The first major race at Pocono Raceway was the Schaefer 500 Indy-Car race on Aug. 3, 1971, won by Mark Donohue.
But for much of its 51-year history as a major racing venue, Pocono has been known as the home for NASCAR. Richard Petty won the first Cup Series race at Pocono — called the Purolator 500 — in 1974 and the track has hosted at least one race a year in NASCAR’s top series ever since.
In fact, starting in 1982 when Bobby Allison won both the Mountain Dew 500 and Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 at Long Pond in Monroe County, Pocono has been host to two Cup series races each summer.
Not even the pandemic could stop the track from two races in 2020 as NASCAR had its first scheduled Cup Series doubleheader weekend at Pocono with races on Saturday and Sunday.
It wasn’t quite the same as previous years when Cup series races were held about six weeks to two months apart at Pocono, but the doubleheader weekend gave racing fans their share of thrills, especially in 2021 when the pandemic restrictions were reduced and more fans could attend.
To the chagrin of many, NASCAR will stage just one Cup Series race this year at Pocono, but it still figures to be a busy and compelling weekend. The CRC Brakleen Camping World Truck Series race and the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 Xfinity Series race will provide a doubleheader on Saturday, leading into the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 Cup race on Sunday.
While the departure of one Cup Series race was disappointing, it wasn’t a surprise as NASCAR has sought to hold races in new markets.
When the 2022 schedule was released, Pocono officials released a statement saying: “Although we are disappointed NASCAR has chosen to eliminate one of the two NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway, we will continue to persevere and provide the best family-friendly experience and value to our guests. Bringing the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series Doubleheader with fans to life was a privilege. The doubleheader concept was well-received by our race fans, partners, and guests. It yielded a sold-out infield, sold-out suite level, and strong attendance.
“This change does not affect our resolve, our legacy, and how we will approach promoting NASCAR races and hosting our guests. We have thrilled millions of spectators and thousands of the world’s greatest racecar drivers over the past 47 years and, alongside NASCAR, we will host millions more.”
Veteran Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski has enjoyed coming to Pocono and loves everything about it from the mountains, the lakes and even the challenging track.
However, he understands the move by NASCAR.
“It’s important to our sport that we have a race at Pocono, but it’s also important to our sport that we also have some schedule variability,” said Keselowski, who won a race at Pocono in 2011 and has since finished second four times and ended in the top-5 11 times overall. “We’re getting to a spot where no track is going to be guaranteed two races and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A lot of tracks should be guaranteed one race and certainly, Pocono is one of them. It’s one of those communities that has embraced NASCAR for past decades and hopefully will embrace it for decades in the future. But we have to keep an open mind.”
Keselowski said NASCAR needs to continue to look for new venues.
“We need to look at markets that are underserved or aren’t served at all,” he said. “Variability seems to generate a lot of interest from our fans, which is important and there are going to be some winners and losers from that standpoint. Those who are used to Pocono having two races on the schedule are disappointed I’m sure, but the reality is that we’re still racing there and we’re glad to go there. I don’t see that changing. We may not have two races, but one race is still exciting.”
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