When the 2020 NASCAR schedule came out last year, the race weekend everyone was looking at was the one at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
The triangular layout was designed by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward, who modeled each of its three turns after a different track.
Turn one, which is banked at 14 degrees, is modeled after the legendary Trenton (N.J.) Speedway. Turn two, banked at eight degrees, is a nod to the turns at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And turn three, banked at six degrees, is modeled after the corners at The Milwaukee Mile.
But those who work in NASCAR weren’t worried so much about the track’s unique layout, of which they were all too familiar. They were talking about the fact NASCAR was scheduling a doubleheader race weekend for the first time in its modern era. On Saturday, there is a 325-mile race and, on Sunday, a 350-mile race. The same car must be used for both, and the starting grid for Sunday’s race will be an inverted finishing order of the lead-lap cars from Saturday’s race, and the actual finishing order of the cars not ending up on the lead lap Saturday.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March, the NASCAR drivers have raced three times in eight days on three separate occasions. But this weekend’s doubleheader will be a new experience for everyone.
Kevin Harvick will drive the No. 4 Busch Beer Head for the Mountains Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).
Busch, the beer brewed for the great outdoors, has extolled the beauty of America’s landscapes using music and song since its founding in 1955, developing iconic jingles for its ad campaigns such as “Head to the Mountains” in the 1980s.
Today, inspired by the creativity Americans across the country showed while staying indoors this spring, Busch is announcing a new campaign to bring that very song to the fore again, and is enlisting the support of ‘80s rock legend and two-time 2020 GRAMMY® winner Billy Ray Cyrus.
Head to @BuschBeer to learn more.
Pocono Raceway was built in the Pocono Mountains in 1968 and is also one of only two NASCAR Cup Series tracks where Harvick has not scored a victory, Kentucky Speedway in Sparta being the other.
He has one Busch Pole – July 2020 – to go with four second-place finishes, 12 top-fives, 18 top-10s, and he’s led a total of 249 laps in his 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. His average start there is 15.6, his average finish is 12.6 and he has a lap-completion rate of 95.3 percent – 6,452 of the 6,772 laps available.
He is hoping to score his first win at Pocono and number 52 for his career.
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