In five of the last nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway one team has been unstoppable – Joe Gibbs Racing.
Starting with Matt Kenseth’s win on Aug. 2, 2015, Joe Gibbs Racing has won five of the last nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway including the last three consecutive – Kyle Busch’s win in July of 2017 and his back-to-back victories in July 2018 and June 2019 and Denny Hamlin’s victory last July.
Now as the series returns for a special doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway, two JGR drivers (Kyle Busch & Erik Jones) are still looking for their first wins of 2020. Busch, the defending winner of last season’s June Pocono race, is currently ninth in points, the highest ranked driver in the standings without a win this year. But Pocono has been particularly good to Busch as of late, in his last seven series starts at the track he has put up three wins and seven consecutive top 10s.
Busch’s teammate Erik Jones hasn’t won at Pocono Raceway yet, but he has put up some impressive performances in his six career starts, collecting four top fives and the series leading average finish of 8.3. Jones will need to claw his way back into postseason contention, as he dropped to 17th in the standings following Talladega – the first spot outside the Playoff cutoff. He is just one point behind Tyler Reddick in 16th.
Plus, let’s not forget five-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin (2006 sweep, July 2009, June 2010 and July 2019) and two-time winner Martin Truex Jr. (June 2015, June 2018) will be in the mix this weekend as well. Hamlin leads the series in wins this season with three victories (Daytona, Darlington, Homestead) and will be looking to pad his series leading 18 Playoff points this weekend.
His teammate Truex also has a victory this season (Martinsville) and will look to get his first Pocono checkered flag for Joe Gibbs Racing. The New Jersey native’s previous two series wins at Pocono were with Furniture Row Racing, and he actually is one of just 11 drivers to accomplish the feat in multiple manufacturers (Chevrolet, Toyota); joining Kurt Busch (Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet), Bill Elliott (Buick, Ford), Darrell Waltrip (Buick, Chevrolet), Denny Hamlin (Chevrolet, Toyota), Geoffrey Bodine (Chevrolet, Ford), Harry Gant (Chevrolet, Oldsmobile), Kasey Kahne (Dodge, Chevrolet), Rusty Wallace (Ford, Pontiac), Terry Labonte (Ford, Chevrolet) and Tim Richmond (Pontiac, Chevrolet).
