The only sounds heard off Long Pond Road on Tuesday were a trickling waterfall and chatty Pocono Raceway employees getting ready for the weekend.

Come Friday, the area around the track in Monroe County will transform into a small city of NASCAR fans and drivers and their crews. The roar of Chevy, Ford and Toyota stock cars tackling the infamous “Tricky Triangle” will be heard from 1.5 miles away.

“We are just this little small family business, which always sounds really funny to say, right, when you think about a global, you know, an international sport,” said Ben May, president of the track in Blakeslee. “The reality is, it’s who we are, and so we think it’s just really special that the show that we put on here and the support we get from our fans and partners is just massive for this region.”

NASCAR’s Pocono Race weekend begins Friday at the track. This is the raceway’s 52nd year on the NASCAR Cup series circuit. Over 100,000 people will visit the racetrack over the weekend to cheer on drivers in three event, and 60% of those fans will come from the 49 other states and 13 countries, said May, adding that the NASCAR weekend infuses $100 million into the local economy.

“They’re staying in our hotels. They’re at our restaurants, they’re at our bars, they’re shopping at the Crossings [now Pocono Premium Outlets]. They’re doing everything that comes with that,” he said.

What makes the triangle tricky? 

The track is one of three independently owned raceways in the country that are part of the NASCAR circuit, May said. The raceway is also the only track in the circuit with three turns. That’s where it gets its “Tricky Triangle” nickname. The middle of the triangle will be full of RVs and infield parking for fans.

Each turn has a different degree of banking and each straightaway is a different length, he said. The turns are also designed after different racetracks.

“So the challenge of it, which is why it’s the Tricky Triangle, is … that you’re not going to be fast everywhere, right? You’re going to pick and choose,” May said.

Stock cars can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour.

May said the track tends to favor veteran drivers.

Denny Hamlin drives the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the all-time wins leader at Pocono. In 2023, he beat the record of NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.

Ryan Blaney drives the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. He won the Great American Getaway 400 at the raceway in 2024.

Both Hamlin and Blaney are scheduled to be back in the Poconos this weekend.

Drivers do not race in all three events.

‘A dentist and a podiatrist from Philadelphia’ invested in the Pocono Mountains

The Pocono Raceway is a Pennsylvania story.

May said NASCAR made the Pocono Raceway what it is today. The first race on the Tricky Triangle was in 1971.

“The history of it is, is that a dentist and a podiatrist from Philadelphia invested in the Pocono Mountains and in this region and in businesses and over time … their families built this place to what it is today, and it’s still family owned and family operated,” he said.

He’s talking about Drs. Joseph and Rose Mattioli, who turned the former spinach farm into a 2.5-mile track in 1968.

It’s still a family business. Dr. Joseph Mattioli was 87 when he died in 2012. His grandson Brandon Igdalsky is now CEO and his daughter is chair of the board.

Sunday’s 400-mile race is presented by VISITPA.com. This is the second year Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has partnered with the raceway.

“Our agreement with those two partners is to make sure we use our platform and our, you know, our database and everything, to make sure people know what’s happening in Pennsylvania and what they can do while they’re here,” May said.

The winners of each race will take home trophies that pay homage to the region’s history. An eagle, wings outstretched, perches on top a pile of coal. Behind the bird is an American flag encompassed by the track.

Tricky weekend

May said with thousands of people visiting the track this weekend, expect traffic. Pennsylvania State Police partners with the raceway to help with the flow of vehicles.

Stock car racing is dangerous, and the raceway has its own fire department. NASCAR provides medical personnel and Lehigh Valley Health Network also partners with the raceway. Two care centers are set up throughout the weekend for drivers and their crews and fans.

While the three races may be the main attraction, there also are driver appearances, practice and qualifying events plus a fan fair with live music, vendors and displays. There also will be a kids’ zone and carnival rides.

May has worked at the track since 2001. He said the sport saw growth in the late ’90s and early 2000s but there was a dip in interest and sponsorships for drivers after the 2008 financial crisis.

Then the pandemic happened. For most sports, it was detrimental, but with NASCAR pit crews were able to stay separated. The sport is outside and drivers are alone, suited up and wearing a helmet in their cars.

“And NASCAR saw a lot of growth from that, from being the first one back,” he said.

May added that NASCAR has done a great job at evolving.

“I think NASCAR is in as good of a place as I’ve ever seen it,” said May.

Since the departure of long-time partner FedEx, Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing have welcomed several new partners to the No. 11 Toyota. Of note, Progressive signed on in a major deal that will have the insurance company back Hamlin in 18 races this year.

JGR has now announced the addition of Bob’s Discount Furniture, a U.S.-based furniture store with its headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. They have roughly 150 stores across the country, primarily in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and West Coast regions.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is adding another title to his NASCAR resumé.

Earnhardt Jr. will serve as the crew chief for Connor Zilisch in the Xfinity Series race at Pocono on Saturday. Zilisch’s crew chief Mardy Lindley is serving a one-race suspension for loose lug nuts on Zilisch’s car at the end of the race in Nashville earlier this month.

Junior is the co-owner of Zilisch’s JR Motorsports car and his team fields four cars in NASCAR’s second-tier series. Zilisch’s teammate Justin Allgaier won the 2024 Xfinity Series title for the first NASCAR championship of his career.

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Zilisch, 18, already has one win over 14 races this season in the Xfinity Series. The road course ace won the third race of the season when he led 26 laps at Circuit of the Americas for the second victory of his career. He missed the 12th race of the season because of a back injury sustained in a hard crash late in the race at Talladega. He returned at Charlotte and has finished second, second and fifth in the last three races.

Pocono could be a race filled with strategy based on how the cautions fall on Saturday. The 2.5-mile track allows drivers near the front of the field to pit under green without losing a lap. If there are long green-flag runs during the first two stages, you’ll likely see many drivers in the top 10 forego stage points to pit before the end of the stages and cycle back toward the front of the field during the stage break.

After he crew chiefs for Zilisch on Saturday, Junior will be in the booth for Amazon Prime again on Sunday. The NASCAR Hall of Famer is the lead analyst for Amazon and TNT’s NASCAR coverage this season. Amazon has two more Cup Series races left in 2025 before TNT takes over for five races ahead of NBC’s portion of the schedule.

Pocono Event Info:
Date: Sunday, June 22
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Format: 160 Laps, 400 Miles, Stages: 30-95-160
TV: Prime
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Friday: 12:35 p.m. ET, Xfinity Practice (CW App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Friday: 1:40 p.m. ET, Xfinity Qualifying (CW App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 12:35 p.m. ET, Cup Practice (Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 1:45 p.m. ET, Cup Qualifying (Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Friday: 3:30 p.m. ET, Xfinity Race (CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2 p.m. ET, Cup Race (Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

• The NASCAR Cup Series heads north to Pocono Raceway for the 17^th points race of the season as ‘The Tricky Triangle’ hosts its lone race date on the calendar.
• This weekend marks the fourth of five races in the “Driving 4 a Difference presented by the Gene Haas Foundation,” a new in-season Ford tournament within the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
• Sheldon Creed leads the tournament after four races with 112 points, followed by teammate Sam Mayer (97), Harrison Burton (70), Ryan Sieg (57) & Kyle Sieg (25).
• Mayer holds the third-best average finish (11.1) of full-time Xfinity drivers this season, behind Austin Hill (10.1) and Justin Allgaier (10.9).
• Cole Custer recorded his best finish of the season last weekend in Mexico City (8^th), and best Cup Series result since Bristol of 2022 (8^th).

Cole Custer Team Info:
Crew Chief: Aaron Kramer
Partner: HaasTooling.com

Sheldon Creed Team Info:
Crew Chief: Jonathan Toney
Partner: Road Ranger

Sam Mayer Team Info:
Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
Partner: Audibel

Custer at Pocono (Cup)
Starts: 7
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —

• Custer makes his eighth Cup start at Pocono this weekend, where he has a 23.3 average finish. His best finish came in 2020 when he crossed the line in P16.
• His best start was fifth in 2020, when NASCAR inverted the field after race one of a doubleheader, and he boasts a 26.4 average starting position.
• Custer has also made six NXS starts at Pocono, where he has found victory lane twice in 2019 and 2024.

Creed at Pocono (Xfinity)
Starts: 3
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: 1 (2024)

• Creed is set to make his fourth Xfinity start at Pocono on Saturday, where he has a pair of top-5 finishes. He finished P4 last season after leading seven laps, and came home in fifth in 2022.
• He started on the pole last season, one of three in his career, and carries an average starting position of 3.3 into this weekend.

Mayer at Pocono (Xfinity)
Starts: 4
Wins: —
Top-10s: 3
Poles: —

• Mayer is in line for his fifth Xfinity start at Pocono this weekend, coming off a 10^th-place finish in last season’s race. He recorded a runner-up result in 2023, and was P6 in 2022.
• He has started inside the top 10 once, a P8 start in 2023, and has an average starting position of 13.0.

Where They Stand

Cup Points Standings (41: 34^th): Custer is 34^th in the Cup Series points standings through 16 races this season with 204 points.

Xfinity Points Standings (41: 7^th, 00: 8^th): Mayer sits seventh in the Xfinity points standings with 487 total points on the season, behind the six winners, while Creed is in eighth place with 415 points heading into Pocono this Saturday.

HFT PR

Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing announced a major new deal ahead of the 44-year-old’s return to the NASCAR Cup Series.

Over the weekend, Hamlin was notably absent from the Viva Mexico 250 in order to be by his wife’s side for the birth of their third child. In his absence, Ryan Truex piloted the No. 11 Toyota after receiving a lighthearted text from his famous brother.

With Hamlin slated to rejoin Joe Gibbs Racing this week, the organization shared that it has inked a multi-year deal with Bob’s Discount Furniture to be a primary sponsor. The furniture retailer company’s first primary race will be Iowa Corn 350 on August 3.

“We are thrilled to partner with Bob’s Discount Furniture,” JGR owner Joe Gibbs said in an official statement. “Racing every weekend all across the country, we will have the opportunity to promote their great furniture at everyday low prices to race fans everywhere. We are especially excited to have the opportunity to celebrate their expansion into North Carolina at the grand opening event at their new Winston-Salem store on July 17th.”

Bob’s Discount Furniture President and CEO Bill Barton expressed a similar sentiment, adding: “Partnering with Joe Gibbs Racing is a natural fit for Bob’s. We’re both committed to excellence, delivering value, and engaging with communities in meaningful ways. Debuting the Bob’s-branded No. 11 car at Bob’s Grand Opening in Winston-Salem, a region with deep NASCAR heritage and our newest store location, makes this moment even more special.”

As part of the agreement, Hamlin and Gibbs will be on hand for the grand opening of the Bob’s Discount Furniture store in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on July 17.

“We’re excited to welcome Bob’s to our No. 11 team and to have their new locations opening up close to home,” Hamlin said. “If you look at their marketing and social media, they do a great job being creative, so we’re really looking forward to what kind of ideas we can work on together both on and off the racetrack.”

Ahead of the 2025 Cup Series season, Hamlin parted ways with long-term sponsor FedEx and Mavis Tires, though has since managed to strike deals with Sports Clips, King’s Hawaiian, and National Debt Relief. Speaking to reporters ahead of The Clash at Bowman Gray earlier this month, he acknowledged that JGR’s sponsorship dilemma was “maybe a little bit” concerning.

“I mean it’s tough out there. Sponsorship is hard to come by and certainly while it’s such an important time in our sport to recognize the sponsorship dollars are not flowing like they used to, for sure. Everyone’s had to adjust quite a bit,” Hamlin said.

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“Obviously you’ve got certain aspects that JGR has to price into their pricing as well that it’s probably tough. I don’t know, it’s just part of it. But certainly having one sponsor for 20 years made things pretty easy and now it’s all kind of catching up.

“Is it concerning from my end? Maybe a little bit, but it’s probably more concerning from JGR’s standpoint.”