Notable events Pocono Raceway

pocono raceway , indycar announce return of tricky triangle indycar schedule starting in 2013.



1971: schaefer beer agrees sponsor pocono s indycar 500.
july 3, 1971: mark donohue wins inaugural usac pocono 500. nascar grand national regulars donnie allison , cale yarborough finish 28th , 32nd respectively.
july 1972: massive flooding remnants of hurricane agnes forced postponement of schaefer 500 late july, in conjunction usac s pennsylvania 500 stock cars; pocono became first track hold back-to-back 500 mile races in 1 weekend. joe leonard won schaefer 500 while roger mccluskey drove plymouth superbird win pennsylvania 500.
july 20 july 29, 1973: pocono state fair offered performances bob hope, johnny cash, mac davis, jackson five, helen reddy, sammy davis jr., lawrence welk, , other stars.
august 4, 1974: richard petty wins inaugural pocono 500.
august 1, 1976: petty scores popular win after david pearson blows tire 2 laps go.
june 21, 1981: a. j. foyt wins usac van scoy diamond mines 500. final indycar race usac sanctioned @ pocono. 1982–1989 indycar races sanctioned cart. foyt s final indycar win.
august 15, 1982: rick mears wins cart domino s pizza pocono 500, first cart indycar sanctioned race.
1985 bill elliott sweeps both pocono cup races.
1986–1987: tim richmond wins 3 pocono races in row. third , last spring race in 1987. richmond had returned after missing first part of season battling hiv. richmond first hiv positive race car driver win major race, wasn t revealed 4 years.
july 20, 1986: richmond recovers crash , beats ricky rudd , geoff bodine in photo finish.
june 19, 1988: on opening lap of 1988 miller high-life 500, bobby allison suffered career-ending injuries when spun , t-boned no. 63 of jocko maggiacomo.
august 21, 1988: bobby rahal wins cart quaker state 500. bobby s win of season. final win truesports indycar team, leave team @ end of season join team kraco (incidentally @ end of 1989 team kraco merged galles racing form kraco-galles). win ever scored judd engine.
august 20, 1989: danny sullivan wins final cart pocono 500. final year of indycar 500 mile triple crown.
1999: bobby labonte sweeps both races @ pocono.
june 18, 2000: jeremy mayfield knocked dale earnhardt out of way score third career winston cup win.
july 28, 2002: steve park , dale earnhardt, jr. became entangled exiting turn one, , both cars slammed inside wall, causing park s vehicle go airborne on hood of earnhardt s car , barrel roll. incident resulted in lengthy red flag repair old-fashioned highway barrier (a guardrail wooden supports) lined inside of track in area. afterward, outdated barriers @ track replaced sturdier walls. race shortened 25 laps due repair , rain delays throughout race, bill elliott won race.
2004: safer barrier installed in turns.
2006: nascar s rookie of year denny hamlin sweeps both races of 2006 season @ pocono.
june 6, 2008: pocono raceway becomes 1 of first nascar tracks in country utilize barcode-based ticketing.
june 2008 james hylton becomes oldest driver race @ pocono in arca series.
august 2, 2008: frank kimmel, 9-time arca re/max series champion, injured after 3-car crash on lap 68 of pocono race involved car being clipped , slamming backstretch wall on driver s side, going airborne result. kimmel suffered partially torn sphincter , pulled groin, spending night in local hospital before being released.
june 7, 2009: tony stewart wins 2009 pocono 500. in doing so, becomes first person both owns , drives car win in nascar cup series since ricky rudd in 1998. double-file restart shootout style restart procedure introduced @ race first time @ nascar cup series points race.
june 6, 2010: 2 laps go, kevin harvick turned joey logano, setting green white checkered finish. on last lap, kasey kahne got loose, went through grass, hit mark martin , greg biffle, , flew through air, landing on top of wall , destroying several hedges outside track due absence of catch fence. denny hamlin cruised home third victory @ pocono.
july 31, 2010: camping world truck series raced first time @ pocono in pocono mountains 125. used multi-truck qualifying format in successive trucks sent out 25 seconds apart. elliott sadler won inaugural truck series event @ pocono.
august 1, 2010: jimmie johnson clipped kurt busch on long pond straightaway , busch spun across track. behind him elliott sadler turned teammate a. j. allmendinger , collided inside guardrail savagely ripped engine out of car , threw entrance of tunnel turn. sadler s wrecked car slid stop on track , despite being shaken , suffering pain, climb out of car , able walk ambulance. crash recorded hardest hit in nascar history. wreck (along kasey kahne s crash in spring race) aroused concern on safety of track , renovations made improve safety, adding safer barriers inside retaining wall , catch fence on long pond straightaway. greg biffle won race, days after owner jack roush involved in plane crash.
june 12, 2011: jeff gordon scored 84th nascar cup series win, tying bobby allison , darrell waltrip 3rd on time win list.
august 7, 2011: brad keselowski won nascar cup series race 3 days after sustaining injury in test crash @ road atlanta.
october 4, 2011: improvement projects announced, including repaving track, installing new flag stand, making pit stalls concrete, , adding new pit wall. first time track has been repaved since 1995. new flag stand came incident in camping world truck series hauler clipped old stand , destroyed in august 2011.
january 26, 2012: founder , chairman of board pocono raceway, joseph mattioli, dies after long illness.
january 31, 2012: after viewing , funeral, mattioli took last lap around pocono raceway.
april 25–26, 2012: pocono raceway hosts goodyear tire test nascar cup series , camping world truck series teams, first event held following repaving project.
august 5, 2012: jeff gordon clinches first win of 2012 season , extends all-time leading 6 wins @ pocono in 2012 pennsylvania 400 after race ended due rainstorm. fan killed lightning strike, while 9 others injured.
october 2012: pocono raceway suffers damage hurricane sandy, such steeple being destroyed, victory tower roof being partially missing, , power outages.
june 8, 2013: chase elliott wins pocono arca 200, becoming youngest arca racing series superspeedway winner in series history @ age of 17 years , 6 months.
july 7, 2013: scott dixon wins 2013 pocono indycar 400, first indy car race @ pocono since 1989.
july 6, 2014: juan pablo montoya in team penske number 2 car won pocono 500 pole. race set international motorsports record the, fastest 500 mile race in history . race had average speed of 202.402 mph, shattering previous record of 197.995 mph 2002 open wheel race @ california speedway.
august 3, 2014: dale earnhardt jr. wins gobowling.com 400, becoming recent nascar driver sweep pocono s cup series events in season.
august 23, 2015: ryan hunter-reay wins abc supply 500 indycar race. on lap 179, sage karam spun , piece of debris car struck justin wilson on head, knocking wilson unconscious , sending him wall. wilson airlifted lehigh valley hospital in allentown, died following day.
august 1, 2016: chris buescher gets first career win in fog shortened 2016 pennsylvania 400 after stretching fuel window.
june 11, 2017: ryan blaney holds off kevin harvick win first ever monster energy nascar cup series race in 2017 axalta presents pocono 400.




^ safer barriers installation complete @ pocono archived january 10, 2010, @ wayback machine.
^ [1] archived january 3, 2009, @ wayback machine.
^ doc mattioli, pocono raceway patriarch, passes . poconoraceway.com. retrieved 2012-08-11. 
^ [2]
^ david caraviello, nascar.com (2012-08-07). spectator killed lightning strike @ pocono - aug 07, 2012 . nascar.com. retrieved 2012-08-11. 
^ bandoim, lana (2012-10-31). hurricane sandy affects nascar: fan view . yahoo! sports. retrieved 2012-10-31. 
^ castroneves gains ground @ pocono - july 6, 2014 . retrieved 2014-09-27. 
^ justin wilson in coma after suffering severe head injury during race . espn.com. espn internet ventures. august 24, 2015. retrieved august 24, 2015. 
^ olson, jeff (august 23, 2015). indycar driver justin wilson in coma after pocono crash . usa today. long pond, pennsylvania: gannett satellite information network, inc. retrieved august 23, 2015. 
^ indycar driver justin wilson has died of head injury . abc news. indianapolis: abc news internet ventures. associated press. august 25, 2015. archived original on august 25, 2015. retrieved august 25, 2015.