Nothing tricky about Pocono for Hamlin

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, June 6. Race: Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500. Site: Pocono Raceway. Track: (2.5-mile triangle. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 500. 2009 winner: Tony Stewart. Television: TNT. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

The Sprint Cup Series makes its first of two stops at Pocono within the next two months. Pocono is one of the most unique tracks on the schedule with its 2.5-mile triangular shape.

Denny Hamlin is one driver who has figured out "The Tricky Triangle" lately. Hamlin, currently fifth in points, is a three-time Pocono winner, including the most recent race there in August 2009. He also has recorded six top-10 finishes in eight starts there.

"It's a good track for us," Hamlin said. "We always are looking past Charlotte, because we want to get to Pocono."

Hamlin won both races at Pocono during his 2006 rookie-of-the-year season. He became just the second driver who swept a track in his first year of Cup competition. Jimmie Johnson won both events at Dover during his 2002 rookie season.

With three wins already this season, Hamlin has been considered as Johnson's biggest threat for the Sprint Cup championship. Johnson also has three victories for the year.

Last August at Pocono, Hamlin ended a 50-race winless streak in the series in what was an emotional victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Hamlin's win came three days after his grandmother, Thelma Clark, passed away in Tampa, FL at the age of 91.

"We definitely had some angels with us today," Hamlin said that day in Pocono's victory lane, as he broke down in tears.

During the past month, the Busch brothers have been on fire. Kurt and Kyle Busch have combined for four wins in the last five races. Kurt won the non- points all-star race and then the 600-mile event at Charlotte, while Kyle picked up victories at Richmond and Dover. Hamlin won at Darlington.

Kyle Busch, at age 25, is expected to become the youngest driver to make his 200th career Cup start this weekend at Pocono.

After winning the 600 at Charlotte, Kurt Busch moved up three positions to sixth in points. Busch said Sunday's race at Pocono is the first of the five most pivotal races of the season for his team.

"Starting with Pocono this weekend, we have a pretty diverse run of races with the intermediate tracks, road courses, one-mile flat tracks and restrictor- plate tracks all represented during that period, and it's important to get some consistency going," he said.

Michigan, Sonoma, CA, New Hampshire and Daytona are upcoming on the schedule.

Tony Stewart is the defending winner of the June Pocono race. Stewart earned the pole since qualifying at Pocono was rained out, but he had to start from the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary car in final practice.

After charging his way through the field, Stewart beat Carl Edwards out of the pits and captured the lead with 37 laps remaining. "Smoke" drove the final 102.5 miles without pitting and held off Edwards by two seconds to win a Cup race for the first time as both driver and owner.

"Last year, I knew it was big when we were there in victory lane, obviously," Stewart said. "Getting the first one at Charlotte [the non-points all-star race] was a huge accomplishment for the organization, but that first official points win was big too."

The June 2009 race at Pocono also marked the debut of NASCAR's new double-file restart rule. The revised format for restarts has since generated rave reviews from competitors and fans.

Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500.

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