No honeymoon in the mountains

This weekend, Nextel Cup ventures to the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania, made famous in the 1940s as the place to honeymoon.

And while high speeds are the norm on the track, progress in the surrounding area hasn't been quite as fast, as most of those honeymoon resorts built in the post-World War II era remain virtually unchanged from the way they were 60 years ago – and worse yet, they are the closest lodging to the racetrack. If you're looking for the real-life Scooby Doo Mansion – you know, the old, creaky place full of ghosts that always scared the kids in the cartoon – you're sure to find it masquerading as a resort in the Pocono Mountains.

The racetrack itself has a long and storied history. It was built in the late 1960s by the Mattioli Family as an Indy car track. The family soon fell upon hard times, which led to the now fabled meeting between the struggling track owners and Bill France Sr. in New York City. France was looking to expand his fledgling NASCAR stock car series above the Mason-Dixon Line.

It was at that meeting that France asked the Mattioli Family not to sell the track and, in turn, he pledged he would bring his brand of racing to the track. NASCAR first raced there in 1974 and has been there ever since.

The Mattioli family has since turned the track into a cash cow and most believe that it's because of that long-standing loyalty to the France family that Pocono Raceway keeps its two annual races on the Cup schedule.

Despite NASCAR's long-standing allegiance to the facility, not all Cup teams are particularly fond of having to come to the nearly flat, 2½-mile triangle-shaped race track nestled in the mountains, which hosts Sunday's Pocono 500. And at 500 miles, it's a race most drivers consider to be too long.

"The Pocono race could be 350 [miles] and I think the racing would be better," said Jeff Burton, who actually considers Pocono to be one of his favorite tracks.

Veteran driver Rusty Wallace, who has four wins and three poles at Pocono, says expect the unexpected at Pocono.

"Where else have we raced when the caution flies for deer on the track?" said Wallace of the time in the mid-1980s when the late Neil Bonnett returned from a practice run red-faced and chagrined with a small deer's hooves jutting from nose of his race car. Bonnett hit the animal on the backstretch.

"It wasn't too many years ago where we had an extended caution period while NASCAR officials chased and cornered a rabbit on the frontstretch," Wallace added. "That was pretty weird."

The Pocono weather can also get a bit tricky. Aside from sometimes becoming chilly and wet, it can also get very foggy since the track is located at just over 1,800 feet above sea level and literally is in the mountains. It becomes so foggy in fact that there have been times when the fans sitting in the grandstands, which are located only on the front straight, have been unable to see the back straight.

As for navigating the circuit itself, some drivers have compared driving this oval to competing on a road course – or as some call it, a "roval" – because they have to frequently shift gears to get around quickly. For years, Cup drivers would be shifting into overdrive just past the start/finish line of the 3,055-foot long straightaway and then downshifting upon entering Turn 1.

But that changes with this year's two races. The shifting is gone.

The gear rule implemented by NASCAR this year restricting teams to a single, mandated gear at every race track with the exception of Daytona and Talladega – the two restrictor plate tracks on the Cup schedule – will change the racing at Pocono and create some unique challenges.

The new, smaller rear-end gear means a significant loss of power, forcing drivers to re-think how they will enter and exit each turn and make a pass.

Some think that the gear rule's impact will be the same as putting a restrictor plate on the engine – slowing the cars down and producing single-file racing.

Chad Knaus, crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, says the change will have a negative effect on the race.

"We've always considered Pocono as a road-course style track and that's why we've always shifted there," Knaus said. "I feel like if we were able to shift there, we'd put on a better show."

Tony Stewart, on the other hand, appreciates not having to shift.

"We'll actually have a chance to enjoy the race a little bit because we won't have to do all that shifting," he said. "I really didn't enjoy shifting at high-speed places like Pocono anyway."

Stewart says shifting too early can cause drivers to get loose and nearly wreck. The new gear rule, he says, will have a positive impact.

"It'll make you really concentrate more on keeping your momentum through the corners instead of having to worry about who's got the best transmission ratio."

Stewart's crew chief Greg Zipadelli echoed the sentiment.

"I think that what we'll find is the place to make up speed will be in the corners – carrying speed through the corners by either driving in harder or picking the throttle up earlier," he said.

With each turn of the triangle-shaped speedway being different, the key is compromise. A team might make an adjustment to its car to handle better at one end of the track, but that change can hurt it in another turn.

Most agree that having momentum coming out of Turn 3 onto the long frontstretch is critical.

"Since we won't be shifting, the drop in RPM because of the gear rule will be most noticeable off of that corner," said Jeff Gordon, who has gone to victory lane three times at Pocono.

Also, with the smaller rear spoiler this year, cars will carry more speed into the corners – especially Turn 1 – putting a premium on saving brakes.

Historically, a Pocono race features long green-flag runs, but there always seems to be a string of cautions late in the race, as cars – and drivers – begin to wear out.

"It's going to be aggravating not to be able to pass as easily and having the cars be so low in the power band coming off the corners," said Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson, who swept the Pocono Cup races last season. "I think that tempers once again will be high. So whoever can keep a cool head and really search out a new [racing] line will benefit."

Among all of the challenges Pocono presents, Nextel Cup rookie Travis Kvapil's view of one obstacle might be the most entertaining.

"It feels like you're on a country drive and then all of a sudden, there are grandstands coming off of Turn 3 and you're thinking, 'Oh yeah, I'm racing'," Kvapil said.