In 1968, the first race was held on the 3/4 mile track at Pocono Raceway, located in Pennsylvania and the first Nascar Winston Cup race was held 1974. One of the best things about this raceway is the distance from major cities. New York and Philadelphia are both located 90 miles away. The bonus in this most race fans drive 300 miles to attend a race. Within 200 miles live 60 million people. This provides a huge draw to the raceway and fans fill the bleachers and grandstands for each race. However this was not always the case.
The raceway went through some hard times after growing from the 3/4 mile track to the current 2.5 mile track. The majority of the problems came from construction mistakes and some inexperience. The raceway fought off bankruptcy several times. The owners almost sold the track before being contacted by Bill France Sr., president of Internationl Speedway Corp.. It was through his guidance that the raceway recovered and corrected its mistakes. Nascar returned again to the track with great sucess and now hosts two races as part of the Winston Cup.
In 1990, the track started a major improvement on the track and surrounding places. Over $3 million per year over a ten year period was spend on improvements. These changes took place as a result of feedback from fans, drivers, Nascar officals, and International Speedway Corp. Changes included the building of a new garage area, new pavement of the track, new press area, and a motor home park for the participants.
Race Records
Track Record, One Lap: 172.391 mph by
Tony Stewart
Track Record, 500 miles: 144.892 mph by
Rusty Wallace
Fastest Starting Field Average: 170.284 mph Pennsylvania 500 (2000)
Most Caution Flags, Event: 13 Pocono 500 (1990)
Fewest Caution Flags, Even: 1 Pennsylvania 500 (1978)
Information for this node was taken from http://www.poconoraceway.com