Gluck: Pocono Raceway embraces change, maintains its charm

LONG POND, Pa. — If NASCAR tracks were houses, Pocono Raceway would be a charming cottage that sticks out in a row of mansions.

It’s not one of the sport’s sparkling palaces built as a shrine to speed. Nor is it a classic that has maintained its spot on the Sprint Cup Series schedule for historic reasons.

Pocono is just an odd duck, a triangular 2.5-mile track in the mountains of Pennsylvania that has survived several industry shakeups. In a sport that seems overly corporate at times, the family-owned track’s welcoming atmosphere somehow just works.

NASCAR has been coming to Pocono since 1974, and twice per year since 1982. The second visit of this season will come in Sunday’s Windows 10 400, where Kyle Busch starts from the pole after winning three consecutive races.

Pocono’s location shouldn’t raise too many eyebrows, considering NASCAR holds events in out-of-the-way areas like Martinsville Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

But those other tracks have something Pocono typically does not: Great racing. Pocono, with its runway-length straightaways and unusual layout, is typically known for strung-out, single-file racing.

Pocono has maintained two dates on the schedule while others have dropped a race or fallen off the circuit entirely. And though Sunday’s race has a tech sponsor, the place isn’t exactly cutting edge.

Part of the reason is its proximity to New York — it’s less than two hours from the track to Manhattan (not accounting for traffic, of course). And Pocono was there for NASCAR and its founding France family when stock car racing didn’t have the popularity level it enjoys today.

But mostly, Pocono has maintained. It draws decent crowds despite its races being just eight weeks apart, and the sport’s scheduling procedures have somewhat shielded it from the risk of losing a race (NASCAR typically only moves race dates to tracks within a company’s portfolio; Pocono is one of three independents and has no plans to sell).

Still, Pocono has tried to adapt to change, particularly under track president Brandon Igdalsky, the grandson of the late track founder Joseph Mattioli. Igdalsky cut the distances of his races from a nap-inducing 500 miles to a more tolerable 400 and has been one of the most prominent track presidents in embracing social media.

Igdalsky is also a constant presence around the track, interacting with fans like the host of a party. And really, that’s what makes Pocono stand out — it’s the bed-and-breakfast of NASCAR tracks.

There’s also a sense of fun and irreverence not found at every venue. Look no further than the “WHAT TURN 4?” written at the exit of Turn 3.

The family ownership allows for the track to make quick changes, too. When drivers complained of huge bumps in the famed “Tunnel Turn” (Turn 2) in June, the track put a new patch of pavement in place to smooth it out.

Those are the kind of things that make drivers — and the entire industry — take notice.

“Brandon and those guys do an awesome job trying to not only give the fans what they want, but make this as good of an experience as they can for the drivers, too,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday. “They have always been real good at listening to everybody. I’ve got to give those guys a pat on the back.”

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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