Let's Get Triangular -- Pocono Preview

Hello Internet! It's Guido here with a Scoring Indy race weekend preview! This weekend is the Pocono IndyCar 500, the second jewel in American Open-Wheel Racing's Triple Crown. I, personally, am THRILLED (not engaging much on Twitter will do that for you...) So, let's get down to it:


Pocono 2013

Finish	Driver	Qualifying	Grid	Led	Completed	ARS
1	Dixon	7	17	38	160	83.70
2	Kimball	13	12	4	160	74.10
3	Franchitti	18	20	0	160	75.28
4	Power	4	4	15	160	61.03
5	Newgarden	16	15	0	160	62.20
6	Pagenaud	9	8	0	160	55.93
7	Wilson	20	22	0	160	61.61
8	Castroneves	6	6	0	160	47.46
9	Carpenter	15	14	0	160	49.57
10	Andretti	1	1	88	160	56.65
11	de Silvestro	10	9	0	160	34.91
12	Jakes	14	13	0	160	36.24
13	Kanaan	5	5	15	160	34.46
14	Briscoe	23	19	0	159	39.82
15	Mann	19	21	0	159	32.62
16	Bourdais	12	11	0	159	23.02
17	Tagliani	24	24	0	158	29.43
18	Rahal	17	16	0	158	17.51
19	Vautier	11	10	0	158	7.27
20	Hunter-Reay	2	2	0	121	2.08
21	Viso	22	23	0	104	11.16
22	Sato	8	7	0	61	7.24
23	Saavedra	21	18	0	2	2.75
24	Hinchcliffe	3	3	0	0	1.39

Observations

- Honda was the power plant to have in the 2013 Pocono 400, and this race also led to the Ganassi-fueled Scott Dixon freight train that barreled its way to a series title in 2013.

- Last year's Pocono race was also a hard-luck-fest (as much of the 2013 Triple Crown was) for Marco Andretti. He burned a TON of fuel running out front for over half the race, and just got shuffled back to far to bring it home.

- Finally, this was probably the best run from Pippa Mann in a DW12. I mention it mostly because I am a fan of her radio work, and I like to acknowledge her in-car competence.

Projections

These are more fun than year-old observations. Here's what we might project forward to this year from last:

- I think that this race has the potential to get infinitely more interesting going from 400 to 500 miles. I have not seen a bad 500-miler with this chassis setup. Indy 2012 - Phenominal. Fontana 2012 - Compelling. Indy 2013 - Ridiculous passing. Fontana 2013 - Marathon. Indy 2014 - Amazing. I see no reason why Pocono 2014 can't follow suit.

- Juan Pablo Montoya is starting to round into Open-Wheel form. He has more experience at Pocono than any other driver in the field (albeit in a Cup car). He looked good at Indy. He looked good in Houston. I fully expect him to contend.

- As bummed as I am that Sage Karam won't be running his background race, I'm looking at another local to make noise. It has to work out for Marco Andretti eventually, right?

- Finally, an actual projection. Will Power sowed the seeds of his Fontana win in the Pocono Mountains last year. He was a contender even with sub-optimal equipment (and how often do you say that about a Penske...) in 2013, and I don't expect his equipment to be sub-optimal this time..

Stay Tuned

Well, that ought to get the juices flowing for this weekend's race. Be sure to follow me @ScoringIndy on Twitter for blog updates and race predictions. As always, ENJOY THE RACING. I'll see you later with predictions and scores.

-- Guido