With just five races to go before the chase and the presence of road course specialists, there’s an air of intrigue as the NASCAR Sprint Cup tour descends on Watkins Glen, New York for the Heluva Good! Sour Cheese Dips at The Glen. It’s one of just two stops the Cup series makes on a road course.
Comparisons are often made between this track and the other Cup road course at Sonoma, California, but the two are very different. Six of Tony Stewart’s 35 NASCAR Cup victories have come on courses of right and left turns, making him one of the resident experts on the topic. He says “At Watkins Glen, you don’t have to finesse the throttle near as much as you do at Sonoma. When you get the car turned, you can get in the gas and then stay in the gas. Watkins Glen is much faster than Sonoma. I think there are the same amount of passing opportunities, but because of the speeds that you’re able to run at The Glen, brakes become a much bigger factor than I think they are at Sonoma. It’s pretty much a horsepower track.”
Stewart maintains a near 200 point lead over pole sitter Jimmie Johnson.
Just 102 points separate 6th place Carl Edwards from 12th place Greg Biffle. Within the mix of drivers gunning for chase positions are a number of “road course ringers”- typically drivers from other racing series where tracks such as Watkins Glen are the norm. Sunday’s starting grid includes such specialists as Andy Lally, Ron Fellows, P.J. Jones and Boris Said- whose band of followers- known as “Said Heads” wear wigs emulating Said’s shaggy mane.
TRACK FACTS
Watkins Glen International made its NASCAR debut on August 4, 1957. Pioneer legend Buck Baker won in a Chevrolet with a speed of 83.064 miles per hour. Two more NASCAR events ran here in 1964 and 1965, and the track has hosted this race continuously since 1986.
The road course has 11 turns. It’s a relatively flat course varying from 6 to 10 degrees banking. The pit road stretch measures 2,141 feet and the length of the back stretch is 1,839 feet. WGI has an estimated total capacity of 85,000 with 41,000 grandstand seating.
TOP PERFORMERS
The three top drivers in terms of wins at the Glen are in Sunday’s field. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon have 4 wins each. Can you guess who’s right behind them with 3 wins? If you guessed Mark Martin, you’d be right. He won three straight races for Jack Roush in 1993, ‘94 and ‘95. In a 2008 sweep of road courses, Kyle Busch is the most recent victor.
Gordon also holds the qualifying record with a lap time of 70.798 seconds (124.580 miles per hour) on August 8, 2003. Guess who’s won the most poles? Would you believe Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin carry the standard with three each?
On August 13, 1995- Martin ran the fastest race at Watkins Glen. His speed? 2 hours 11 minutes and 54 seconds with a speed of 103.300 m.p.h.
There were no cautions in the 1965 race won by Marvin Panch. A record 8 yellow flags flew in 1988 and in 2007.
14 lead changes took place in the 2006 race won by Kevin Harvick. Buck Baker set sail from the pole in 1957 and nobody caught him.
A course record 40 drivers finished in 2003 when Robby Gordon was the winner. Only 11 drivers finished the 1965.
WHEN & WHERE TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
The green flag waves Sunday, August 9, 2009 at approximately 2:18 PM Eastern, 11:18 AM Pacific. Pre-race on ESPN kicks off at 1:00 PM Eastern, 10:00 AM Pacific. Analysts Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree join Dr. Jerry Punch trackside, with Dave Burns, Shannon Spake, Jamie Little and Vince Welch reporting from the pits. Rusty Wallace, Allen Bestwick, Brad Daugherty are your studio hosts. Former crew chief Tim Brewer works the tech center.
MRN and Sirius Satellite provide radio coverage.
WHO WILL WIN IT?
Some would argue its a foregone conclusion Tony Stewart will win Sunday’s race. Since 2005, he has finished 1st, 2nd, 1st and 2nd behind Kyle Busch last season. Smoke can also clinch his place in the chase if all goes well, providing further incentive for the ever-competitive 4-time at the Glen.
Stewart won’t be without competition. Jeff Gordon also possesses a quartet of victories ta this track, though he, like Stewart, have posted average practice speeds and will start in the mid to back pack.
It’s worth noting that 9 of 26 Cup races have been won from the pole. 18 of 26 have been won from the top 10.
Keeping that in mind, circumstances favor a driver who’s never won on a road
course- Jimmie Johnson. He has the pole and he’s run top ten in practice. Johnson will be joined on the front row by another champion, Kurt Busch, who has also not seen victory lane as a Cup driver at a road course, though Busch did win here in the Busch Series in 2006.
If momentum means anything, Denny Hamlin comes in on the wave of a win at Pocono. Hamlin joins road race stud Marcos Ambrose on the second row. D.H. has scored 3 top 10s in his 3 Cup starts at WGI, with one top five.
Both Busch brothers are well-poised for good runs. While older brother Kurt could use a good day, 2008 winner Kyle needs a good day sitting in 13th. So far, both drivers are good in practice and their qualifying efforts.
Kasey Kahne will be looking to pull this season what Shrub accomplished in 2008- a road course sweep. Kahne qualified 12th and was 26th on the Friday practice chart. Another guy with a Sonoma win on his resume is Juan Pablo Montoya. Both drivers are on solid chase runs, with JPM running slightly better between the two.
Boris Said leads the way for the road course ringers with a starting position of 9th. Andy Lally starts from 15th in the #71 for TRG, a good thing for the team since NASCAR regular David Gilliland failed to qualify. Part-timer Max Papis starts 16th and Ron Fellows run in the #09 from 37th. P.J. Jones runs for Robby Gordon in the #04 car. Speaking of the “other” Gordon, “Flash” starts 22nd.
I’ll be watching Johnson, Montoya, Hamlin, Kahne, Stewart, the Busch brothers and Ambrose with great interest. While Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin can’t be counted out, their weekends are off to wobbly starts.
Johnson is especially eager to win. With that mindset, and the fact that he’s safely inside the chase, I predict a pit strategy gamble that will either make he and Chad Knaus look like geniuses or complete fools. Again, racing for a win is a luxury Johnson can afford. Stewart and Kurt Busch may be in a similar position.
As for Kyle, he’s got to make it happen. He’s never been a “points racer” by nature, but he’s no fool. Knowing what he’s up against, it’s quite possible Rowdy will run a good race without winning it to get back inside the top 12. As vulnerable as Martin, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth appear at the moment, there may be a golden opportunity for Busch and he knows it.
Among Stewart, Kahne, Montoya and Ambrose…..
I’m going “out of the box” to select Ambrose to get his first career Cup win.
He has a dual advantage. Ambrose is a proven road race winner going back to his days in Australia, plus he has an advantage over the “ringers” in that he knows the car. The “Tasmanian Devil” may still be a raw product in terms of his Cup career, he’s flashed considerable potential in a number of races.
And this Sunday, NASCAR is in his wheelhouse.
PHOTO CREDITS- Watkins Glen Racing by keithley-fletcher, to see more, visit flickr.com or click on the link. Jimmie Johnson photos by Elsa/ Getty Images.
SOURCES: NASCAR media, Jayski’s Silly Season Site, Sporting News’ NASCAR Record & Fact Book.
“Down Drafts” Observations by John “Dawg” Champman
Watching the practice from the Glen, I’m struck by how much I enjoy listening to Larry Mac. Larry was one of the hardest working crew chiefs when he wore that hat. He now seems to be one of the hardest working members of the broadcast crew. On Faux, he always seemed to be playing second fiddle to “Jaws.” On his own, he seems to shine. His tech knowledge is second to none. He seems to be welcome in every garage and can come up with answers and insights that crews might not share with the other reporters. One key to getting good answers is to ask good questions, and Larry knows what to ask.
I’ve read posters on various boards putting the knock on him for his syntax, or lack thereof. That really doesn’t bother me. Perhaps they need to pay more attention to what he says, rather than how he says it.
That having been said, I am bothered when Dale Jr. is being interviewed and he talks like a high school drop out. I mean this guy is a very highly paid corporate spokesman. As such, I think I can judge him by a different yardstick and he just makes me grind my teeth.
The Nation will probably take exception to my distinction, but has anyone else noticed that he’s the only driver that seems to be unable, or doesn’t care enough to speak proper English? He may be the face of NASCAR, but if he’s the voice, then that plays directly to the stereotypes.
