LONG POND PA (6-7-07) - Bobby Gerhart has five Daytona trophies. In the ARCA RE/MAX Series world, that's more than any other human times almost two. In terms of racing accomplishments, they are, without question, his most prized possessions.

However, as a bona fide member of the Pennsylvania posse, there's another award that would certainly rate among his Daytona hardware - a trophy with a triangle on it. AKA - a victory at Pocono Raceway.

It's not like he hasn't been trying either. The 48-year-old Lebanon, Pennsylvania veteran will be making his 36th Pocono start in this Saturday's Pocono 200. That means that Gerhart has raced in all but eight ARCA RE/MAX Series races ever held on Pocono's renowned 2.5-mile triangle since 1983. His shop is about a 100 miles away from the track.

"If I could choose the next track to get a win at, it would definitely be Pocono," said Gerhart.

"It's our hometown track; we've been going there since the early 80s. Nothing could or would mean more to our team. This is home for us."

Over the years, Gerhart has managed 21 top-10 finishes at Pocono with a career-best third place run in 2004. He finished fifth and sixth respectively in 2006.

While a victory at Pocono is always within reach, Gerhart understands, probably more than anyone, just how difficult the task is.

"To be honest with you, I haven't even looked at the entry list for Pocono. To me, it really doesn't matter. If we're on our game, it just doesn't matter who's in the line-up. That said, I certainly understand as well as anyone how tough it is to win here (ARCA); it doesn't matter if it's Pocono or Iowa. But there's nothing we want more right now than a victory at Pocono."

Since Gerhart hasn't looked at the Pocono line-up, it's certainly worth a mention. At present, three Cup drivers are entered including Chad McCumbee, Johnny Sauter and Paul Menard. All three are looking for additional seat-time in preparation for Sunday's Cup 500-miler. Add eight-time champ Frank Kimmel, Erin Crocker in an Evernham Motorsports Dodge, Tim Andrews in a Cunningham Motorsports Dodge Development entry, Eddie Sharp's potent one-two development team punch and the usual ARCA RE/MAX Series suspects, and the victory lane possibilities get arguable more distant.

Regardless of the ultra-tough competition, Gerhart, currently third in national championship points just 15 points out of second, has unquestionably stepped up his entire program this year. Yes, he's renowned as ARCA's restrictor plate king, but the rest of his program - short-track and intermediate-wise - is definitely improving.

"I've been very pleased with our program this year. We've been running very good everywhere. I mean, we were five laps down at Iowa last year. We finished on the lead lap there this year.

"I'm just tickled at the overall dedication of our guys. We have a core group that's working seven days a week, non-stop, literally. I made an investment last year in terms of preparation. We've got more tools at our disposal, and I think that shows.

"So, can we win at Pocono? I like to think we can. We're taking a completely different package to Pocono. Different than we've ever had before. It leads me to believe we'll have a very good run. All we can do is try and get everything we can out of it. We're running for a championship above and beyond everything else.

"Our team continues to pick up momentum. We haven't had all the finishes we wanted, but we've been good everywhere, and we're all very excited about that. The #5 Eagle Warranty car will be good at Pocono."

Maybe, just maybe, the 36th time's the charm for Bobby Gerhart at Pocono.

Practice for the Pocono 200 is slated from 10:15 am to 11:55 am Friday, June 8th followed by SIM Factory Pole Award Qualifying at 1:45 pm. The 44th Pocono 200 is Saturday afternoon, June 9th at 1 pm ET. The race is televised same-day on SPEED at 8 pm ET.