By Jim Utter

Three things to watch

1. Joey Logano earned his second Sprint Cup win of his career with his victory at Pocono in June. Could he pull off the sweep?

2. Jimmie Johnson is fresh off his third win of the season. It has long been the theory teams good at Indy are also good at Pocono. If so, watch out of the No. 48.

3. Numerous teams were caught speeding on pit road in the June race following changes made to pit road during the track's repaving. Hopefully, those teams have adjusted since then as the timing lines remain the same as June.

Observations

When the 2013 Cup season gets underway it may very well find Dodge with a strong organization and quality drivers. Today, though, that future looks very cloudy. And it became more so when Dodge announced earlier this week it would not participate in the first test of 2013 cars scheduled next week at Martinsville, Va. It's no secret in NASCAR it's much easier to fall behind than stay ahead and missing out on any track time for a new car being introduced cannot be a good thing. To stay in the game, Dodge needs to get its Cup plans ironed out or perhaps decide to put the program on hiatus until good, solid options become available.

There's been a lot of talk among teams about how Hendrick Motorsports, particularly the teams of drivers Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., have something “figured out” and hold some sort of advantage over others. They may see something not apparent to everyone else but the points standings and distribution of wins this season don't seem to show the same dominance. Then again, a sixth championship by Johnson could make it all mute.

Best bets

Jim Utter gives you three picks for your fantasy racing league:

Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya

Notes

Montoya finds a bright spot: See, things are getting better at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Juan Pablo Montoya grabbed the top spot in qualifying early Saturday and held on to win the pole for Sunday's Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. It's Montoya's first pole of the season and eighth of his Sprint Cup Series career.

“This is a big boost for our team. Everyone is happy,” Montoya said. “I've seen a lot of long faces lately. We really needed this.”

Denny Hamlin will start second, Paul Menard third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Marcos Ambrose was fifth. Series points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. will line up eighth.

Despite a second consecutive sub-par season, Montoya believes the Chip Ganassi Racing organization is making progress.

"We all get frustrated. We always have our moments. I will tell you the truth if you don’t get frustrated it is because you don’t care. I care a lot about this program,” said Montoya, who is 21st in the series standings.

"We have had our good moments, our bad moments, but I know how hard people are working to make this better. I have worked harder this year than any other year. We really want to come out ahead on this.”

Austin will try 2013 Indy 500: Chase Austin, a former development driver for Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR, could become only the third African-American driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 after being selected by A.J. Foyt to drive his entry in the 2013 event.

Austin, now 22, has been racing since he was 8 years old. He most recently has been competing in the Indy Lights series.

Austin could follow in the footsteps of Willy T. Ribbs, the first African-American driver at Indy in 1991, and George Mack (2002).

Race facts

Where: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.

Track type: 2.5-mile, flat, paved triangular-shaped track

Race distance: 160 laps or 400 miles

Weather: High in the mid-80s with 50 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

TV: Coverage begins at noon on ESPN. Green flag is 1:20 p.m.

Radio: Motor Racing Network