Pocono Pre-Race Notebook: Gibbs Seeking First Win; JGR vs Hendrick; Bubba Vows to Change

Happy NASCAR Cup Series race day morning.

There are a lot of developments brewing within the garage area at Pocono Raceway, and here is a quick rundown of storylines heading into Sunday's event around the iconic track in Long Pond, PA.

All eyes will be on Ty Gibbs in the opening portion of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway as the 21-year-old is seeking his first NASCAR Cup Series victory. Gibbs scored the pole on Saturday, his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole, and he looks to get back on track.

Early in the season, it looked like a near certainty that the grandson of Joe Gibbs Racing team owner Coach Joe Gibbs would score his first win. The young racer in his second full-time campaign fired off five consecutive top-10 finishes between Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and Circuit of the Americas in late March.

However, after scoring five top-10s in the opening six races of the season, Gibbs has cooled off some as he has only mustered four top-10 runs over his last 14 starts. Still, the driver of the No. 54 Toyota Camry enters this weekend's race at Pocono Raceway 84 points above the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs cutline, and after a third-place finish last weekend at the Chicago Street Course, maybe it's time for Gibbs to break through in career start No. 72.

If he does, Pocono Raceway would be a fitting venue for his first NASCAR Cup Series win, as it was the site of his first NASCAR Cup Series start as he filled in for the injured Kurt Busch in this event in 2022

Photo Credit: James Gilbert, Getty Images

Sunday's Race Poised to be a Hendrick vs Gibbs Showdown?

Photo Credit: Andrew Coppley, HHP for Chevy Racing

While nothing is ever a slam-dunk in the world of NASCAR, it is very likely that Sunday's running of the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway comes down to a slugfest between two of the powerhouse organizations in the NASCAR Cup Series — Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.

The two teams are represented on the front row as Ty Gibbs will start from the pole with William Byron, in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, alongside. Overall, JGR and HMS make up four of the top-six starting spots in the field for Sunday's race.

Last year's race at Pocono also came down to Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, a duel which ended with Hamlin taking a controversial victory after contact with Larson on the final lap.

The incident at Pocono, along with an additional run-in at Kansas Speedway ignited a playful rivalry between Larson and Hamlin last season.

That rivalry has carried into this season, and things have gotten a little bit chippier between the two drivers. Larson has said that he's over it and would like to move on, but if the two drivers are battling neck-and-neck for the win in the closing laps at Pocono on Sunday, we could see another chapter of the rivalry written.

Hamlin has amassed seven wins at Pocono Raceway over the course of his career while Larson has yet to taste the spoils of The Tricky Triangle's victory lane, despite being in a position to win in 2021, where he led on the final lap but blew a tire and finished runner-up, and last year when he was turned into the wall battling Hamlin for the win.

But even if it doesn't come down to Hamlin vs Larson, there is still plenty of fire power between the remainder of the JGR and HMS driver lineups to suggest the two teams will be mixing it up for the win all race long.

Martin Truex Jr. was fastest in every extended-run metric in NASCAR Cup Series practice (5-lap, 10-lap, and 15-lap consecutive averages) as well as overall green flag lap time averages. Truex, who will be retiring from full-time competition at season's end, is still looking for his first win of the season. He starts third, and he has a great car underneath him. Watch out.

Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, the other two drivers at Hendrick Motorsports, each have a win at the 2.5-mile triangular track, and Bowman has the momentum of a win last weekend at Chicago on his side.

Christopher Bell also always seems to be a threat for the win, no matter what race track we show up to. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will lineup from the 13th starting spot on Sunday. Bell has two-consecutive top-10 finishes at Pocono, including a career-best fourth-place run in 2022.

Bubba Wallace Vows to Change Attitude; Starting Deep in Field After Getting Sideways in Qualifying

Photo Credit: John K Harrelson, LAT Images for Toyota Racing

Bubba Wallace spent Saturday afternoon at Pocono Raceway apologizing for his actions on the cool-down lap last weekend at the Chicago Street Course, and the 23XI Racing driver vows to change his attitude while at the track.

Wallace called the $50,000 fine that NASCAR handed to him this week the best thing that has ever happened to him, as it was the wake up call he needed to get his act together.

"The penalty was probably the best thing that happened to me," Wallace explained. "I've been miserable for years, walking around with a persona that I'm not proud of. I need to apologize to a lot of people."

Wallace also detailed that a conversation with the legendary Kevin Harvick helped him truly see the forest for the trees when it comes to the differing attitudes he's had at the racetrack and away from it for the last several years.

"I think that has been one of the most important things told to me is that people don't see who I actually am on Sundays. And that broke me, right? I always preach about being the same person on and off the racetrack," Wallace said, holding back his emotions. "It's a pressure cooker being at the Cup level, right? And the last four years, I've been miserable. Just trying to walk around like everything is okay. Not from a mental standpoint, I know I'm big on mental health. My mentals have been in check, but just trying to carry this persona like I said earlier, that, 'Hey, don't bother me right now, I'm too busy,' and then when one thing goes wrong the whole thing crumbles."

Wallace says even with a 29th-place qualifying run, due to hitting a massive bump in the tunnel turn on his qualifying lap, he still has a smile on his face and will be heading into each race weekend with a much more hopeful outlook.

Rookie Contenders Zane Smith and Josh Berry Impress in Qualifying

Photo Credit: Tyson Gifford, TobyChristie.com

For 18 races, it seemed as though nothing could go right for NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year contender Zane Smith. But an eye-opening runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway in a wild five-overtime finish has seemingly energized Smith and boosted the 25-year-old driver's confidence level.

Smith heads into this weekend the third-place rookie driver in the Rookie of the Year standings, but he has been the top-finishing rookie in each of the last two races. In that two-race stretch, Smith has out-scored Rookie of the Year point leader Josh Berry by 43 points.

The hot streak continued for Smith, who pilots the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, in Saturday's qualifying session at Pocono. Smith made it into the second round of qualifying for the first time in his 30-race NASCAR Cup Series career and will start Sunday's race from the ninth position. Can he score yet another solid finish?

While Smith has the hot hand in the Rookie of the Year race over the last two events, Josh Berry also flashed why he is leading the rookie standings in qualifying on Saturday. The 33-year-old Stewart-Haas Racing driver secured the fifth-place starting spot for Sunday's The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono.

Berry and crew chief Rodney Childers have been firing on all cylinders for a major chunk of the season, and with how impressive they've been in the actual races, I think they've started to impress even more in qualifying as of late.

Berry's fifth-place starting spot on Sunday marks his fourth top-10 start in his last five races. Pretty incredible. Berry will now look for his third top-10 finish in his last five races.

While he didn't make it into the final round of qualifying, fellow rookie contender Carson Hocevar won't be too far removed from Berry and Smith when the green flag flies on Sunday afternoon. Hocevar will roll from the grid in the 15th position.

The NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway at Pocono Raceway is scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM ET on Sunday, July 14. USA Network will provide the television coverage of the race while the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the radio broadcast of the race.