Breaking down the Pocono starting lineup

LONG POND, Pa. – Hendrick Motorsports hit a benchmark this week many thought would never come.

It hit the 1-year anniversary of its last win, which came July 23 when Kasey Kahne won at Indianapolis. It’s a full season winless streak of 36 races.

Does a losing streak suck more when it hits such an anniversary?

“I know for Mr. Hendrick’s standpoint, absolutely,” said seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. “My suck more reference would be my last win, Texas I guess it was? Another suck more moment.”

Actually, Johnson’s last win was Dover in June last year. He is on the longest winless streak of his career at 43 races.

“It took us a while to get into this position,” Johnson said. “It took us a while to get out of it. We continue to see high spots or things that are very motivating for us.

“That’s the excitement we bring to the track each week. We have more new stuff this weekend. … I personally have gone through moments of confident in myself, not confident in myself. It’s this. It’s that. I’m human. It’s impossible not to be hard on myself.”

The other Hendrick drivers, who all seek their first career Cup wins, said the anniversary didn’t hurt any more than just the constant skid.

“I feel like our situation has been what it has been,” said Chase Elliott. “Obviously we know we need to do better and we’re all trying for that.

“But I don’t think it puts more emphasis on we have to go win now. We have to run better anyway.”

Johnson is 12th in the standings, Elliott is 13th, Bowman 15th and William Byron 21st.

“You look at the amount of time it’s been and it would feel like it was forever if it was two months ago,” Bowman said. “We all know we are struggling and we need to keep digging to get better. So I don’t think having a number on it really changes it that much.”

Here’s where the Hendrick drivers and the rest of the field will line up Sunday for the Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Note: Thirteen drivers failed post-qualifying inspection. Their qualifying times were disallowed: Harvick (qualified first), Busch (second), Kyle Larson (fourth), Joey Logano (fifth), William Byron (sixth), Austin Dillon (12th), Jimmie Johnson (15th), Paul Menard (17th), Ryan Blaney (18th), Aric Almirola (19th) Clint Bowyer (21st), Bubba Wallace (22nd), Kasey Kahne (24th).

1. Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota): Hard to predict how Suarez will perform. His three Pocono finishes have been 15th, seventh and 24th. But this qualifying effort was stout.

2. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota): Denny wants the track to use some traction compound here. He didn’t get his wish. Although he has four Cup wins at Pocono, he has just one top-5 in his last eight starts.

3. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota): He’s probably still trying to forget a 29th-place finish at Pocono in June. A second-place finish in the trucks and this starting spot Sunday probably helps.

4. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): No way he finishes fifth, right? He has finished fifth in the last three Pocono races. Keselowski thinks he could finish better – he said Harvick appears to have the best car and then there are about six drivers (including himself) who are right there together.

5. Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet): This isn’t the place where McMurray will win nor gain a lot of points. He never has finished in the top-5 in 31 starts.

6. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet): He won a stage last week at New Hampshire. That’s progress. But maybe not enough to challenge for the win this week.

7. Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford): Busch has led 538 laps at Pocono, but none in the last four starts.

8. Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota): Truex has won two of the last seven Cup races at Pocono. Expect to see him out front – he has led laps in six of the last seven Pocono races.

9. Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet): Newman is looking for his first top-10 finish at Pocono in four years.

10. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet): He’s running the Eagles paint scheme this week, so he will be a fan favorite. For a guy who hasn’t finished better than 25th at Pocono, he just needs a solid top-15 day.

11. Matt Kenseth (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford): He was 13th in June, his best finish in six starts for Roush Fenway this year. His next best? Last week at New Hampshire when he was 15th.

12. Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 37 Chevrolet): Buescher won this race two years ago thanks to some pit strategy amid the fog. He has finishes of 19th, 28th and 17th in his three starts since then.

13. Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford): McDowell has finished from 18th to 24th in his last four Pocono starts.

14. AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet): Allmendinger’s last three Pocono finishes: 22nd, 23rd, 22nd. Expect to see him in the middle of the pack again.

15. Ty Dillon (Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet): The team has brought back engineer Chris Andrews, released after last season, to try to find some speed.

16. David Ragan (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford): In nine of his last 10 starts at Pocono, Ragan has finished better than where he started.

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford): He needs to rally in points. Going to a track where he has never had a top-10 is not the place to be.

18. Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford): He has back-to-back 37th-place finishes at Pocono.

19. Jeffrey Earnhardt (Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 Toyota): This team has a new sponsor in the security firm Xtreme Concepts, and it has Jeffrey Earnhardt in the car this weekend. Whether Earnhardt does all 14 races of the Xtreme sponsorship is still to be determined.

20. J.J. Yeley (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota): This is Yeley’s sixth start this year.

21. Corey LaJoie (TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet): LaJoie didn’t run here in June but was a respectable 25th in this race a year ago.

22. Ross Chastain (Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet): Gray Gaulding qualified this car, but Chastain (in Iowa for the Xfinity race Saturday) will drive in the race. He will have to drop to the rear for a driver change.

23. Kyle Weatherman (StarCom Racing No. 99 Chevrolet): This is Weatherman’s first Cup race at Pocono.

24. Landon Cassill (StarCom Racing No. 00 Chevrolet): This weekend has to be better than New Hampshire, where Cassill crashed twice.

25. Reed Sorenson (Premium Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet): This is his first start in the last three Cup races at Pocono.

26. B.J. McLeod (Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Chevrolet): This will be his first Cup start at Pocono.

27. Timmy Hill (Carl Long Motorsports No. 66 Toyota): Team owner Carl Long likes to run every-other-week, so he sent the Cup team to Pocono this weekend while he was with his Xfinity cars in Iowa.

28. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota): Oh, please, have Busch and Harvick battling for the win and let’s see how Busch races him. That could mean his second Cup win at Pocono.

29. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford): Harvick led 89 laps in June so his pole winning time was no surprise. His post-qualifying failure will have him starting near the back but still side-by-side with Kyle Busch.

30. Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): Logano is typically a strong qualifier at Pocono but has finished worse than he started in his last six Pocono starts.

31. Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford): Starting ninth seemed like a good thing in June but he finished 20th.

32. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet): He said for the second consecutive week, he tried to destroy (not on purpose) his car in practice, so despite some cosmetic damage in practice he clocked a fast qualifying lap. He finish second in June. I wouldn’t be surprised if he improves that by one on Sunday.

33. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske No. 12 Ford): Blaney’s only Cup win came at Pocono in June 2017. He was on the pole in June and finished sixth.

34. Aric Almirola (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford): His seventh-place finish in June was his best career finish – his first top-15 – at Pocono in 12 starts. After last week, it appears Almirola could contend for the win at any track.

35. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet): This is his 600th NASCAR Cup Series race and 597th consecutive event. It might not be one of his favorites (he has 83 career victories) but still a milestone.

36. Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford): His 11th in June tied for his best finish in his last 12 Pocono starts.

37. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet): His 12th in June was his best finish at Pocono in nine career starts.

38. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet): Byron won a truck race at Pocono in 2016, but he was 12th in his one Xfinity race and 18th in the Cup race in June.

39. Bubba Wallace (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet): RPM announced a two-year extension for Wallace this weekend. He didn’t have a bad qualifying but starts in the back after a post-qualifying inspection failure.

40. Kasey Kahne (Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Chevrolet): He hasn’t finished in two of the last three races at Pocono. But the track hasn’t always treated him poorly – he has two Cup wins.