Pocono was like a road course race without the entertainment of a road course race.
The 2.5-mile three-turn track is the closest resemblance to a road course as far as strategy goes. Crew chiefs usually work their way backwards in an attempt to get their driver out front with enough fuel to make it to the finish.
What was missing from Pocono was actual racing. There are typically two or three drivers with the best cars and it comes down to which one executes the best pit strategy.
Rodney Childers got Kevin Harvick to the lead Saturday with a two-tire stop, but Chris Gabehart had the better plan Sunday by keeping Hamlin on track longer in clean air to gain time on Harvick before a late two-tire stop.
Maybe Larry McReynolds had fun crunching the numbers for the Fox broadcast, but it wasn't for the casual fan.
While it's a good concept to have two Cup Series races in two days, Pocono isn't the correct track for it. The initial curiosity of the doubleheader masked the fact there isn't a demand for two Pocono races.
What saved the weekend were the Truck Series and Xfinity Series races.
The first 3 hours of Sunday's tripleheader were entertaining with exciting position battles and finishes. If NASCAR can engineer a package for the Cup cars to get that type of racing at Pocono, then keep it on the schedule. Otherwise, keep the doubleheader away from there.
We already know Darlington can host two intriguing races in the same week. Try it in two days. The same goes with Charlotte.
Mix in a short track doubleheader and we're cookin' with peanut oil. The old Bristol has made a return, which makes it perfect to run a Saturday night race and turn around with another one late in the afternoon Sunday.
We did learn scheduling four National Series races for one weekend can and should happen more often. And an ARCA race being thrown in there was a bonus.
Having enough backup cars was not an issue. Weather was a problem but five races were still completed in three days.
The first NASCAR doubleheader was enough of a success to give the green light for scheduling more. Just choose the correct tracks to host them.
III
It was a good race for this week's Riley Racing Challenge winner. Jacob Warren of Jefferson City correctly picked the winner of Sunday's race and earned 25 more bonus points for William Byron's seventh-place finish. Only Kyle Busch (38th) ended up outside the top 14 on Warren's team that scored 833 points. For the News Tribune sports staff, it was close between Tom Rackers and I for the best score. The 8 points I earned with Michael McDowell's last-place finish didn't hurt me enough, as I edged Tom by 20 points with a score of 761. Greg Jackson wasn't pleased with his 672 points. He's studying up to have a better result at Indy.