Kyle Larson, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland on Pocono poles

Four races among three divisions await the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Camping World Truck Series at Pocono Raceway. On Saturday, Todd Gilliland will lead the Truck field to green in the CRC Brakleen 150 while Kyle Larson does so for the Cup Series’ Pocono Organics CBD 325. Sunday’s Pocono Green 225 will see Harrison Burton on the Xfinity pole. The Xfinity event will be by the Cup Series’ second race, the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, which will have its starting lineup set by invert of the top twenty from the Saturday round.

Cup: Larson seeking fourth straight from pole

Larson has been on a tear in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. After the first fourteen races of the season featured eleven different winners including Larson, he has won every Cup event he has taken part in since late May. Riding a three-race win streak (four if including the All-Star Race), Larson will start on the pole at Pocono for the first time since his rookie year in 2014. In twelve starts, his best finish is second in 2018; he won the Xfinity race there in 2016.

Hendrick team-mate William Byron starts second at one of his stronger tracks. The 2019 Race #1 pole sitter has top tens in all but four starts at Pocono.

A trio of driver changes from Nashville took place. Cody Ware returns to his #51 Rick Ware Racing car after skipping Nashville to make his NTT IndyCar Series début (J.J. Yeley drove the #15), while James Davison is back in the #15 RWR machine last driven by Joey Gase. Timmy Hill will run his first Cup race since Talladega in April in MBM Motorsports‘ #66, who fielded the #66 for David Starr and the #13 for Chad Finchum at Nashville. Finchum, whose Nashville start marked his first Cup run of the season, is not entered at Pocono.

The Sunday race will have its starting lineup set by an inversion of the top twenty from Saturday, meaning Saturday’s twentieth place starts on the pole for Sunday. Such a plan was initially set for the 2020 weekend—Pocono’s first year with a doubleheader—before being switched out for cars on the lead lap as multiple tracks held doubleheaders to make up for lost dates due to COVID-19.

Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
2	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
4	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
5	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
6	42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
7	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
8	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
9	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
10	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
11	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
12	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
13	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
14	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet
15	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
16	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
17	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
18	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford
19	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
20	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota
21	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford
22	43	Erik Jones	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet
23	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
24	38	Anthony Alfredo	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
25	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
26	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
27	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
28	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
29	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
30	53	Garrett Smithley*	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
31	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
32	78	B.J. McLeod*	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford
33	52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
34	77	Justin Haley*	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
35	51	Cody Ware*	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
36	15	James Davison	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
37	00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet
38	66	Timmy Hill*	MBM Motorsports	Toyota

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Cup points

Xfinity: Burton on pole for second time

Burton, who finished third at Nashville last Saturday, rolls off the grid in first. He last started on the pole at Martinsville in April. The sophomore will hope his race goes better than his maiden Xfinity start at Pocono in 2020, where he finished thirty-second after crashing out; conversely, his lone Truck race there in 2019 saw him finish third.

Justin Allgaier starts second after finishing second. He has two top tens in five starts at Pocono with a best finish of second in 2017 and placing sixth in 2020.

With Kyle Busch once again focusing on the Cup Series after scoring his 100th Xfinity win at Nashville, Ty Gibbs is back in Joe Gibbs Racing‘s #54. Sam Mayer will run his first race in JR Motorsports‘ #8 as he prepares to contest the rest of the season in the car; Josh Berry, the #8’s previous driver, moves to Jordan Anderson Racing‘s #31 that he drove at Mid-Ohio. Santino Ferrucci is back in Sam Hunt Racing‘s #26 for the first time since Atlanta in March, while Blaine Perkins takes over the Our Motorsports #23 from Natalie Decker. Carson Ware is in SS-Green Light Racing‘s #17 for his first start of the season, which shifts Joe Graf Jr. back to his traditional #07. Whelen Euro Series points leader Loris Hezemans is in DGM Racing‘s #90. Jimmy Means Racing‘s #52 is being filled by Gase rather than the original full-timer Gray Gaulding, though the team has asserted that Gaulding is still within the organisation.

JD Motorsports drivers Colby Howard and Jeffrey Earnhardt, who failed to qualify at Nashville, are locked in. Hill and MBM’s #13, on the other hand, are not.

Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	20	Harrison Burton	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
2	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
3	16	A.J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
4	19	Brandon Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
5	10	Jeb Burton	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
6	18	Daniel Hemric	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
7	9	Noah Gragson	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
8	1	Michael Annett	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
9	51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet
10	98	Riley Herbst	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
11	11	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
12	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Ford
13	22	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford
14	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
15	61	Austin Hill*	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota
16	36	Alex Labbé	DGM Racing	Chevrolet
17	02	Brett Moffitt	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet
18	44	Tommy Joe Martins	Martins Motorsports	Chevrolet
19	2	Myatt Snider	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
20	8	Sam Mayer	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
21	6	Ryan Vargas	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
22	92	Josh Williams	DGM Racing	Chevrolet
23	4	Landon Cassill	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
24	68	Brandon Brown	Brandonbilt Motorsports	Chevrolet
25	66	David Starr	MBM Motorsports	Toyota
26	26	Santino Ferrucci	Sam Hunt Racing	Toyota
27	5	Matt Mills	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet
28	78	Jesse Little	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Toyota
29	48	Jade Buford	Big Machine Racing	Chevrolet
30	47	Kyle Weatherman	Mike Harmon Racing	Chevrolet
31	23	Blaine Perkins	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet
32	17	Carson Ware	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet
33	31	Josh Berry	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet
34	74	Bayley Currey*	Mike Harmon Racing	Chevrolet
35	07	Joe Graf Jr.	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet
36	99	Mason Massey	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Toyota
37	15	Colby Howard	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
38	0	Jeffrey Earnhardt	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
39	90	Loris Hezemans	DGM Racing	Chevrolet
40	52	Joey Gase	Jimmy Means Racing	Chevrolet

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Xfinity points

Trucks: Gilliland on pole

Gilliland followed fellow Ford truck Ryan Preece to the finish at Nashville, which has rewarded him with the pole for Pocono. It is his second first-place start after Charlotte in May. He has three top tens in as many starts at Pocono, with his 2020 start ending with a fourth.

Zane Smith joins him on the front row. He finished fourteenth in his lone Pocono start last year. Preece starts eighth and hopes to go two-for-two after winning in his series début.

Busch is entered in the #51 for his own team while Christian Eckes returns to ThorSport Racing‘s #98, the latter of which bumps Grant Enfinger to CR7 Motorsports‘ #9. Bayley Currey is in Niece Motorsports‘ #45 and Tyler Hill is in the family-run #56. Todd Peck will run his first Truck race since 2018 in the #41 for Cram Racing Enterprises. FDNY Racing and the #28 for Bryan Dauzat return after last entering the seaosn opener at Daytona.

Drivers who DNQ’d at Nashville but are locked in for Pocono include Spencer Boyd, Jennifer Jo Cobb, and Josh Reaume.

Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
2	21	Zane Smith	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
3	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
4	16	Austin Hill	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota
5	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
6	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota
7	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota
8	17	Ryan Preece*	David Gilliland Racing	Ford
9	24	Jack Wood	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
10	2	Sheldon Creed	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
11	18	Chandler Smith	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota
12	13	Johnny Sauter	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
13	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet
14	66	Ty Majeski	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
15	23	Chase Purdy	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
16	98	Christian Eckes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
17	15	Tanner Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford
18	26	Tyler Ankrum	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
19	1	Hailie Deegan	David Gilliland Racing	Ford
20	25	Josh Berry*	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet
21	22	Austin Wayne Self	AM Racing	Chevrolet
22	51	Kyle Busch*	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota
23	40	Ryan Truex	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet
24	19	Derek Kraus	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Toyota
25	12	Tate Fogleman	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet
26	02	Kris Wright	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet
27	45	Bayley Currey	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet
28	30	Danny Bohn	On Point Motorsports	Toyota
29	34	Lawless Alan	Reaume Brothers Racing	Toyota
30	56	Tyler Hill	Hill Motorsports	Chevrolet
31	9	Grant Enfinger	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet
32	41	Todd Peck	Cram Racing Enterprises	Chevrolet
33	3	Howie DiSavino III	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet
34	20	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet
35	33	Josh Reaume	Reaume Brothers Racing	Chevrolet
36	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing	Ford
37	6	Norm Benning	Norm Benning Racing	Chevrolet
38	49	Ray Ciccarelli	CMI Motorsports	Toyota
39	28	Bryan Dauzat	FDNY Racing	Chevrolet

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Truck points