Series news on Pocono Raceway 2011 dates 2010-11-23

Two at the Triangle for 25th Consecutive Year; ARCA Racing Series Announces Pocono Dates for 2011 Season

(TOLEDO, Ohio) - Pocono Raceway, the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond, Pa., will host the ARCA Racing Series for two event dates in 2011, continuing a strong relationship which stretches back to 1969. As is tradition, the ARCA Racing Series will twice be featured as a companion event to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The season's first race at Pocono - an 80-lap, 200-mile event - is scheduled for Saturday, June 11. The second event - scheduled for 50 laps, or 125 miles - will take place Saturday, August 6 in conjunction with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race that day. Both events take place one day before NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

"Pocono Raceway is an integral part of our series, with superspeedway speeds and short track and road course turns," said Ron Drager, president of ARCA. "When a driver is transitioning from a short track career to superspeedway racing as many of our drivers do, Pocono is often the track to do just that. It's a great place for someone to run their first superspeedway race."

"Racing at Pocono takes on special significance because of our long-term relationship with the Mattioli family, especially Dr. Joseph and Rose, as well as Brandon and Nick Igdalsky, third generation family members in track management. In addition, the track's location near major East Coast markets is important to our series."

ARCA's history at Pocono dates back to 1969, when Bobby Watson defeated Benny Parsons to win the track's first ARCA race on the now-defunct 0.75-mile oval at the facility. Single ARCA Racing Series events were held on the oval in 1983, 1985, and 1986, with Schacht winning the first two and Bobby Jacks winning the third.

2011 will be the 25th consecutive year that ARCA has contested two annual races at Pocono Raceway. Bob Schacht won both races at the track in 1987, the first year that ARCA scheduled two races on the "Tricky Triangle." This season's events will be the 52nd and 53rd for the ARCA Racing Series on the 2.5-mile oval at Pocono Raceway. Craig Goess won the 50th in June, and Robb Brent followed that with a win in July's race, the first 50-lap event for ARCA at the track.

Nick Igdalsky, the senior vice president of the track, raced a full season in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards for the first time in 2010 and finished the year 13th in overall driver points. Igdalsky spoke about his unique connection as executive and competitor.

"This is a tradition, and something we always look forward to doing every year. There's that personal date in some of our hearts with ARCA, and we've been associated with the series from very early on," Igdalsky said. "We plan on having ARCA accompany every race we have at Pocono."

Tim Steele is the all-time wins leader at Pocono with nine (including five consecutive from 1996-98), and he is closely followed by Schacht (six) and Bob Keselowski (five). Familiar names like Ryan Newman and Joey Logano dot the winner list.

Races at Daytona International Speedway on February 12, Michigan International Speedway on June 17, Salem Speedway on May 1 and September 17, and Winchester Speedway on June 25 have already been announced, and the remainder of the diverse 2011 ARCA Racing Series schedule will be released shortly. Meanwhile, the thrilling 2010 campaign will close Saturday, December 4, with the series' Championship Awards Banquet at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky., near Cincinnati.

-source: arca