The ARCA Racing Series heads to the Pocono Mountains for the second trip of 2016 for the ModSpace 150 at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway. This will be the 14th race in 2016 for ARCA, kicking off a triple-header weekend in Pocono. 28 drivers are currently scheduled to race in the Friday evening spectacular. John Wes Townley will be returning to competition after missing two weeks due to concussion-like symptoms faced in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Gateway Motorsports Park in late June.
Friday’s late afternoon race will be 50 miles shorter than the General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 held at the beginning of June. The race will be a quick 60 lap shootout, where drivers will try to make it on one pit stop.
This will be the 63rd ARCA race at Pocono. ARCA races at Pocono have a notorious list of winners, including, but not limited to, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne, Tim Steele, Mike Wallace, and Blaise Alexander.
Pocono Raceway is located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Three distinct turns canvas the speedway. The first turn is banked at 14 degrees, and is designed after the Trenton Speedway. As they exit the turn, drivers will go down the Long Pond Straightaway gaining momentum as they enter what is known as the “Tunnel Turn”, turn two. The second turn is based on Indianapolis Motor Speedway at nine degrees of banking. After the exit of turn two, drivers will go down the shortshoot to set up for turn three. The third turn is only banked at six degrees, and is based off the Milwaukee Mile. Drivers must execute turn three to near perfection in an effort to gain more momentum down the longest straightaway on the circuit.
According to weekly press releases, drivers are excited about returning to Pocono.
Christopher Bell will be making his first start at Pocono for Venturini Motorsports, while performing double duty. “I’m really excited to make my first start at Pocono this weekend,” said Bell. “Pocono’s unique track configuration puts a lot of emphasis on the technical aspect behind the wheel. I’m looking forward to the challenge. Running back-to-back events will be a lot of fun and give me plenty of laps to adapt to a new track. I’ve had this weekend circled on my calendar for a while now.”
Matt Kurzejewski, driver of the no. 52 Ansell-Menards Toyota for Ken Schrader Racing, will be racing in front of a hometown crowd on Friday. “I’m totally looking forward to going back. I love the three completely different turns. Turn one has some banking and you can really hustle it through there. Turn two is more high-speed and technical, similar to a road course…you have to hustle it yourself through there. Turn three is more flat…not a big fan of flat tracks, but it’s high-speed and I like it. For me, it can be challenging to hold a rhythm because you have to repeat three complete different movements over each lap, which requires drivers to get on a different tempo. It’s different to everywhere else we go, which is a big part of the appeal, at least for me.”
Chase Briscoe, current ARCA points leader, will be trying to make history by being the first driver to win four races in a row since Parker Kligerman in 2009. Briscoe hopes to contend for victory.
Practice for the ModSpace150 will be from 9:30 to 10:55 on Friday morning. Lenard’s Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell will be at 2:00 pm EST. The race will begin at 5:30 pm on Fox Sports 1. On track activity with live timing and scoring can be viewed at arcaracing.com.
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