the past two races this season. … Brad Keselowski has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the last 16 Pocono races. … Ryan Preece has three top-10 finishes in the last five races. Bad news: With Shane van Gisbergen winning and taking a playoff spot, Preece fell out of a playoff spot and is 19 points from the last playoff position. … Keselowski has failed to finish three of the last seven races.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell placed a season-best fifth in Mexico. … McDowell has two top 10s in the last four races. … Carson Hocevar has scored points in 12 of the last 17 stages. Bad news: Justin Haley has not finished in the top 20 at Pocono in four Cup starts. … Haley has gone 157 races since winning a Cup race, the longest streak among active drivers who have won in the series. … Hocevar has five finishes of 24th or worse in the last seven races.
Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney won last year's Pocono race. Bad news: Austin Cindric's Talladega win is his only top-10 finish in the last 11 races. … Joey Logano's average finish at Pocono is 17.5, worst among non-drafting ovals.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Shane van Gisbergen put himself in a playoff spot with his victory last weekend in Mexico. … Ross Chastain has finished seventh of better in six of the last 10 races. Bad news: Chastain has never scored a top-10 finish at Pocono in nine starts. … Chastain's average finish of 28.6 at Pocono is his worst among active tracks. … Daniel Suarez has one top 10-finish in his last eight Pocono starts.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry has finished in the top 12 in three of the last five races. Bad news: Berry has finished outside the top 25 in six of the last 10 races.
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