Since Richard Petty won the first-ever race held at Pocono Raceway, the Cup Series has raced at its one-of-a-kind layout 89 times to date. And on the 91st recorded Cup race soon to be contested on Pocono, the opportunity lies for us to witness a brand new victor (the track’s 41st). And just maybe a brand new rivalry. 

Speaking of rivalries, the Tricky Triangle is fairly acquainted with the competitive tendencies of more than just one NASCAR driver. Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, you name it. All these legends have had their respective moments of madness at the high-speed playground in the heart of the majestic Pocono mountains. With NASCAR making its annual return next Sunday to one of the most grueling racetracks of the season’s schedule, let’s discuss some white-knuckled battles that helped shape the legend of unpredictable Pocono.

The great battles of Pocono Raceway

From The Intimidator’s battles against an up-and-coming Jeff Gordon to Denny Hamlin breaking Gordon’s wins record at the track by beating a familiar rival in Kevin Harvick, Pocono’s mystical energy pushes the average Cup Series driver just that extra mile it would seem. But this wild racetrack makes the grizzliest of veterans think twice on those dreaded corners, each modeled after a separate track.

1. Dale Earnhardt vs Jeff Gordon

Even the late great Dale Earnhardt had difficulties taming the various tricks of Pocono’s 2.5-mile triangle layout. At this circuit, Big Dale experienced his first major Cup Series crash fighting for Rookie of the Year honors in July of ‘79. Dale Earnhardt’s recovery from his severe 160-mph crash had prompted Bobby Allison, patriarch of the notorious Alabama Gang, to give the young rookie one of his first nicknames – “Ironhead.” According to a release from the Washington Post at the time, Earnhardt had suffered a “concussion, heart bruises, a broken collarbone and pelvis” in the incident.

Tough as nails, ol’ Ironhead would rebound from all that and win his first of 7 championships the next year. But in 1982, Pocono & Dale Earnhardt would be at odds again, with all but a little help from ‘Hollywood’ Tim Richmond. At July’s Mountain Dew 500, a terrifying crash on Turn 1 involving Richmond & Earnhardt had left the latter’s #15 Bud Moore Wrangler T-bird upside down. Most remember this day as the day that Richmond helped Dale (who had broken a kneecap in the incident), limp to the ambulance. 

Although Dale Earnhardt would win two races there, Pocono still stands out as one of those tracks that troubled him statistically. In 41 starts, Dale managed to average a finish of only 14.1 and led 453 laps. This is even more surprising considering the size of Pocono’s 2.5-mile triangle and Earnhardt’s well-known Mr. Restrictor-plate status that has come forth through taming tracks as treacherous as Pocono, like Talladega or Darlington.

However, his biggest rival of the ‘90s could not relate to Earnhardt’s misery by any means. Young gun Jeff Gordon made his official Pocono debut the same year Dale won his second and last-ever race at the track. Their rivalry has since been one for the history books. And it was as prevalent as ever in the 16 instances that they faced each other at Pocono Raceway.

Gordon was effectively in the lead amidst their battles in Pocono with 3 wins, and 5 podium finishes until Dale Earnhardt’s untimely passing. On the other hand, Dale Sr had only one win and a single P2 spot to show for, in all his outings against Jeff Gordon driving the same field. But for the Rainbow Warrior, an even more valuable memoir from his tussles against Dale Sr. came as a picture from the 1998 Pennsylvania 500.

This picture, currently in possession of Gordon, shows the Intimidator pushing his #24 Monte Carlo from the rear to make room for himself at Pocono in typical Earnhardt fashion. Gordon even got it signed by the Man in Black before some unspeakable developments came from Daytona International Speedway in February 2001.

2. Denny Hamlin vs Kevin Harvick

This is quite an unlikely rivalry, considering both these drivers have stayed out of each other’s noses… unless they were caught battling for the championship. Pocono holds a special place for two of the most dominant drivers in recent years. Hamlin, the current track record holder with 7 wins, won his first pair of Cup Series races at Pocono with a sweep in 2006. Kevin Harvick has the highest Top 5s and Top 10s out of all drivers since 2001. The Closer also boasts a single win at Pocono which came in 2020. And ironically he made the last Top-5 of his Cup Series career at the track last year in July.

That event particularly made headlines for Denny Hamlin’s record-breaking 50th race win, with Toyota winning their 600th overall NASCAR at Pocono. 

Nevertheless, nothing can compare to their Hollywood-worthy run of form in 2020 when the racetrack hosted a Cup Series doubleheader over the weekend because of a schedule realignment for COVID. First, Harvick prevailed on Saturday, with Hamlin in his tow. Then Hamlin entered his name into history books by tying Jeff Gordon’s previous record with a 6th race win at Pocono. This time Harvick finished second. The next few races were a battle for the ages between the duo vying for the Regular Season championship. In the end, with a weekend sweep at Michigan, plus another victory at Dover, Harvick gave himself the points lead over Denny to win the 2020 Regular Season championship.

But as for Sunday’s race? The Closer’s throwing all the support behind his former Pocono rival, as the man himself gets ready to kick up his feet and watch the race from home.

3. Jimmie Johnson vs. Tony Stewart

2005-2011 was a total ‘smoke’ show, courtesy of Mr. 7x Jimmie Johnson & his long-time rival Tony Stewart’s total dominance. Those two ensured no one else claimed the Bill France Cup in six staggering years. From 2006 to 2010, Johnson won 5 championships, the remaining two (2005 & 2011) were Stewart’s for the taking.

Pocono emerged as a familiar battleground in the chaos of their countless duels. However, everything kicked off in 2003, only a year removed from Tony Stewart’s first out of three championship wins. The duo fought for their advances regularly. The theme for Johnson appeared as a sinister mission to outdo Tony Stewart in all ways possible.

First, the California native matched his Hoosier counterpart, Stewart’s 1999 rookie season record of four pole positions and three wins. Then, only a year after Smoke’s Pocono win, Jimmie Johnson swept the races, just like Denny Hamlin would in a few years. Stewart finished P28 and registered a DNF, respectively, in both races.

Stewart & Johnson would be involved in various on-track battles as the years ticked. But the Pocono chapter to their rivalry was reignited in 2009. For the first time as an owner/driver following his 2003 triumph with Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart won at the racetrack, while Johnson, ran out of gas with just one lap to go from P2. Regardless, that would not stop ol’ JJ from winning his 4th championship later that season.

In 2013, Jimmie Johnson would round up their rivalry with a 5th and final win at Pocono en route to his 6th championship, winning double the trophies Stewart was able to manage in about the same timeframe. Interestingly, Smoke finished 5th in this race, and when the Cup Series returned to Pocono in August, he finished 9th as Johnson finished the P13. The next day would bring about bad news for Tony as he would break his tibia and fibula in a Sprint car race to sit out the rest of the season.

4. Kyle Busch vs. Brad Keselowski

Certainly, Kyle Busch & Brad Keselowski’s rivalry is a little better known than the rest on this list. But heading to Pocono this weekend, those two will be looking out for each other’s cars, especially as they’ve tangled on the triangle more times than once. These two have had a long history with various contentious incidents. 

But one fact no one can deny is that when Kyle Busch & Brad Keselowski are racing at the front, very few can stop them from achieving that eventual front-row sweep, racing harder than ever for the lead. As it all unfolds, the duo ranks the highest among all active drivers who have combined for most 1-2 finishes in NASCAR with almost a dozen such instances.

It happened at Pocono itself twice. The first time was an emphatic return for Brad Keselowski at the 2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500 In August. Only a few days before, the Michigan native suffered a horrific accident while testing his Team Penske car at Road Atlanta when a brake failure resulted in him colliding with a concrete wall at 190 mph. Keselowski was in a lot of pain and suffered from a broken ankle and various other injuries. But he came back to Pocono only a few days later to compete. 

The RFK owner/driver led only about 19 laps that day. Yet, those were the only ones that mattered in the end. On the final late-race restart, he would take the lead from Kyle Busch and keep it, claiming his third NASCAR Cup Series victory. The following year, Keselowski became a first-time NASCAR Cup champ.

Regardless, Rowdy would eventually win 4 times at Pocono after these disappointments. His last win in 2021 only came after Keselowski was forced to pit for fuel with less than ten to go. Brad finished third in this race. But interestingly, the last time Rowdy visited Victory Lane at Pocono before that was in 2019, and once again Brad Keselowski finished runners-up to Kyle Busch in that event, quite the coincidence.

5. Kurt Busch vs. Ryan Newman

The Busch brothers are infamous for their fiery temper, and so is Ryan Newman. But even the rowdiest of rowdies must behave when it comes to the high-speed playground of the Poconos. Kurt Busch & Newman were friends at Roger Penske’s NACAR team for a moment. Then they split their separate ways and that infamous Southern 500 incident in 2012 only further fanned the flames of their rivalry.

Truth be told: these two former hotheads have something of a reputation inside the inner NASCAR circles. From Jimmie Johnson to Joey Logano, anybody can get it with Ryan Newman. As for Kurt Busch? A few minutes of his “NASCAR: Radioactive” tirades would be enough for anybody curious to know about the meaner side of Kyle’s older brother.

These tempers were not so apparent back in 2003 when Ryan Newman won his first race at Pocono from the pole and beat out Kurt Busch by about six car lengths. That season ended with a career-high 8 race wins in the Cup Series for Newman and a 6th place in the final points standings.

Kurt completely disparaged his own haters the following year by winning the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship as a pre-season underdog. However, one of his notable opponents on that racetrack was and will forever be Ryan Newman. Although Kurt did win two more races at Pocono than his once Penske teammate-turned-rival, Newman managed to finish inside ten spots of Kurt, almost every time the latter won a race at the Tricky Triangle.

Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson, and others are some of the best drivers to round the race track. Hopefully, we get exciting rivalries in the sport’s coming ages.