NASCAR NNCS (POCONO) - Cup Series News & Notes

Carl Edwards Ready For Busy Weekend

Seeding Becomes More Important Each Week

Gordon Goes For A Sweep At Pocono

Gibbs Teammates Heating Up

In the Loop: Denny Hamlin And Kurt Busch

Rookie Standings: Montoya Setting The Pace

Welcome to the weekly NASCAR teleconference in advance of this weekend’s events, Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race, the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway, and on Saturday, the historic Canadian debut of the NASCAR Busch Series, the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course in Montreal.

Q: Carl, obviously on track you’re having one of the greatest seasons in NASCAR history. Carl, big weekend ahead – two races, two different countries – what’s the outlook going in?

Edwards: I am really excited about this weekend to say the least. I’m excited about every weekend, but this one, to go to Canada, be part of such a historic event, in such a historic city as Montreal, it’s going to be really exciting. Leaving this afternoon to go to Montreal for a media day all day Wednesday. I believe Patrick Carpentier and myself are going to go run around town and see some things. He’s going to show me around. PK (Pierre Kuettel), my crew chief on the No. 60 Scotts Ford, is from Canada, so he’s going with me. Just really excited about that race. Then obviously excited about Pocono. We’ve run really well there. We got a win there in 2005. I love racing there. You know, it should be a fun weekend. I believe we have all the customs and stuff in order so that we can go back and forth pretty easily. Just ready to go racing.

For the complete transcript of this week’s teleconference, go to NASCARMedia.com.

Race To The Chase, Round 5: Penske Drivers On Outside Looking In

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) and Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman (No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge) have their teams moving in the right direction in the series standings currently 13th and 14th respectively. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet) sits on the bubble, 13 points ahead of Busch and 59 ahead of Newman. Neither Newman nor Busch made the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup last season. But this season may be a different story. Newman heads to Pocono with a 2003 win at the track and five top-five finishes, including a runner-up finish earlier this season. Newman - a.k.a ‘the Rocket’ - also has been known to put the No. 12 Dodge on the pole at Pocono, notching two in his career, including earlier this season. Busch has less ground to make up than his teammate, and he, too, has had success at Pocono with a win in 2005 and six top fives.

Earnhardt Jr. will have to be on his toes because the competition is closing in. This race could be the one Penske Racing uses to make a move because Earnhardt has only three top-five finishes in 15 starts at Pocono.

‘Seedings’ In Forefront As Chase Nears

There are six races to go before the start of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Each week, race victories become more important as drivers strive to accrue vital Chase “bonus points.” Starting this year, the 12 drivers who qualify for the Chase will have their point totals “reset” to 5,000. They then will have bonus points – 10 for each victory – applied.

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) currently is set to benefit the most from this increased emphasis on winning. After accidents at Chicagoland and Indianapolis placed him 37th and 39th respectively, he has dropped to ninth in the series standings. But setbacks in the standings won’t hurt Johnson when the points are reset. He has four wins, tied with his teammate Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) and both drivers have earned 40 bonus points each to date, which would make them the top-two seeds to start the Chase (5,040 points apiece). Seeding ties are broken by the comparison of drivers’ best finishes beyond victories. Johnson would jump from ninth to second because of the seeding process.

Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet) also will benefit from the seeding process after capturing consecutive wins at Chicago and Indianapolis. Stewart currently sits fifth in the standings but if the points were reset now he would move ahead two possible spots for third in the seeding.

Jeff Gordon Looks To Sweep Pocono in 2007

Jeff Gordon rolls into Pocono Raceway with not only the series standings lead, but also looking to sweep both races there this season. Gordon won the Pocono 500 in June and now looks to become the seventh driver to pull off the Pocono season sweep. If Gordon succeeds, he will put himself with some pretty exclusive company.

The first driver to sweep both races at Pocono was Bobby Allison in 1982. Allison went on to make it three consecutive races at Pocono when he put his Buick in Victory Lane in 1983. Bill Elliott was soon to follow in Allison’s footsteps, grabbing both Pocono victories in 1985.

The third driver must have taken a page from Allison’s notes because Tim Richmond put his Chevrolet in Victory Lane three consecutive times including a sweep in 1986 and the first race at Pocono in ’87. Allison and Richmond are the only two drivers to achieve that at Pocono. The fourth driver, Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge), was in his fifth year driving for Joe Gibbs Racing when he swept both races in 1999. Labonte ended up finishing second in the series standings that season.

The two most recent drivers to sweep were Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet) last season and Jeff Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in 2004.

Of all six drivers that have accomplished the sweep feat, Hamlin was the only one to do it as a rookie in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.

Gordon has captured two Bud Poles and four wins at Pocono. He also has been very consistent, posting 20 top-10 finishes there in 29 starts. If Gordon wins, he also will take the lead in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup seeding with five wins, giving him 5,050 points when the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup begins.

JGR Has Two Championship Contenders

In an era when the competition in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is at its closest, peaking late in the season is the way to turn a mediocre start into a year where a driver can contend for the championship. Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin are doing just that at Joe Gibbs Racing.

• Stewart is coming off two impressive victories at Chicago and Indianapolis that moved him up into fifth in the standings. Last season Stewart fell short of making the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup by 45 points, but this year Stewart is on a mission not to be the odd man out. In the 2006 Race to the Chase, he posted only six top-10 finishes, including a win at Daytona, but it didn’t help. He finished 18th or worse in the other four races, negating the momentum he had built.

Stewart then won three of the last ten races more than any driver ranked in the top 10 and in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Now, Stewart has a lot of momentum in his corner and looks to capitalize on it at Pocono, where he placed seventh last August. Stewart has a win at Pocono in 2003, and could make it three in a row. Stewart has led most miles (1054.42) and the most laps (831) in the series this season.

• Hamlin, last year’s Raybestos Rookie of the Year, has been hot all season, racking up one win, seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, which has landed him second in the series standings. This week he returns to Pocono, where he posted his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup win last season, and ended up sweeping both races. Hamlin finished 22nd last week at Indianapolis. He also finished sixth earlier this season at Pocono. Hamlin currently would start sixth in seeding for the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, dropping him four possible spots. Winning at Pocono would put him in front of his teammate Stewart in the seeding putting him in third behind Johnson.

2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Owner Points – After 20 Races

Pos Points Team Owner Driver

30th 1,703 No. 15 Chevrolet Teresa Earnhardt Paul Menard 31st 1,688 No. 88 Ford Robert Yates Ricky Rudd 32nd 1,634 No. 45 Dodge Kyle Petty Kyle Petty 33rd 1,618 No. 66 Chevrolet Joe Custer Jeff Green 34th 1,580 No. 70 Chevrolet Joe Custer Johnny Sauter

35th 1,547 No. 13 Chevrolet Jay Frye Joe Nemechek

36th 1,434 No. 22 Toyota Bill Davis Dave Blaney 37th 1,397 No. 21 Ford Glen Wood Bill Elliott 38th 1,312 No. 10 Dodge James Rocco Scott Riggs 39th 1,209 No. 14 Chevrolet Teresa Earnhardt Sterling Marlin 40th 1,185 No. 83 Toyota Dietrich Mateschitz Brian Vickers

Keys To Victory

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series returns to Pocono Raceway this week for another round of 500 miles on one of the most uniquely shaped tracks on the circuit - three completely different turns.

• Having the right chassis setup is crucial. The three corners at Pocono are so different. Drivers need to know how to get the most out of their cars through each corner

• There should be the opportunity for a great deal of green-flag racing, so crew chiefs must manage the team’s pit strategy and make sure fuel mileage and tire situations are what they need to be during the course of the race, in particular, the last laps.

In The Loop: Hamlin A Ringer At Pocono

Jeff Gordon used pit strategy to win his fourth-career Pocono race last June. Otherwise, Denny Hamlin may have made it three-for-three at the 2.5-mile Long Pond, Pa. track.

In 2006’s two Pocono races, Hamlin started and finished at the front, capturing both the pole and the checkered flag. It was Hamlin’s first visits to the track, and he mastered the unique layout perfectly. Hamlin showed the success was no fluke in June, leading a race-high 49 laps en route to a sixth-place finish. The three performances have put Hamlin at the top of practically all key Loop Data categories. Hamlin leads in Driver Rating (137.5), Average Running Position (4.9), Fastest Laps Run (164) and Fastest Green Flag Speed. He has also spent 92% of his Pocono laps in the top 15, which is the highest percentage of any driver.

Another driver to watch should be Kurt Busch. Thirteen points behind 12th-place driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., Busch has enjoyed tremendous Pocono finishes in recent years. Though he finished 16th in June, Busch nabbed a win in 2005 and two runner-up finishes in 2006. He could charge into the top 12 with another good finish Sunday.

Busch has a Pocono Driver Rating of 109.9 (second-best), an Average Running Position of 8.7 (second-best), 108 Fastest Laps Run (second-best) and 720 Laps in the Top 15 (third-most).

Arguably the hottest driver in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is Tony Stewart, winner of two consecutive races. He’ll look to become the first driver to win three consecutive races since Jimmie Johnson in 2004 (fall events at Charlotte, Martinsville, and Atlanta).

Stewart has had Pocono success. He won there in 2003 and currently has four consecutive top-10 finishes there – including a fifth-place finish in June. He has a Driver Rating of 102.8 (fourth-best), an Average Running Position of 10.9 (fifth-best), 35 Fastest Laps Run (tied for fifth-most) and 201 Quality Passes – passes of cars in the top 15 under green – which is more than any other driver.

NNCS, Etc. … • Raybestos Rookie of the Year Update • Race To The Chase Goes To The Northeast For Round 6: Watkins Glen • Manufacturers Championship: Chevrolet still holds the lead • Podcasts: NASCAR Discusses The Latest In The Upcoming Weeks

Raybestos Rookie Update: Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) showed everyone that no matter what type of race car he can put up good finishes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Montoya, a previous Indy 500 winner placed second in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in his first attempt. Montoya now sets the pace for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings by expanding his lead to 208 points. David Ragan (No. 6 AAA Ford) leads the NASCAR Busch Series rookie standings but is runner-up to Montoya in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup rookie standings by 24 points.

Paul Menard (No. 15 Menards Chevrolet) currently sits third in the rookie standings with 141 points after finishing 20th at Indianapolis.

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings Rookie Pts Juan Pablo Montoya 208 David Ragan 184 Paul Menard 141 David Reutimann 126 A.J. Allmendinger 77

On Deck: Watkins Glen… Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) is the defending race champion of next week’s Centurion Boats at the Glen, which will be Round 6 of the Race to the Chase, at Watkins Glen International.

Watkins Glen hosted its first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race in 1957, and Buddy Baker drove to victory that afternoon. But no driver has been as dominant as Jeff Gordon on the 11-turn road course with four wins, three of which were consecutive from 1997-’99.

The action begins at 1 p.m. on ESPN, the third of six broadcasts this season.

The Race to the Chase ends Sept. 8 at Richmond International Raceway. Date Track July 1 New Hampshire Int’l Speedway July 7 Daytona Int’l Speedway July 15 Chicagoland Speedway July 29 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Aug. 5 Pocono Raceway Aug. 12 Watkins Glen International Aug. 19 Michigan Int’l Speedway Aug. 25 Bristol Motor Speedway Sept. 2 California Speedway Sept. 8 Richmond Int’l Raceway

Manufacturer’s Championship: In last week’s event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chevrolet grabbed another win totaling 16 this season and extending its lead to 59 over second-place Ford.

NASCAR Podcasts

Every week NASCAR produces Podcasts available through NASCARmedia.com and iTunes. Mondays feature a race recap from the previous event and includes driver interviews post-race audio. Tuesdays we look ahead to the next race with a statistical preview featuring NASCAR’s Manager of Statistics, Writing and Production, Mike Forde.

NASCAR’s Director of Cost Research Brett Bodine joins us each Wednesday for a look at the upcoming event, providing insight and analysis. This Thursday we will feature an international media member Dominic Fugere of Le Journal de Montreal, as the NASCAR Busch Series makes its way into Canada.

To subscribe to the official NASCAR Podcast login to NASCARmedia.com and click on the Podcast link on the right side of the page.

The Race: Pennsylvania 500 The Place: Pocono Raceway The Date: Sunday, August 5 The Time: 2 p.m. (ET) TV: ESPN, 1 p.m. (ET) The Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval The Distance: 500 miles; 200 laps The Purse: $4,935,998 2006 Winner: Jeff Gordon 2006 Pole: Denny Hamlin Series Standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Gordon 3,076 2 Hamlin 2,705 3 Kenseth 2,699 4 Burton 2,633 5 Stewart 2,599 6 Edwards 2,582 7 Harvick 2,488 8 Kyle Busch 2,479 9 Johnson 2,469 10 Bowyer 2,405 11 Truex Jr. 2,335 12 Earnhardt Jr. 2,217 Pre-Race Schedule (local/ET time): Friday—Practice, 12-1:30 p.m.; Qualifying, 3:40 p.m.; Saturday—Practice, 9-9:45 a.m.; Final Practice, 10:50-11:50a.m.