Did you happen to see the top finishers at last Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway? It featured three names you’d consider as sleepers heading into that race, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola, and Erik Jones cracking the top five. Chris Buescher also finished sixth, Alex Bowman seventh, and John Hunter Nemechek eighth. Will the sleepers make noise again this coming weekend? Anything can happen this season so you might wanna’ bet on it!
Jones fell short of collecting his first win of the season last Monday when he finished fifth overall at the 2020 GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Jones was in the thick of the race to snag the checkered flag, but his plan was derailed when he got involved in a contact with Ryan Blaney that sent him careening into the wall. Nevertheless, that was Jones’ best performance in four races. Prior to Monday’s race, Jones finished 28th at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500), 20th at Martinsville Speedway (Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500) and 21st at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Dixie Vodka 400). Considering that he has a career average finish of 8.33 at Pocono, Jones should be viewed as a serious threat to win at the 2020 Pocono 350.
Buescher was among the surprises at the 2020 GEICO 500, as he finished sixth overall in the race — his best performance in 12 races. His best finish on the season remains his third-place showing at the 2020 Daytona 500. Buescher is going to need more such finishes to gain the public’s confidence, but as a sleeper, the Roush Fenway Racing driver could be a worthy selection considering his betting odds. In addition, Buescher has won at Pocono before, finishing first at the 2016 Pennsylvania 400.
Now is a great time to invest in Suarez. He’s been flying so low of late, with four straight sub-25 finishes, including his 28th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway last Monday. But here’s the thing with Suarez: he has three top 10s and a top five in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. His best finish there to date was a runner-up showing at the 2018 Gander Outdoors 400.
