The Pocono 500 started in 1971, as part of the USAC National Championship Trail and was also part of USAC's "Triple Crown", comprised of the Indianapolis 500, Pocono 500, and California 500. After the CART/USAC split, the race became a CART event from 1982 - 1989, after which it was dropped, mainly due to the rough track surface, as well as poor safety features, including boilerplate retaining walls, lack of run off areas and catch fencing.
After a 23-year hiatus, the IZOD IndyCar series successfully revived the event last season, as a 400-mile race, along with the "Triple Crown". The 1971–80 USAC format was adopted, with the Indianapolis 500 in May, Pocono IndyCar 400 in July and the MAVTV 500 in October at Fontana, as Ontario which held the original California 500 no longer exists. A $1,000,000 bonus prize is offered to the driver who can win all three races. Al Unser Sr is the only driver ever to win it, in 1978. This season the race will return to it's original distance of 500 miles and Ryan Hunter-Reay will attempt to win the second "Triple Crown" race.
The track itself has a unique layout with three turns, each based on 3 other tracks. Turn One, with 14 degree banking, was based on the now defunct Trenton Speedway. Turn Two, also known as "The Tunnel turn", is like Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with 9 degree banking and Turn 3 has 6 degree banking, similar to The Milwaukee Mile.
(I'm sure Purist will correct me if I haven't got this quite right)
Track Layout:
Length: 2.5 mi - 4.023 km
Turns: 3
Lap record: July 6th, 2013. Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport, Dallara DW12-Chevrolet. 221.273 mph - 356.104 kmh
Last year's winner:
Scott Dixon,
Target Chip Ganassi,
Dallara DW12-Honda
Laps: 160
Distance: 400 mi - 643.738 km
Race Time: 2:04:26
Average Speed: 192.864
TV Coverage:
NBCSN
Green flag, 1:00pm ET.