Brianna and Deanna hope you enjoyed their first Bri & Dee adventure together on the Delaware River, but this time they were at one of the biggest events of the summer at Pocono Raceway: NASCAR Race Weekend.

It was another Sunday race with sold out crowds for the Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA. Saturday’s race was sponsored by Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, Explore the Pocono Mountains 225, and the PTN team had the honor of being the Grand Marshals and kicking off the race. Brianna, Deanna, and Jim got to say the famous line, “Drivers… start your engines!”

Bri & Dee wanted to give you a recap of the 2024 race weekend at Pocono Raceway...

 

Deanna: Starting in the Fan Fair… I’m here with the Serafin family. Tell me a little bit about your experience here today.

Tracey Serafin: So, this is actually our first year here. We didn’t know what to expect, and it’s way more than we could have ever expected. Lots of things for the kids, the family. Even if you’ve never watched racing, you’re automatically in it.

Greg Serafin: The beautiful weather, the gorgeous Pocono area, NASCAR racing, and a fantastic family atmosphere. You couldn’t ask for anything more.

  

Brianna: And of course, we couldn’t bring you to the Pocono Raceway without giving you the perspective of a NASCAR driver, what it’s like to take on the Tricky Triangle, and also from a sponsor perspective—what it’s like to have your business name and logo in front of millions of fans in the national spotlight. Brennan Poole, what is it like to be a NASCAR driver?

Brennan Poole: A lot of traveling, but you just get to see a lot of the country, which is great, and then, yeah, I get to do what I love to do so I’m very blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity to do what I love as a career, but it’s just so much fun, you know. I love, love driving the car and of course getting to go to so many cool places all over the country, be in the Pocono Mountains this weekend, it’s beautiful, I love it. It’s been a great track for me. I’ve been to Victory Lane here. 

Brianna: And what is it like as a president and CEO seeing your company name and logo for millions of fans out in the national spotlight?

Mike Wilson: It’s awesome, and in particular, you know, we love the racing audience. They’re very passionate about what they do and what they love. We’re very passionate about what we do, and we love what we do, and it’s just such a fit.

 

Deanna then checked in with Pocono Raceway’s President, Ben May.

Deanna: Tell me how you feel about watching generations of families come, like grandparents, parents, kids. I mean, like I said, I watched it with my dad, and now I’m here.

Ben May: It’s important to us. It’s important to us to grow the sport and a lot of the reason that we offer kids 12 and under for free, right. Let’s make it easy to introduce the sport because, look, I have two kids. They would rather sit at home on their iPad, so the fact that we can offer kind of an easy entry into something that’s a little bit different, because, well what you see on TV, for someone that’s never been to a NASCAR race, is absolutely what’s happening here. There’s more, there’s a Fan Fair. We have a carnival. We have Veteran’s Village. We have live music. We have block parties in our infield. We have a dog park. So, it’s more than what you see on TV, but that’s absolutely the main star of the show to see the world’s greatest stock car drivers.

 

Brianna: And among the crowd at Pocono Raceway, 100 kids from the Pocono Family YMCA in Stroudsburg. On Monday before the race, they all learned that they were going to a NASCAR race here at the Pocono Raceway for free, no charge. They also got a goodie bag with items to be used this weekend and it all culminates, here they are at the Tricky Triangle this weekend, and the announcements just kept on coming.

Nichole Krieger: A lot of fun for the kids. The NASCAR Foundation holds 14 of these Pediatric Fun-Day Festivals all across the country. The kids here today are having fun at our festival, as well as they’re going home with a brand-new bicycle, bike helmet, and a $15,000 grant for the YMCA.

Brianna: And of course, we had to get the perspective of one of the kids who won a bike. This is 9-year-old Moriah Perry, a summer camper at the YMCA. Moriah, when you were told that you and all of your friends at the YMCA got a free bike, what were you thinking?

Moriah: I was excited that we could get a free bike.

Brianna: Well, what are you going to do with this bike? Do you have any plans?

Moriah: Ride it, like, up and down my street and around to my friend’s house and stuff.

 

After watching the excitement of the kids get their free bikes, Deanna went to check out what was going on in the infield and talk to one of the campers,

Deanna: So, I’m here with Joe and Erica. So, tell me what has you coming back every year to NASCAR race weekend?

Joe Flanagan: Well, look around. The view, the races, the engines go by. It’s so loud, and we’ve got good friends.

Deanna: What makes you come back to this spot every year?

Joe: Because it is the best spot. It’s high enough, I have two spots, and I know all the people. We’ve been coming here for 15 years.

 

Deanna: Hope you enjoyed that recap of 2024, but if you want to be a driver for yourself, Stock Car Racing Experience has the opportunity for you to drive one of these cars, and PTN has a car of their own. I took it for a ride once, and it was an amazing experience.

Brianna: From sold out camping to another sold out Sunday race here at the Pocono Raceway, it has been a great weekend in the Pocono Mountains. We hope you’ll join us for 2025, stay tuned for more details on PoconoRaceway.com, and thanks for joining us for another Bri and Dee adventure here in the Pocono Mountains!

Deanna: We’ll see you on the next one! Who knows where we’ll be!