The NASCAR Cup Series continues today with the 2021 Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway. Read on below to see my prediction for who will win the race, as well as my top 10, dark horse, and driver to fade predictions.
Winner: William Byron- Byron has been extremely consistent this year, finishing outside the top 10 just 4 times in 18 starts. Byron has also fared well at Pocono in his young career, with 5 top 10’s in 7 career starts at the track. Byron showed great speed yesterday enroute to a 3rd place finish and I predict Byron will keep the Hendrick Motorsports winning streak alive with a victory today.
Top 10: Kyle Busch- Busch is the man to beat anytime he shows up at Pocono, with 3 wins, 10 top 5’s, and 17 top 10’s in 33 starts. Busch has finished in the top 10 in 9 of his last 10 starts here, including a stretch of 3 victories over a 4 race stretch. Busch will be a threat to win at the end of the race, but a top 10 is a guarantee today.
Dark horse: Daniel Suarez- Suarez has shown flashes of brilliance at Pocono in his career, with 5 top 15 finishes in 9 career starts, including a runner up finish here in 2018. Suarez has quietly been putting together a good run of late, finishing in the top 15 in 6 of his last 8 starts, including a 13th place finish here yesterday. I predict that Suarez will keep the streak going and bring home another top 15 finish.
Driver to fade: Corey LaJoie- LaJoie has been ice cold at Pocono in his career, with 0 top 20 finishes in 8 career starts. LaJoie had 4 straight top 20’s before finishing 36th here yesterday. I predict that LaJoie will finish outside the top 20 again.