2 years agoDaniel Suarez will be starting in ninth place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. Suarez will be in an interesting situation. If 17 different drivers perform well on Sunday, Suarez could be the one driver kicked out of the playoffs, but that will be very unlikely. Suarez has stats of one win, four top-fives and eight top-10 finishes, which puts him in 12th place in the standings. Suarez can also be a dark horse to win this race at Pocono. In 2018, Suarez got the pole in the July race and finished in second place in the same race. If Suarez can tap into his 2018 self, he could be in line for a huge day. Suarez will be a good play for Sunday.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoMartin Truex Jr. will be starting in eighth place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. Truex is also one of the drivers that will be talked about until the playoffs start, because Truex currently holds the last playoff spot. If another driver gets their first win of the season, Truex will be knocked out of the playoffs, so Truex must drive well until the regular season ends. With stats of zero wins, three top-fives and eight top-10 finishes, it puts him in 16th place in the standings. Truex will be looking to get his first win of the season and clinch his playoff spot. Truex should be worth a look for fantasy lineups.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoBubba Wallace will be starting in seventh place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. Wallace is coming off one of his best races of the year with a third-place finish at New Hampshire. It looks like he could be in line for another good finish, as he will be starting inside the top 10. However, this season has not been the best for Wallace, as he has not broken out yet. With zero wins, two top-fives and three top-10 finishes, he is in 23rd place in the standings. Wallace will need to win to make the playoffs in the last three races of the year. Wallace is a risky pick.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoRyan Blaney will be starting in sixth place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. Blaney will be one of the most talked about drivers leading up to the playoffs, as he is one of the drivers who is barely holding onto his playoff spot. Since Blaney does not have a win this year, he sits in 15th place in the standings. It is important to note that Blaney has the third-most points in the standings with stats of zero wins, seven top-fives and 10 top-10 finishes. If Blaney were to win, there would be no question that he would make the playoffs. However, if Blaney doesn't win and two other drivers perform well, Blaney could miss the playoffs. Blaney should be worth a look in fantasy.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoChris Buescher will be starting in fifth place on Sunday at Pocono Raceway. This is an outstanding starting spot for Buescher. It looks very promising, as he usually does well on road courses. Doing this at Pocono shows significant development for Buescher. With zero wins, one top-five and five top-10 finishes this year, he sits in 24th place in the standings, which means he needs to win to have a chance to make the playoffs. He has a shot at winning at Pocono, Watkins Glen and Daytona, which will be his last chance to make the playoffs. Buescher will be nothing more than a very risky play.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoKyle Larson will be starting in fourth place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. Larson needs to start picking it up after he had 10 wins last season. In Larson's defense, this season has produced 14 different winners, which makes his 2021 season very unlikely to happen again. With stats of one win, eight top-fives and 10 top-10 finishes, he currently sits in sixth place in the standings. Larson will still be a threat to win the championship, as he has been a consistent driver and has racked up loads of top-fives and top-10 finishes. Larson should be a great pick to win at the tricky triangle.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoChase Elliott will be starting in third place on Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Elliott is the best driver in NASCAR, and it's not even close. Elliott's worst finish was a second-place showing in the last four races. Elliott is the points leader with stats of three wins, seven top-fives and 14 top-10 finishes. Elliott will likely be the regular season champ, as he is 67 points in front of the second-place driver, Ross Chastain. Suppose Elliott finishes in second or better at Pocono. In that case, he will have finished as the runner-up or better for a month when the streak started on June 26 at Nashville. Elliott should be the favorite right now to bring home the checkered flag.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoKyle Busch will look for an excellent finish on Sunday, starting in second place at Pocono Raceway. It hasn't been that easy for Busch of late, as he hasn't recorded a top-10 finish since the June race at World Wide Technology Raceway. It has almost been two months since Busch's last top-10 finish, and he will be looking to get one at the tricky triangle. Busch has stats of one win, six top-fives and 11 top-10 finishes, which puts him in seventh place in the standings. If Busch can pick up a win, it would show the NASCAR world that he will be looking for his third championship. Busch should be in contention to win at Pocono.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoWith his third pole of the season, Denny Hamlin will be starting in first place on Sunday at Pocono Raceway. When Hamlin qualifies on the pole, he usually finishes strong, and he'll be hunting for his third win of the season. He has stats of two wins, three top-fives and five top-10 finishes this year. This is Hamlin's worst statistical season since 2013, when he had an average of 21 points. Right now, he has an average finish of 19th place this season. Despite Hamlin's struggles this season, he sits in fifth place in the standings thanks to his two wins. Hamlin should be worth a look on Sunday.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoKevin Harvick has history on his side at Pocono. Harvick is also racing very well this season despite not winning yet. He is up to ninth in the points standings as his Stewart-Haas Racing car gets better and better. At Pocono, he has that one win in his last six appearances along with a 7.2 average finish. That includes three top-five results. Only Denny Hamlin has more of those (4) in that span. Even though a driver like Erik Jones has more long shot odds here, a driver like Harvick could be a safer option. He has led 10.4% of the laps and runs more consistently. Other than Gateway, Harvick has three top-fives since Charlotte and has finished no worse than 12th anywhere. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoRoss Chastain is never dull when it comes to Pocono or anywhere for that matter. The TrackHouse Racing driver is in a much better car than last year's Chip Ganassi car. Despite that, the driver was tenth after the second stage before disaster struck. He has not finished in the top-20 in any of his six appearances on the "tricky triangle". However, his run-ins with drivers this year could make for an entertaining ride on Sunday. Can he stay near the front? His speed says yes. His longer-term speed remains a question mark on this track, however. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoRicky Stenhouse Jr. starts 19th on Sunday afternoon at Pocono. However, the track has not been kind to the JTG Daugherty Racing driver. He has not finished near the top-ten in his past six appearances. Also, Stenhouse Jr. has had several brushes of contact and two DNF's in the last three seasons. This is in spite of an average start of 10.5. He is more in the middle of the pack this time and Stenhouse Jr. may be mired there most of the day as his car has not carried speed well of late. He has not finish inside the top-15 since Memorial Day Weekend at Charlotte. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoWilliam Byron and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy has not enjoyed many good times in months. However, he does have four top-tens and two top-fives at Pocono in his last six races. 2022 has been quite a struggle though. Since the Martinsville win in April, Byron, despite leading quite a few laps, has not cracked the top-five anywhere. His best finish was 9th at Sonoma and 11th last week in New Hampshire. If there was a time for Byron to put a race together, it would be now. Even at Atlanta, Byron led 41 laps as his car started to drive like what most are used to.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoAlex Bowman and his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy had a wild double last year where he won the first race by sort of being in the right place at the right time. Bowman did follow that up with a seventh place result giving him three straight top-tens. Things may be more difficult this time around. The 48 car mostly runs well on the track but the heat and the Next-Gen setup may cause some issues. There is a chance that Bowman could fall off the pace late. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoTyler Reddick and his Richard Childress Racing Chevy start 16th at Pocono on Sunday afternoon. The No. 8 car does have a ninth-place result on the 2.5-mile course but also some duds including a 35th. Reddick did perform much better last year during the "double" finishing 11th and 9th and was in the top ten after the opening stage both times. Can he maintain that momentum like Reddick did last year? Can he avoid trouble? Those are always the two huge questions at Pocono. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com