LONG POND, PA.: On a weekend of opportunity at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Larson has the chance to accomplish something that hasn’t been achieved in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2007.
In Saturday’s Pocono Organics CBD 325 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Larson will attempt to win his fourth straight points race, having extended his streak to three events last Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway.
Larson also can extend Hendrick Motorsports’ winning streak to six races, matching the organization’s own modern-era record.
And during a unique doubleheader weekend at the 2.5-mile triangular track, Larson could extend his winning streak to five in Sunday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
All told, 12 different drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history have won four or more straight points races. Richard Petty holds the record of 10 straight, set during his remarkable 27-victory season in 1967.
Former Hendrick drivers Jimmie Johnson (2007) and Jeff Gordon (1998) are the most recent winners of four straight Cup races.
Thanks to his recent success, Larson will start on the pole for Saturday’s race, the position that has produced 16 winners in 86 Pocono events.
“I’ve always enjoyed Pocono because of its uniqueness—every corner is different,” Larson says. “We’ll do a lot of preparation looking at data in advance of the first (race). Then I’m sure there will be a lot of discussion in the debrief Saturday of what went right and what went wrong as we prepare for Sunday’s race.”
For Cliff Daniels, crew chief of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, the challenge is finding a workable compromise that can balance the car’s performance in three distinct corners, two of which lead into long straightaways.
“We’ve tried different approaches in the past, even picking a specific corner to optimize,” Daniels said. “The problem with that is that it can really hurt you somewhere else. We’re really studying up on what would be the best blend in all areas.
“If you look at the races last year, the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and 11 (Denny Hamlin) teams certainly accomplished that. They weren’t bad in one corner and good in another—they were just overall good. That’s our target this year, and hopefully we can hit it.”
Harvick and Hamlin finished 1-2 in the first race of the 2020 doubleheader. They reversed those positions in the second race, despite an inversion of the top 20 finishers from the first event to the second. NASCAR plans the same top-20 inversion this weekend.
The top winners of 2020 with nine and seven victories, respectively, Harvick and Hamlin are winless this season. Hamlin is the leading active winner at Pocono with six victories, tied for the record at the track with Gordon, who will leave his analysts role with FOX at the end of this season to become vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports.
There are nine races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, with two of those events—and hence two chances to earn points—taking place this weekend. After Chris Buescher exited early in 36th place at Nashville, his lead over Matt DiBenedetto for the 16th and final Playoff-eligible spot dwindled to 24 points.
For both drivers, the Pocono doubleheader represents a chance to make significant moves.
Source: Reid Spencer / NASCAR Wire Service
