JAYSKI'S SILLY
SEASON SITE

• Race: Sunday, July 29, 2001 in Long Pond, PA
  
  
• TV: TNT - 1:00pm/et, re-aired on TNT Monday, July 30th, 12:00mid/et(or Tuesday morning)
  
• Pre-Race Show: 12:30pm/et - Hosted by Bill Weber
  
• NASCAR on TV and TNT TV Schedule
  
• Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
  
  
• Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns
  
  
• Purse: $3,168,072 (last year $2,658,590)
  
  
• Entry List: Entry List for the: Pennslyvania 500 from NASCAR.com
  
  
• 2000 Race Winner: Rusty Wallace, 130.662mph
  
  
• Race Speed Record: Rusty Wallace, July 1996, 144.892mph
  
  
• Track/Race Length: 2.5 tri-oval, 200 laps, 500 miles
  
  
• Pit Road Speed: 55mph
  
  

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  Practice
  
  
• Practice: Friday, July 27th 11:30am - 2:00pm/et; Saturday, July 28th 10:45 - 11:30am/et
  
• Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, July 28th, 12:15-1:00pm/et, TV-TNT at 12:00noon/et
  
  

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  Qualifying
  
  
• Qualifying Draw: Friday, July 27th, 10:30am/et
  
  
• Qualfying Order: Pennsylvania 500 qualifying order - or Pennsylvania 500 qualifying order
  
  
• First Round Qualifying: 1 lap(?) for positions 1-36, Friday, July 27th at 3:00pm/et, TV-CNN/SI and live via MRN radio/internet(link below)
  
  
• NASCAR.com will have live lap-by-lap coverage of Winston Cup qualifying via the web
  
  
• Second-Round Qualifying: there is no longer a 2nd round of qualifying
  
  
• Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, July 2000, 172.391mph
  
  
• Last Year's Pole Sitter: Tony Stewart, 172.391mph
  
  

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  Track Specs:
  Superspeedway: 2.5 mile tri-oval
  Banking: turn 1: 14 degrees, turn 2: 8 degree, turn 3: 6 degrees;
  Straights: Front - 3740 feet, Long Pond(between turns 1 and 2) - 3055 feet, North(between turns 2 and 3) - 1780 feet
  
  
• Track Homepage: Pocono Raceway
  
  
• Scanner Frequencies: are linked on my Racing Links Page/ Scanners Section
  
  

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  PAST RACE WINNERS for the Pocono 500

  See the chart at the Pocono Raceway site: Past Winners
  
  

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  RACE BONUS INFO

• The NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus is $10,000 at Pocono for leading the points and winning the race (Dale Jarrett last won the award, $50,000 at New Hampshire on July 22, 2001). The $360,000 annual award is paid at $10,000 per race to the point leader at the end of each event if he is also the winner. The award increases by $10,000 each week the it goes unclaimed. If the point leader is not the race winner at the end of the year, the balance of the award is distributed among the top-10 finisher in the point standings(7-22-2001)
  
  

• Pocono Facts: There have been 47 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway since the first race was held there in 1974. There was one race a year from 1974 through 1981 and two-a-year since 1982. Ken Schrader leads all drivers with five Bud Poles at Pocono, followed by Bill Elliott with four. Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace lead all active drivers each with four Cup victories at Pocono Raceway. The third-place starting position has been the most productive at Pocono, producing eight race winners. Twenty-eight of 47 Cup races at Pocono have been won from the first four starting positions (60 percent). Thirty-five of the 47 races at Pocono have been won from a top-10 starting position. The farthest back that a race winner at Pocono has started was 27th by Terry Labonte in the 1995 Pocono 500. In 19 years of twice-a-year Cup races at Pocono (since 1982) a sweep has occurred only four times: Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1985), Tim Richmond (1986) and Bobby Labonte (1999).(NASCAR PR)(7-24-2001)
  
  
• : Pennsylvania 500 Race Info
  
  
• CBS Sportsline: Pennsylvania 500 Preview
  
  
• CNN/SI: Pennsylvania 500 Coverage/Familiar territory
  
  
• Crew Chief Club
  
  
• FoxSports: Pennsylvania 500 preview
  
  
• Frontstretch: Raceday Today - Pennsylvania 500
  
  
• NASCAR.com: Pennsylvania 500 Race Page
  
  
• Yahoo: Pennsylvania 500 - Preview
  
  

• note: this is not to promote gambling but to offer readers odds and ideas on what the 'experts' think about the upcoming race and the Cup series season
  
  
• NASCAR Odds - Early Odds for the Pennsylvania 500
  
  
• United Bet - Pennsylvania 500 Odds
  
  
• Vegas Insider - Pennsylvania 500 odds
  
  

• Bobby Labonte Wins at Pocono: #18-Bobby Labonte won his first 2001 Cup race at Pocono in the Pennsylvania 500. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr was 2nd. #88-Dale Jarrett got caught up in an accident and finished 41st, losing the points lead. #24-Jeff Gordon takes over the points lead by 45 over #28-Ricky Rudd. Jarrett falls to 3rd, 112 points behind Gordon. Pole Winner, #66-Todd Bodine had tramsmission trouble and finished 43rd. Labonte now has won at least one Cup race in each of the last seven seasons. See for Unofficial Results and Unofficial Drivers Standings and a story at: Labonte overtakes Jr. for Pennsylvania win(7-29-2001)
  
  
• Jarrett Hot at Pocono: #88-Dale Jarrett has 10 consecutive top-five finishes at Pocono Raceway dating back to the 1996 season. His first top-five at Pocono was a win in his first season with Robert Yates Racing in '95.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(7-29-2001)
  
  
• Happy Hour at Pocono is over for the Pennsylvania 500. The top five were:
  #24-Gordon 164.057 mph
  #28-Rudd 163.663
  #6-Martin 163.630
  #20-Stewart 163.630
  #93-Blaney 163.610
  Slowest #27-Mast 160.456mph
  Wally Dallenbach practiced the #29 Chevy for Kevin Harvick (who at Pikes Peak) and RCR. #12-Jeremy Mayfield blew and engine and the team will put in another one. #28-Ricky Rudd's team needed to change a battery had the team put a new one in. See Happy Hour practice speeds(7-28-2001)
  
  
• Saturday AM Practice at Pocono: #24-Jeff Gordon was the fastest at 165.621mph with #28-Ricky Rudd 2nd fastest at 165.277. Slowest was #31-Robby Gordon at 161.525 and #90-Hut Stricklin at 161.233. See NASCAR.com for Pennsylvania 500 Practice Results(7-28-2001)
  
  
• Todd Bodine wins the Pole: #66-Todd Bodine wins the pole for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono with a speed of 170.326mph. Bodine wins his 2nd of the 2001 season. See all the speeds and line-up (Unofficial) at my Pocono Qualifying Chart.
  Missing the race were two drivers running limited schedules in 2002: #49-Andy Hillenburg (55th in owners points) and #85-Carl Long(51st).
  The #27 Sauer/Dukes Mayo Pontiac makes it's first race in 6 races with Rick Mast, using the last Provisional. #88-Dale Jarrett, the Points Leader got very loose in his qualifying run and will use his 2nd provisional of the year. #45-Kyle Petty and #44-Buckshot Jones also took provisionals.
  #45-Kyle Petty, after coming off turn three to take the green flag for his qualifying lap, stopped turned around before the flag, went back, turned around and took the green flag and ran his lap. #40-Sterling Marlin's car is black/blue
  See for Pennsylvania 500 qualifying results and Pennsylvania 500 lineup or MotorsportsOne for Lineup/Qual Results(7-27-2001)
  
  
• Pole Progression for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono:
  #55-Bobby Hamilton, went out first in qualifying, 166.988mph, starts 29th
  #66-Todd Bodine, out 2nd, 170.326, starts 1st
  (7-27-2001)
  
  
• Practice Friday: #28-Ricky Rudd was the fastest with a speed of 169.291mph followed by #6-Mark Martin at 169.068. Slowest were #49-Andy Hillenburg at 163.491 and #85-Carl Long at 160.428. See for Pennsylvania 500 Practice Results. #44-Buckshot Jones, who was 10th in practice, wrecked towards the end of practice, backing into the wall. He will have to go to a backup, which is a Petty blue backup number #44 (will be repained for the race). Jone was to qualify 16th but was excused and will go when the car is ready(7-27-2001)
  
  
• Qualifying Order is up for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono. See above for the links. 45 cars/drivers are listed. First scheduled out is #55-Bobby Hamilton, last of the 45 scheduled out is #32-Ricky Craven. Qualifying will be televised live at 3:00pm/et on the CNN/SI channel (see my TV/Media page for contact info) and will be covered by MRN Radio and NASCAR.com on the Internet(7-27-2001)
  
  
• Entry List is up for Pocono. See above for the link. 45 drivers are listed, the #96-Andy Houston is listed but won't race there. Has Mike Skinner in the #31 but Robby Gordon will drive that car. #27 is listed with Mike Bliss but he is rumored to be have left that ride, Rick Mast is rumored in. Mast's current ride, the #50 Midwest Transit Chevy is not listed. Also #49-Andy Hillenburg is listed in the BAM Racing Pontiac, with a light car count and three teams out of provisionals, it may be a good chance for Hillenburg to make the race
  UPDATE: Robby Gordon is now listed in the #31 and Rick Mast is listed in the #27. #96-Houston has now been removed from the list, so that is 44 cars for 43 spots. So....What happens if at least 43 cars attempt a race but more then one team is out of provisionals and fails to qualify for the race with still a spot open in the field? See the answer on my Provisional Status/Rules Page or Racing FAQ page(7-24-2001)
  UPDATE 2: hearing #85-Carl Long may attempt to make the race at Pocono, not on the Entry List yet if so(7-26-2001)
  UPDATE 3: Long has been added to the Entry List on NASCAR.com and will attempt to make the race at Pocono. That makes 45 cars now(7-27-2001)
  
  
• Qualifying Rules Changed UPDATE: ESPN2's RPM 2Night mentioned tonight that starting at New Hampshire that qualifying would consist of one lap of qualifying instead of the two laps that have been run this year. The exceptions are tracks smaller then one mile (Bristol, Richmond and Martinsville) and the two restrictor plate tracks, Daytona and Talladega(7-5-2001)
  UPDATE: it was mentioned on FSN's Totally NASCAR show on Thurs that the Cup drivers would run 2 laps of Qualifying for the New England 300 at New Hampshire. The plan is to still have one lap of qualifying at all intermediate tracks (1 to 2 miles in length) but the format will be determined in a track-to-track basis for the rest of the season(7-19-2001)
  
  
• an interesting point: When NASCAR officials decided to disallow Jerry Nadeau's qualifying time at Daytona in Feb 2001, it raised an interesting question. With the Winston Cup series having only one round of qualifying the rest of the season, what happens if an unapproved part is found? According to NASCAR, drivers no longer have to post an official qualifying time to use a provisional, they only have to practice. So a driver could have a penalty on a qualifying issue but still have access to one of the seven provisionals for the race(Richmond Times Dispatch)(2-11-2001)
  
  
• How to break a tie during qualifying?(same speed/time) When drivers are tied for a starting spot during qualifying, it is broken by owners points standings(not drivers). For provisionals standings see the Jayski's Provisional Status page
  
  
• Links: Practice speeds, qualifying and results can be found at these sites: NASCAR Online, Racin Network, and
  
  

TRACK/RACE NEWS

• Pocono June 2002 date? UPDATE: Tickets.com is reporting - Pocono 500 (June 9, 2002) Tickets Will Be Available For Purchase On July 29, 2001(7-24-2001)
  UPDATE: also hearing billboards around the Pocono Raceway are touting June 9, 2002 and July 28, 2002 as the tracks two Cup dates in 2002(7-25-2001)
  
  
• Pocono and Pep Boys: Pep Boys, the nation's leading full-service automotive aftermarket retail and service chain, announced that it had agreed to become the presenting sponsor of the Pennsylvania 500, one of the upcoming races in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, to be held July 29 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA(Yahoo Biz)(6-22-2001)
  PLUS Pep Boys is having a contest with TNT during the race, see my Racing Contest page for info(7-28-2001)
  
  
• Pocono to Sell? UPDATE 2 Nope: The Mattiollis, who own Pocono Raceway, once again may be fielding offers for their track, which sits 90 minutes from Manhattan. Bruton Smith and Bill France have both made offers over the years, and each time the Mattiollis have rejected the overtures. Now it appears that France, who is also trying to put together a deal for a speedway at the Meadowlands, across the Hudson River from New York City, is again trying to persuade the Mattiollis to sell to him(Winston Salem Journal)(6-2-2001)
  UPDATE: Dr. Joseph Mattioli was loyal to Bill France Sr. when the NASCAR Winston Cup Series was a financial bust, and he's remained loyal to the family that started NASCAR now that each race at his Pocono Raceway creates millions of dollars in profits. All along, Mattioli and his wife, Rose, have been one of the holdouts in the bidding wars between France's International Speedway Corp. and Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. to gobble up every raceway on the Winston Cup circuit. After 37 years of struggles, hard work and success, the Mattiolis apparently are close to cashing in. Sources inside the ISC family said the Pocono Raceway may soon become part of the sport's biggest corporation. The deal is worth about $110 million.(Savannah Morning News)
  UPDATE 2: Dr. Joe Mattioli, owner of Pocono Raceway, strongly denied reports that he would sell his track to International Speedway Corporation, and he said he would have two Winston Cup races again in 2002. Mattioli responded to reports which said Pocono would be sold to ISC and that one of his dates would be moved elsewhere. The same reports said that dates would either a) be added at Kentucky and California, or b) be moved to those two tracks from elsewhere. "I've refuted it and refuted it," Mattioli said of the recurring reports. "I went public in 1965 and it took me 35 years to buy it back, and I'm not about to sell it. If I did sell it, the France family [which controls ISC] would get first dibs. That's been said to Old Man France [the late Bill France Sr.], said to Billy and Jimmy, said to Brian and Lisa. I don't know how the hell else to say it. That's it."(SpeedVision)(6-15-2001)
  
  
• How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph
  
  
• Past track news: posted in the past at Jayski's Past Track News/Rumors - Pocono
  
  

DRIVER/TEAM NEWS

• Robby Gordon back in the #31 at Pocono UPDATE: NASCAR.com reports that Robby Gordon, who is on a race-to-race basis with RCR to run the #31 Lowes Chevy, will be back in the car at Pocono next weekend(7-23-2001)
  UPDATE: FSN's Totally NASCAR reports that Robby Gordon will drive the #31 Lowes Chevy in the next three Cup races, Pocono, Indy (where he is testing) and Watkins Glen(7-24-2001)
  
  
• See the 2001 Team Chart which has links to past news for each team
  
  

PAINT SCHEME NEWS

• #01 Special Scheme UPDATE: hearing that Jason Leffler will be running a Special Olympics logo in June on the #01 Cingular Dodge. Cingular is a Special Olympics sponsor and it is part of this years promo(4-24-2001)
  UPDATE: see an image of the car on my Paint Schemes Gallery(5-23-2001)
  UPDATE 2: Cingular Wireless is racing toward its four-year goal of raising $40 million for Special Olympics by painting its #01 NASCAR Winston Cup race car with a Special Olympics paint scheme, and offering customers the opportunity to support the organization through promotional offers. Cingular, an Official Partner of Special Olympics USA and Official Sponsor of Special Olympics Team USA, is in the second year of its support for Special Olympics. To showcase its commitment to Special Olympics, Cingular’s #01 Dodge Intrepid R/T will display a Special Olympics logo for the months of June and July. The new paint scheme will be debuted at the MBNA Platinum 400 at the Dover Downs International Speedway on June 3. Cingular also will sell limited edition, souvenir, die-cast versions of the #01 racecar to commemorate this unique paint scheme and raise money for Special Olympics(www.specialolympics.org). A percentage of the proceeds generated from the die-cast car sales will go directly to Special Olympics. Cars will be available in Cingular Wireless retail outlets as well as at many Special Olympics Summer Games being held across the United States. In addition, Cingular Wireless is launching a 60-day promotional drive to collect donations on behalf of Special Olympics. During the promotional months of June and July, consumers who donate $20 to Special Olympics and sign up for service at a Cingular Wireless retail store are eligible for: * An exclusive $35 rate plan offer * An Internet-ready Ericsson handset * A co-branded Cingular/BLOCKBUSTER gift certificate for five free movie rentals good at participating BLOCKBUSTER stores. Donations raised by Cingular will support year-round training and competitions for Special Olympic athletes, who participate in the activities free of charge as well as help send Special Olympics Team USA athletes to the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland. Through last year’s “Be a Hero” promotion, Cingular customers successfully raised $8.9 million for Special Olympics.(Cingular PR)(5-30-2001)
  
  
• More Paint Scheme news can be found on Paint Schemes Gallery, choose current news
  
  

STATS and STUFF