Rising star Denny Hamlin is the honorary Mayor of Long Pond. After earning the first two wins of his career at Pocono as a rookie in 2006, Hamlin finished with a third and a sixth last season.

In four starts at the 2.5-mile triangle, Hamlin has two wins, four top 10s and 283 laps led. In fact, his worst finish (sixth) was a rain-shortened run in which only 106 of 200 total laps were completed. Hamlin may not be on Tony Stewart’s level yet, but he is Gibbs’ go-to guy at Pocono.

In the previously mentioned June rainstorm, Jeff Gordon snuck in his fourth career win at Pocono and his first at the track in nearly a decade — having last taken the checkers in July 1998.

In August, Kurt Busch earned his second win in his last five races in the Keystone State, leading 175 of 200 laps, decimating the field and runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had the best day of his career at the track. Junior started from the pole, then fell behind with suspect equipment before making a late run to finish second.

Jimmie Johnson has not won since taking back-to-back titles at the three-cornered track in the summer of 2004. But Johnson has recorded four top-10 finishes in his last six races.

With only six career races at Pocono, Carl Edwards has two top-5 finishes, including a win and a fourth-place run as a rookie in ’05. Edwards has not recorded a finish higher than 14th since then. Call him a bounce back-flip candidate.

FANTASY STALL

Looking at Checkers
It’s hard to ignore the whooping Kurt Busch put on the field last year.
Pretty Solid Pick
Denny Hamlin
Good Sleeper Pick
Brian Vickers
Runs on Seven Cylinders
Jamie McMurray

Insider Tip
Penske has something figured out here. Whether its CoTs are as strong remains to be seen.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Clint Bowyer After taking a year to get himself acclimated, Bowyer recorded a pair of top-10 finishes at Pocono in 2007.

Bobby Labonte Don’t expect a win out of the 43, but Labonte is a three-time Pocono winner who, if his Petty CoT is feeling frisky enough, could sneak in a solid top-10 finish.

Ryan Newman It was shades of 2003 last year for Newman at Pocono. The July ’03 winner ran second in the rain-shortened event in June — a race he came within car lengths of winning — and followed it up with a seventh in August.

Brian Vickers Although the struggles of Team Red Bull left Vickers with 29th- and 35th-place runs last season, he ripped off three top 5s in six starts while in Hendrick sheet metal, never finishing outside of the top 15.