Pocono Raceway - Pennsylvania's NASCAR Connection
By: Andy Kondratick
When you visit this historic NASCAR Speedway you will be amazed at the amount of people that show up. Around 150,000 plus pack into the stands and party in the infield. They come from everywhere and anywhere just to catch a glimpse at one of the toughest races in Winston Cup today. This track is anything but usual and there are no worries about it becoming a cookie-cutter track either. You couldn't build another track like this even if you had the Army Corps of Engineers helping you every step of the way.
I had the great pleasure of growing up just down the road from Pocono Speedway. I always made my way over near the track on race day but never into the track. That is because my friends and I used to drive up an old logging road near the track just on the other side of the Long Pond straight-away. That is where I watched the race from. It is no different than being in the infield and the view is pretty much the same. Just on the outside looking in.
I saw some of the greatest and most memorable drivers in history race and crash there. Davey Allison, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott and Richard Petty just to name a few. At the time, I didn't know it but I was watching the best of the best in NASCAR history race around a two and a half mile, three turned beast that would be labeled as one of the toughest tracks in NASCAR history. "The Speedway that drives like a road course" is how it is described now days.
The creation of "Doc" Mattioli was a severe financial burden on the family that almost ended up being bankrupt two or three times.
"We were on the verge of selling the track when we received a telephone call from Bill France Sr., who asked us to meet with him in New York. At the meeting he tried to convince me not to sell the track, to stick it out and stay the course.
"Needless to say, I took his advice and I didn't wait. He gave us moral support and a lot of good advice. He and his wife, Annie B., came to the race the next two years to show their support for Pocono Raceway. Shortly thereafter he and his son, Bill Jr., gave us our second NASCAR race and as they say, the rest is history. Had it not been for Bill France Sr., Annie B. and Bill Jr., Pocono Raceway would not be here today."
The first race ever run at Pocono came in 1968 when the track was only 3/4 of a mile long. With a ton of renovations to the land they came up with the current track configuration at 2 and a half miles. The first 500 mile Indy race came on the two and one-half mile track in 1971 followed by the first ever 500 mile NASCAR sanctioned race in 1974.
There were a lot of mistakes in building Pocono Raceway and the Mattioli family decided to down everything and rebuild it from the ground up. They started with a blank piece of paper and drew and designed what they felt, after 25 years of mistakes and trial and errors, were what the participants and the fans would like. So in 1990, very quietly and very slowly, they began to build Pocono Raceway all over again.
"Over a ten-year period we spent approximately $3 million every year. New crash walls, completely new paving, removed all the old garages and ¾ mile track, completely re-graded and cut and filled the old Garage Area. Built a one of a kind new Garage Area completely different and second to none. Built a 150-site motor home park for the participants, 124 of which have water, sewer and electricity, the only Winston Cup track to have all this except for Talladega. Built the biggest and most fan friendly Paddock Area so that fans are only 56 feet away from the cars. Built the most beautiful of all Press Rooms on the circuit. Removed all of the old 375 toilets and replaced them all with Long John, the biggest toilet facility in the world, with 1000 stalls, so that we would be assured we would have no lines. Built the largest and most beautiful Midway with fourteen 40' Blue Spruce, 200 picnic tables and gazebos all over. Today we feel that we have achieved our goal."
Pocono PFC - Pocono Pretty, Friendly, Clean. "We have no illusion of becoming the biggest or the richest or the most famous racetrack in the world. All we want to be is the Prettiest, Friendliest, and Cleanest and to have fun along the way with all of our loyal fans these past 32 years."
To "Docs" credit, he still answers the phone himself when you call the race track. Family owned and operated from the day it was built, you can bank on the family having a fun, safe, and memorable day when you visit Pocono.
Most people don't realize all of the unusual facets that Pocono has concerning its location and its structure. Pocono is in the Magic Triangle - New York, Philadelphia and Pocono Raceway are all 90 miles away from each other - with New York as the #1 TV market and Philadelphia as the #4 TV market. Pocono is within 200 miles of 60 million people and when you consider that the average NASCAR Winston Cup fan travels 300 miles, we are in the highest population density of any other Winston Cup track. Our unusual triangular configuration is conducive to many lead changes especially with the longest straightaway and the widest main straight with the longest and widest Pit Road. All of these features give Pocono uniqueness - a very enjoyable difference.
E-mail me at bigdaddyrogue@comcast.net
July 26, 2003 -
Pocono Raceway has long been recognized as one of NASCAR's most competitive raceways. Pocono's unique 2.5 mile track features three turns, each with its own degree of banking. It is known as "The Speedway that drives like a road course" among all of the teams that have raced there. Deep in the Pocono mountains, Pocono is one of the best fan-friendly tracks on the Winston Cup schedule.