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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: 10 Drivers Who Could Shine At Pocono
A look at 10 drivers who could make some noise in the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500...
SceneDaily.com  |  Posted July 30, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Greg Biffle finished third at Indy, his first top-five since Bristol in March. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
By Bill Marx - Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Here’s a look at the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Sunday’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. All statistical references are for Sprint Cup races at Pocono unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is based on the past 11 races at the track.

1. Kevin Harvick, 90.1 driver rating. Harvick led five laps in the June race, the only laps he has led at Pocono in 19 career starts. He finished fourth for his third top-five. In his past 11 starts, he has finished inside the top 15 nine times. The way Harvick is running and the Earnhardt-Childress engines are performing, expect Harvick to be in the mix.

2. Jeff Gordon, 96.1. Gordon’s top-five run ended last week at the Brickyard. He has a phenomenal record at Pocono with four wins and 24 top-10s in 35 starts. In fact, since July 1995, he has finished in the top 15 in every race except for the four he didn’t finish (three for crashes, including in June). All of his wins and top-fives (16) are in that stretch.

3. Denny Hamlin, 119.1. Mr. Pocono is going for his second sweep at the track. Hamlin pulled it off as a rookie in 2006. He also has won the past two races at Pocono. A win Sunday would re-establish Hamlin as a Chase favorite. He hasn’t done much since winning at Pocono and Michigan in consecutive weeks in June.

4. Jimmie Johnson, 103.7. Johnson, like Hamlin, has gone dry. Johnson hasn’t had a top-10 finish since back-to-back wins at Sonoma and Loudon at the end of June. Johnson hasn’t won at Pocono since sweeping both races in 2004. Overall he has 11 top-10s in 17 starts.

5. Kurt Busch, 103.7. Busch has two wins and 10 top-10s in 19 starts. He finished sixth in June. Busch needs wins, not top 10s, before the Chase begins. Like the others in the top five, he’s a candidate to gamble if the situation calls for it.
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Five To Watch

11. Greg Biffle, 85.3. Biffle has a 78-point lead over 13th-place Mark Martin. Biffle was super-fast at Indy and should be the same Sunday. He finished third, his first top-five since Bristol in March. The downside for Biffle is his record at Pocono is horrible: two top-10s in 15 starts. The only two times Biffle finished better than he started in the past four years is when he started 41st (30th) and 33rd (15th).

12. Clint Bowyer, 78.1. Bowyer finished fourth last week for the second straight week and is on the move. He led 59 laps in June – second to Hamlin’s 88 – and finished ninth for his fifth top-10 in nine starts. He is 62 points ahead of Martin, but more important, he is surging while Martin is struggling.

13. Mark Martin, 95.8. Martin finished 11th last week, his seventh consecutive race without a top-10. That’s his longest streak since the last three races of 2008 and his first four with Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. Martin is winless at Pocono but has 32 top-10s in 47 starts. He is desperate for a big day.

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 80.1. Earnhardt is 93 points outside the Chase after getting hit by Juan Pablo Montoya last week and can’t afford to fall further back. He finished 19th in June and hasn’t had a top-10 since finishing fourth in June 2008. He is winless with six top-10s in 21 starts. Not very promising statistics.

16. Jamie McMurray, 69.6. Last week’s winner declared he’d rather win races than make the Chase. That’s good because he’s 151 points behind Bowyer. With three top-10s in 15 starts and a 21.7 average finish, McMurray would be a surprise winner Sunday. Then again, he has been a surprise all season.

SceneDaily.com • Aric Almirola would like to drive for JR Motorsports next season after third-place run at ORP

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