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Juan Montoya has the pole for todays race in Pocono Pennsylvania

Although he has been most well known for fireworks off the track in incidents with other drivers, and for a firey crash at Daytona to start the year, Montoya has been pretty quiet so far this year.  Not having won a pole since Richmond in April of 2011, he surprised even himself with the pole in Pocono for the Pennsylvania 400.  With his last win in NASCAR coming at a road course, Watkins Glen in 2008, Montoya has been working to achieve more consistant results, and being patient for that next win, or any win on an oval, to show that he is more than just an aggressive road course driver.

We know were working in the right direction, we know were working hard, we feel the cars are getting a little better, Montoya said, but to go out there and get a pole I just went through the hauler and all the engineers, theyre all happy and laughing. Im used to long faces, a lot of long faces, a lot of stressful faces. We needed something like this as a company. This is big for us.

I think were quite a ways away from as a company where we want to get to, he said. We want to be able to come every weekend knowing you can beat a Hendrick, beat a Gibbs. Thats our goal.

Montoya knows he was as unlikely as any driver to win the pole.

If you told me this morning I was going to be sitting on the pole, Id say, `pfff, he said. I thought we were going to be OK. I thought wed be 12-15. And were sitting on the pole.

I know tomorrow is going to be a reality check, Montoya said. Im really open-minded about tomorrow. But lets enjoy today.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. will Start 8th today and has the points lead for the first time since 2004.

Following on of his most consistent season of his career so far, Dale Earnhardt Jr is atop the leader board this weekend after taking the points lead at the Brickyard.  Running well for the entire race, his points position drastically improved when a late race incident with the 17 of Matt Kenseth ended with a 36 place finish, while Jr. finished in 4th allowing for a 32 point gain and the top of the board.

I think a lot of people downplay it, Earnhardt said of being the points leader. I think it means the same to the other drivers, probably, but they downplay it obviously because the guys that are saying that may find themselves in the points lead or battling for it more often than I have been. Its been a long time since I was in the points lead. Its been forever I cant even recall the last time we were in the conversation for the championship. These things are really validating the effort and the work weve done.

After dealing with the pressure of a long drought, Jr finally got the monkey off his back in the June race in Michigan, and he has been showing even more confidence each week since then.  His relationship with Steve Letarte has been under constant watch by the fans who were unsure that it would bring results, but moving forward, Jr has been more consistent than at any other point in his career.

We worked hard, and we found some speed, he said. Weve been having those type of deals all year long where were working hard, and there are some gains that are made. Ive worked my tail off most of my career for little gains or, at times, no gains. So this year its been awesome to go to the race track on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, and work with Steve, and come away really happy with what happened. The points lead is sort of the symbolic piece to all that effort. The points lead recognizes all that hard work, for me.

Knowing that the points lead with shuffle when the chase begins a mere 6 races after this weekend, Jr knows he needs to get at least one more win to take some pressure off his championship hopes for this year.

Were running well, but we need to win more races. We need to show up and be the fastest car more often, he said. Weve been quick, but in my opinion weve been the fastest guy only once or twice this year, and I dont know if thats good enough. Im going to say its not good enough. I know our team would like to win more races, and to be able to contend for the championship, our team needs another 10-15 percent.

A.J. Allmendinger will be without a ride after being released by Penske Racing earlier this week.

Finally, after weeks of drama, A.J. Allmendinger was released from Penske racing earlier in the week.  After failing a random drug test administered by NASCAR, and having his B-test fail as well, Allmendinger has entered the road to recovery program provided by NASCAR in hopes of returning to the track as soon as possible.  After his apology to fans and to his sponsors, Roger Penske released him form his contract and has put Sam Hornish Jr in the number 22 for the forseeable future.

Penske Racing fully supports NASCARs substance abuse policy, and we are disappointed with AJs positive drug test results, Roger Penske said. AJ is a terrific driver, a good person and it is very unfortunate that we have to separate at this time. We have invested greatly in AJ and we were confident in his success with our team. The decision to dismiss him is consistent with how we would treat any other Penske Racing team member under similar circumstances. As AJ begins NASCARs Road to Recovery program, we wish him the best and look forward to seeing him compete again in NASCAR.

A.J. himself made a statement that echos the sentiment of his former team.

Effective today, I have been released from Penske Racing as driver of the No. 22 Dodge Charger, Allmendinger said in a statement. I wish to thank Mr. Penske, Penske Racing, their sponsors, and especially all the of the No. 22 team for the opportunity they provided me and for their support in this difficult time. I also, again, would like to thank all the fans that really have been awesome through this. I apologize for the distraction, embarrassment, and difficulties that my current suspension from NASCAR has provided. As I stated last week, I have begun NASCARs Road to Recovery program and look forward to using those resources and its completion to compete again in NASCAR in the near future.

It is going to be interesting to see if Allmendinger is able to return to NASCAR.  While everyone likes a comback story, in this sponsor driven world where image is everything, it may be hard for A.J. to find a ride of the caliber of the one he just lost, which was also the best of his career so far.

Related posts:

1. NASCAR Biffle Holds the Points Lead and Takes The Pole Heading Into Bristol
2. NASCAR Edwards Takes Vegas, Stewart Has a Late Race Pit Stumble But Ties For First in Points Lead
3. NASCAR Allmendinger Wins the Pole At Kansas, Engine Trouble for Logano Moves Him to the Back of the Field
4. NASCAR Stewart Makes it 2 For 2 in Championship Chase and Takes the Points Lead in the Standings
5. NASCAR Kyle Busch Wins in Richmond, Earnhardt Jr Takes Second on Track and in Points

After the season he has had so far this year, Jeff Gordon will take a win anyway he can get it.  Having everything that could possibly go wrong already happen to him so far this season, a little bit of good luck was bound to finally blow his way.  And blow it did, as a major weather system blew in dumping torrential rain in Pocono, effectively ending the Pennsylvania 400 62 laps short of a full race, only 18 laps past the halfway mark, making it a complete race in the books.  Not only was this a win for Gordon on the track, the points race looks a whole lot better from his perspective with this win.  Moving into 13th in points + the win puts him in place for the wild card spot to get into the chase for the 2012 Sprint Cup, a spot he knew he needed a win to get to.

Its nice to know that things can still go our way, Gordon said. The way our year has gone, well definitely take it like this. I tell you what, with all the things that have gone wrong for us this year, Im hoping that this is the one that makes up for it all.

Gordon took the lead when his teammate Jimmie Johnson got loose on the final restart of the race, sliding up the track into Matt Kenseth causing them both to slide back on the track and taking out Denny Hamlins #11 car as well.

Ive never seen the seas part like that, said Gordon. I got a good restart, so I really got up to fifth as we were getting into the braking zone going into 1. I dont know what happened to the 48. I just saw he got loose, and when he got loose, it took everybody that was in front of us up the race track or into the wall.

I just made it right to the bottom, stood in the gas and drove out and we were leading.

Hendrick teammate Kasey Kahne also got the benefit of the wreck moving up into the 2nd spot on the track and as the caution came out they realized that his left rear tie was flat and would need changing should the race go back to green, which of course never happened.

And to make the rain soaked miracle even better, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had been knocked back to 32nd because of a blown transmission and was looking at a loss of 3 positions in the points, retained the top spot as Matt Kenseth slid backwards in the wreck with the 48.  Greg Biffle was also moved backwards allowing Johnson to finish well enough to retain his 4th place standings in the points as well.  All 4 Hendrick teams are now in contention to make the chase because of Jimmie Johnsons accident.  Funny how things work out like that.

Dale Jr had what looked to be the fastest car on the track.  Johnson had just taken the lead away from him when his transmission issue happened.

We had a good run going, he said. This Chevrolet was pretty fast. Jimmie [Johnson had] the quickest car out there. But we felt like we might be able to work on ours and get a little better.

We put it in [Saturday] and during qualifying it was fine, said Earnhardt. When we restarted [on Lap 23], it was kind of aggressive, and then [we experienced] a bit of a vibration. The car was just really out of time, and it just kind of started missing some shifts and [was] difficult to get in gear.

Finally, in third and fourth [gear] coming out of the tunnel, it didnt have any fourth. Then I didnt have third.

After Jr. lost his transmission, Kahne started feeling vibrations in his gear box as well.  At first he was worried, but his fears were laid to rest when his crew chief talked with Letarte and they advised Kahne it was not the same issue.

I dont think I really had much of a problem, Kahne said. I think I was worried because Junior broke one or broke something with the transmission, Im not sure what. I was struggling with mine a little bit when that happened so I just quit shifting for a while, and I was a lot slower.

[Earnhardts crew chief] Steve Letarte said it wasnt a big deal. What happened with them was not what I feel was going on with mine. So from that point on, I focused on shifting again and didnt even have an issue. Once I quit worrying about it, we were flying.

So it appears that Mother Nature is indeed a fan of racing, and her team of choice is none other than Hendrick Motorsports.  Why else would all of the bad luck the Gordon has experienced all season be wiped out by a single rainstorm just when the timing was perfect?

Related posts:

1. NASCAR Gordon Wins at Pocono For His Second of the Season
2. NASCAR Mark Martin Takes The Pole For Phoenix Hendricks Teams Look For Big Rebound
3. NASCAR Broken Foot and All, Kesolowski Gets His Second Win in 2011 at Pocono
4. NASCAR Hendricks Leads the Field as Gordon Takes the Pole, Drivers Comment on The 2 Car Push
5. NASCAR Kenseth Wins Another With Martin Runner Up as Late Race Call Wins The Race