From the June, 2006 issue of Stock Car Insider
Last Week's Headlines
The "Tro-Val" of Pocono offers fans and drivers alike an interesting flavor of racing not seen anywhere else on the circuit. The long straight-aways and low banked sharp turns combine to offer the thrilling speeds of super speedway racing along with the finesse driving required for road track courses.The track, as always, challenged both veteran and rookie drivers in yesterday's Pocono 500. Just ask the race winner and rookie, Denny Hamlin, and former winner at Pocono, Jeff Gordon. Both drivers suffered setbacks in the race. Hamlin was able to bounce back after a tumble through the infield grass to win the Pocono 500 while Gordon's broken brake rotor caused a race-ending crash.
It's safe to say that the teams of Joe Gibbs racing dominated Pocono. Not only did rookie Denny Hamlin win the race, but he did so with teammate Tony Stewart breathing down his neck. In the end, Tony, broken shoulder and all, finished 3rd while the remaining Joe Gibbs' driver, J.J. Yeley, finished 15th.
Former Gibbs' driver, Bobby Labonte, continued in his quest to bring Petty Enterprises back to prominence with a 12th place finish.
Probably one of the most disappointing finishes of the day belonged to Carl Edwards. Edwards came to Pocono with high expectations, a fresh taste of victory in his mouth, and an incredibly fast car. After starting 40th, Edwards quickly moved his car to front. However, a pit-stop gone horribly wrong left Carl a lap down and a hopeless chance to get back to the front. Carl finished the race in 25th, and remains in 13th position (122 points out of 10th).
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