Pocono 500 Qualifying Update

Pocono Raceway -- 06/7/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Saturday Jun 6 2009 11:31pm

With Friday’s rain-out of all track activities at Pocono, Saturday became a day of somewhat greater importance as teams tuned up for Sunday’s Pocono 500.

There were two practices on Saturday, with Jimmie Johnson pacing the first practice and Denny Hamlin the second one.

But the most significant event of the day might have been what happened to Tony Stewart, the polesitter based on points after qualifying was rained out Friday. Stewart spun in Saturday’s first practice session and did enough damage to his car to require going to a backup. As a result, he’ll start at the rear of the field Sunday, with Jimmie Johnson moving up to P1 on the starting grid and the rest of the inside line shifting forward one row.

Despite the setback, Stewart is undeterred, likening his situation to Jeff Gordon’s qualifying crash at Dover last weekend. Gordon started that race in 42nd place; he finished 26th. While waiting for his backup car to be prepared, Stewart said, “If you look at how Jeff Gordon ran last week, and ended up with a bad part there for a little bit, but had a good car. We'll be the same thing. This car will be good. It's just that we're losing on the race track right now.`

The good news for Stewart and his fans is that 500 miles at Pocono provides plenty of time for a driver to make his way from the back to the front. And Stewart did rebound to run sixth in Saturday’s final practice in his backup car.
There were four drivers who ran in the top 10 in both practice sessions and will also start in the top 10: Jimmie Johnson, who starts third, Ryan Newman, fifth, Kyle Busch, sixth, and Denny Hamlin, seventh.

The top five in Happy Hour were Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, and Jimmie Johnson.

Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.

Although Tony Stewart will be starting at the rear of the field, he will maintain his number one pit stall selection, which could be an important factor in the outcome.

Watch for the debut of the new double-file restart rule in Pocono with its wave-around feature for lapped cars. Heading into Sunday’s race, drivers and crew chiefs are scrambling to understand the finer points of the rule and its implications.

The first five rows will line up as follows:

Row 1 – Jimmie Johnson / Jeff Gordon

Row 2 – Ryan Newman / Kurt Busch

Row 3 – Denny Hamlin / Kyle Busch

Row 4 – Greg Biffle / Matt Kenseth

Row 5 – Carl Edwards / Jeff Burton

Of the 62 Cup races run at Pocono including both yearly race dates, 71% have been won from a top 10 starting spot. The race has been won 13 times from the pole, including three times in the last six races.

Odds-makers' Favorites:

Jimmie Johnson +450
Denny Hamlin +550
Kyle Busch +950

Mid-pack Maybes:

Carl Edwards +1100
Jeff Gordon + 1100
Tony Stewart +1100

Long-shots to Watch:

Matt Kenseth +2000
Dale Earnhardt Jr. +3000
David Reutimann +4000

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