Nascar Racing Online

Updated – 6:07am ET - Rain may delay the start of Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500. Current forecasts predict thunderstorms with a 60% chance of rain. Pocono Raceway does not have lights and we could be looking at a Monday start.

With just six races left before the Chase for the Championship, Pocono could be the deciding race for many in 2010.

There are currently five drivers who are within 156 points of the Chase cutoff and each of them are digging deep to find victory lane today in Long Pond. The best bet of this group has to be Jamie McMurray who is coming off his second win of 2010 at Indianapolis and is riding a season-high wave of momentum.

Mark Martin is currently 13th in points, just 62 markers out of the Chase, and after winning six races in 2009, the #5 is due.

Dale Earnhardt Jr (-93), Ryan Newman (-147) and Kasey Khane (-156) round out the Playoff hopefuls.

News, notes and a starting lineup can be found after the jump!

Called the ‘Tricky Triangle’ for it’s odd shape and difficult corners, Pocono Raceway will actually drive a lot like last week’s Brickyard 400. Expect several Indy contenders to again fight for the lead in today’s race.

Leading the charge has to be Denny Hamlin. No driver has Pocono figured out more than Hamlin who in nine races, has four wins, six top-fives and an 8.6 average finish. The last stat leads all Sprint Cup as does his Pocono driver rating of 119.1. Hamlin will start today’s race in third and should immediately find himself in a position to lead laps.

Juan Pablo Montoya captured his second consecutive front row start on Friday and should top the shortlist of possible winners for today’s race. For the second straight year Juan Pablo led the most laps at Indianapolis and was cost another Indy win by choosing four fresh tires rather than two.

Montoya was mired in traffic over the course of the final run and brought out the last caution after making contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Montoya came to Pocono with something to prove and that chip could net his second career Cup Series victory.

Expect the usual suspects of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart to secure the rest of the top-five with Carl Edwards (98.5 driver rating) a possible dark horse.

Pre-race coverage will be provided by ESPN2 Countdown (11ET) and SPEED Raceday (10ET). Live race coverage will air on ESPN starting at 1 p.m./ET. Green flag is set for 1:15 with Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree providing the call.

                                                                Pocono Raceway
                                    The Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 (37th Running)
                                                      Provided by NASCAR Statistics
                                 

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