NASCAR changes will be seen at Pocono

Scrambling to find ways to reverse dwindling attendance and declining television ratings, NASCAR team owners huddled in the sport's North Carolina hub this week for an unusually cordial brainstorming session.

It's a new day for stock-car racing, with rivals apparently adopting an all-for-one attitude after decades of infighting while under the iron-fisted rule of the founding France family.

The willingness to embrace change begins this weekend at Pocono Raceway, which on Saturday will host a Camping World Truck Series race for the first time. The sanctioning body has joined the party, providing a unique qualifying format for the pickup trucks that promises to speed up the process - and presumably give the fans more bang for their bucks.

In addition to Friday and Saturday slates' being crammed with action, Sunday's Sprint Cup race could go a long way in clarifying the list of title contenders in the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Taking into account the enormity of Pocono's 2.5-mile tri-oval, NASCAR officials have decided to send a truck onto the track every 25 seconds during qualifying, instead of waiting for each vehicle to complete its qualifying attempt before releasing the next competitor. Although drafting will not be allowed, fans can expect to see at least three trucks on the course at the same time for most of the session.

Another significant change calls for the qualifying order to be determined by practice speeds posted during Friday's final practice, with the slowest truck making the first qualifying attempt Saturday morning.

Truck series veteran Mike Skinner, one of five drivers who took part in a tire test at Pocono in May, is on board with the changes.

"I think it's great; my hat's off to NASCAR to try to make it exciting for the race fans," Skinner said. "When it takes a minute or longer [at top speed] to get around some of these places, they should probably run two or three [vehicles] at a time."

Denny Hamlin, who will be joined by fellow Sprint Cup regulars Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler in the lineup for Saturday's Pocono Mountains 125, also applauded the move.

"We did a similar qualifying [format] on road courses in the Nationwide Series," Hamlin said. "It's well thought-out, and obviously I would like to see them implement it in the Cup Series."

Todd Bodine, a former champion and current truck series leader, dismissed the notion that some teams might purposely go slower in practice to avoid going later in qualifying.

"There's a few guys who might" try to sandbag, Bodine said with a chuckle. "But you've still got to go out and practice and try to get your best lap, and I think NASCAR has a handle on it well enough that everybody's going to do their best in practice."

Bodine is more intrigued by the race's being scheduled for 50 laps - affording little time for teams to make adjustments once the green flag waves.

"It's a sprint race - you don't have time to mess around," he said. "The guy that hits the setup perfect is the guy that's going to win the race. It's a one [green-flag pit] stop race; we're going to have one shot at adjusting the truck."

Adjust is what Chase Mattioli will have to do. The 20-year-old Fordham University student and grandson of Pocono Raceway founders Joseph and Rose Mattioli, will pull double duty on Saturday. Mattioli plans to follow up the 1 p.m. truck race with a stint behind the wheel of his stock car in the ARCA Racing Series' Weis Markets 125.

"This is a dream come true - to make my Camping World Truck Series debut," Mattioli said. "This weekend is going to be a great learning experience for me."

Another young local driver looking to conquer the Tricky Triangle is 24-year-old Tom Hessert III. The graduate of Cherry Hill High School East celebrated his first ARCA victory earlier this month by leading 126 laps on Iowa Speedway's 0.875-mile bullring.

"We're bringing the car I won with at Iowa, and I can't wait to run it again," Hessert said. "It was incredible. From our first laps on the track, we had a really good car."

THE TRACK: Pocono Raceway is on Route 115 in Long Pond, Pa. Take the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-476) to Exit 95. Take I-80 east toward Hazleton/Mount Pocono to Exit 284, head south on Route 115 for three miles. Gates open at 8 a.m.

FRIDAY: Camping World Truck Series practice, 8 a.m.; ARCA Series final practice, 10:15 a.m.; Sprint Cup Series practice, noon; ARCA Series qualifying, 1:40 p.m.; Sprint Cup Series qualifying, 3:40 p.m.; Camping World Truck Series practice, 5:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Sprint Cup Series practice, 9 a.m.; Camping World Truck Series qualifying, 10 a.m.; Sprint Cup Series practice, 11:20 a.m.; Pocono Mountains 125 Camping World Truck Series race, 1 p.m.; Weis Markets 125 ARCA Series race, 3 p.m.

SUNDAY: Pennsylvania 500 Sprint Cup Series race, 1 p.m.

TICKETS: Call 1-800-722-3929 or check the track's website at www.poconoraceway.com.
- Pete Schnatz

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