The anticipation of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series arriving at Pocono
Raceway has been building for over 10 months and for good reason.
The Pocono Mountains 125 will mark the final track on the current NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series schedule on which the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has not
competed, and the shortest in laps on an oval, with 50.
It will be a shootout of sorts on the second-longest track where the NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series competes.
Not only will the lap total be short, but so will qualifying with the addition
of multi-truck qualifying.
Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Denny Hamlin are entered to run the event in
addition to their normal duties in the Sprint Cup Series.
Bodine takes laps at Pocono Raceway in May during a Goodyear tire test. He has
one pole in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition there. Kahne, who has not
competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series since 2004, is attempting to
pull off a third victory in his third series start.
He has won every series race he has entered, scoring wins at Darlington Raceway
and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
And when it comes to Pocono, Hamlin owns the zip code - no matter what he is
driving. He has four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at the "Tricky Triangle."
But don't count out NASCAR Camping World Truck Series veterans Todd Bodine and
Mike Skinner, both of whom own a pole at the 2.5-mile track in the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series.
Of the two, Skinner leads the way with four top-10 finishes at Pocono. Bodine
follows with two top 10s.
It would be easy to assume Saturday's victory may go to a veteran NASCAR Sprint
Cup competitor due to their Pocono experience, but with nine top-five finishes
and the largest points lead after 12 races in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
history, Bodine might have another plan up his sleeve.