Pocono Raceway

  What: NASCAR Sprint Cup Where: Long Pond, Pa. Schedule: Friday, practice (Speed, noon-1:30 p.m.), qualifying (Speed, 3:30-5 p.m.); Saturday, practice (Speed, 9:30-10 a.m., 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.); Sunday, race, 1 p.m. (ESPN, 1-5:30 p.m.). Where: Pocono Raceway (triangle, 2.5 miles). Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps. Last year: Denny Hamlin won a race pushed back to Monday because of rain, snapping a 50-race winless streak. Juan Pablo Montoya was second.

It can be a little unnerving when a driver takes both hands off the steering wheel at 120 m.p.h. - especially when you're sitting in the front passenger seat. Yet during a four-lap tour of Pocono Raceway on Friday morning, there was hardly cause for alarm when my chauffeur, NASCAR Nextel Cup veteran Jeff Burton, "let go" to emphasize a point as our royal blue pace car cruised to within inches of the concrete wall separating the track from the grandstands. Looking cool and comfortable in the air-conditioned 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, Burton calmly put the "street car" through its paces while demonstrating the line he intends to guide his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy around the 2.5-mile triangular-shaped speedway during today's Pennsylvania 500. "This track has the longest straightaway of anywhere we go," Burton said as we swung off the minimally banked Turn 3 (6 degrees)

Jeff Gordon was singing in the rain at Pocono Raceway last June when a downpour ended the race after 106 of 200 laps, sending his first-place No. 24 Chevrolet to Victory Lane. The four-time Cup champion sang a different tune at Dover this weekend, wondering aloud if the 2.5-mile track in Long Pond, Pa., is worthy of hosting two races per season on NASCAR's top circuit. Although he vowed his affection for Pocono Raceway's owners, Joe and Rose Mattioli, Gordon said the "racetrack is outdated [and]

LONG POND, Pa. - Pocono Raceway's repaved 2.5-mile track is making a good first impression with NASCAR's Sprint Cup drivers. On Wednesday, the second day of a Goodyear tire test at the raceway, drivers offered favorable reviews of the track. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, predicted that his track qualifying record of 172.533 m.p.h., set in June 2004, will be broken. Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Chevy, said, "The corner speeds are way, way quicker.

UNLESS Bruton Smith swoops in with an overwhelming offer for Pocono Raceway, the mountain racetrack will remain in the Mattioli family's control. That's the sense gathered from conversations with people familiar with Pocono Raceway. Almost every year, there is speculation that either Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. or International Speedway Corp. will buy Pocono Raceway. Speedway Motorsports owns seven racetracks. ISC owns 12. After Smith, 81, recently purchased Kentucky Speedway, the North Carolina-based mega-car dealer indicated that he plans to bring a Sprint Cup race to the track.

Joseph Mattioli, 86, who gave up a successful dental practice in Northeast Philadelphia to found Pocono Raceway, died Thursday after a lengthy illness. Dr. Mattioli closed his dental practice at 34 to become an entrepreneur, investing in properties in Philadelphia and Northeastern Pennsylvania. Known to all as "Doc," he eventually founded Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., the only remaining family-owned and -run track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. Pocono Raceway opened in July 1971 with a 500-mile Indy car race.

NASCAR released the 2007 Nextel Cup schedule yesterday, and it brought welcome news to Pocono Raceway owner Joseph Mattioli. The 2.5-mile track in Long Pond, Pa., which has hosted a pair of Cup races annually since 1982, will again appear twice on the schedule - on June 10 and Aug. 5. The second date, which was the result of a switch with Indianapolis Motor Speedway, presents Pocono with what Mattioli termed a "win-win" situation. "We originally only had a four-week stretch between races, which made it pretty difficult to sell tickets," he said.

Rose Mattioli told the Associated Press yesterday that there there are no plans to sell Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. Mattioli, who owns the track with her husband, Joseph, a former Philadelphia dentist, said the track was "not available and will never be available. " Pocono hosts two Sprint Cup races, and speculation in NASCAR circles held that another party would buy the track and move one of the races elsewhere. The Pocono 500 is scheduled for June 8. The Pennsylvania 500 is Aug. 3. Soccer Manchester United has threatened to report Real Madrid to FIFA over the Spanish club's attempts to lure Cristiano Ronaldo from Old Trafford.

LONG POND, Pa. - Brad Keselowski hobbled around the Pocono Raceway garage for two days leading up to Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race, his broken left ankle encased in a walking boot. Gimpy and sore following a horrific crash during a road-course practice session on Wednesday, Keselowski steadfastly vowed that he would not climb out of his car before going the distance. Peers shook their heads, wondering how Keselowski would endure the pain of braking and shifting with that grotesquely swollen foot for 500 miles.

NASCAR stars Carl Edwards and Jeff Burton will captain opposing teams in a celebrity softball game at Campbell's Field in Camden on Tuesday. The game, pitting squads representing Pocono Raceway and Dover International Speedway, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free with the purchase of a ticket to that night's Camden Riversharks game against the Lancaster Barnstormers. Children under 16 wearing NASCAR gear or Little League uniforms will also be admitted free.

LONG POND, Pa. - Pocono Raceway's repaved 2.5-mile track is making a good first impression with NASCAR's Sprint Cup drivers. On Wednesday, the second day of a Goodyear tire test at the raceway, drivers offered favorable reviews of the track. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, predicted that his track qualifying record of 172.533 m.p.h., set in June 2004, will be broken. Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Chevy, said, "The corner speeds are way, way quicker.

LONG POND, Pa. - Pocono Raceway's repaved 2.5-mile track is making a good first impression with NASCAR's Sprint Cup drivers. On Wednesday, the second day of a Goodyear tire test at the raceway, drivers offered favorable reviews of the track. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, predicted that his track qualifying record of 172.533 mph, set in June 2004, will be broken. Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Chevy, said, "The corner speeds are way, way quicker," The new asphalt is changing McMurray's mind about Pocono.

LAKE HARMONY, Pa. - Watching as Dr. Joseph Mattioli's American flag-draped casket was lifted into a waiting hearse, NASCAR president Mike Helton reflected on the legacy of the late Pocono Raceway founder. "He's iconic, and maybe even the last of the pioneers that put NASCAR on the map and kept it there," Helton said. "I think the character and contributions of Doc will last forever. " Those sentiments were shared by the family, friends, fans and racing dignitaries (including NASCAR chairman Brian France)

WHEN I HEARD yesterday that Dr. Joseph Mattioli had died at age 86, I started thinking about our relationship. I began covering races at Pocono Raceway in the early 1970s. Back then Indy cars were the big show at Pocono, with Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and the Unser brothers attracting crowds of almost 100,000. After the Indy cars faded from view at Pocono, NASCAR established itself at the mountaintop track. Through it all, "Doc" Mattioli, supported by his wife Rose, was the force behind the 2.5-mile "Tricky Triangle.

DRS. ROSE AND Joseph Mattioli, of Pocono Raceway, received the National Motorsports Press Association's Myers Brothers Award last night. The award, presented during season-ending NASCAR festivities in Las Vegas, recognizes individuals and/or groups who have provided outstanding contributions to stock car racing. The Mattiolis have owned Pocono Raceway since it opened in the late 1960s. Finalists for the award included Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and the Wood Brothers. "[The Mattiolis]

SOMEHOW, I thought "Doc" Mattioli would never retire from Pocono Raceway. The mountaintop track and other Poconos business interests have been the passion for the former Philadelphia dentist since the track hosted its first IndyCar race in 1971. Dr. Joseph Mattioli, known as "Doc," caught everyone off guard Friday when he summoned his family to Pocono's infield center and announced he was stepping aside as chief executive officer. Mattioli, 86, has been in declining health.

LONG POND, Pa. - Brad Keselowski hobbled around the Pocono Raceway garage for two days leading up to Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race, his broken left ankle encased in a walking boot. Gimpy and sore following a horrific crash during a road-course practice session on Wednesday, Keselowski steadfastly vowed that he would not climb out of his car before going the distance. Peers shook their heads, wondering how Keselowski would endure the pain of braking and shifting with that grotesquely swollen foot for 500 miles.