Rare Road Racing: One of only two stops on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule where the drivers have to turn right. This weekend the historic Watkins Glen road course will put drivers to the test as they will wrestle the 3,400 NEXTEL Cup stock cars around the twisting New York road course.
The Track: Watkins Glen is a 2.45 mile 11 turn road course. This pictuesque race track features some dramatic elevation changes and the dreaded "Inner Loop" which is a chicane at the end of the backstretch which never fails to confound a few drivers every year.
Race Distance: 90 laps = 220.5 miles
The Big Picture: This is race number 22 of 36. We have 5 drivers battling for the last three spots in the top ten. Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray are very close, but on the outside looking in.
The current points top ten are: 1. Tony Stewart 2,923. 2. Jimmie Johnson 2,848. 3. Greg Biffle 2,812. 4. Rusty Wallace 2,705. 5. Kurt Busch 2,646. 6. Mark Martin 2,636. 7. Ryan Newman 2,568. 8. Jeremy Mayfield 2,554. 9. Dale Jarrett 2,493. 10. Carl Edwards 2,487.
Storylines: Jeff Gordon is 14th in points and as a road racing expert needs to make a strong statement this weekend if he has any hope of making the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
Silly Season kicked into full stride this weekend as Jason Leffler was released from the #11 FedEx Joe Gibbs ride and Kurt Busch was announced as the replacement for Rusty Wallace in the Penske South #2. This starts the annal process of the driver shuffle. Who will take the #11 and #97 seats? What other rides are likely to open up?
Media Coverage: TV: NBC Sunday August 14th 1:00PM Eastern.
Radio: MRN and XM Satellite
Actual Race: 1:35PM Eastern
Last Year: In 2004 Tony Stewart was feeling ill but managed to hold on for the win. Fortunately NASCAR excused him from victory lane. Nobody wants to see that. :) Road racing expert Ron Fellows finished second and Mark Martin came home in third.
Predictions: Any time you are talking about a road race then you need to talk about Jeff Gordon. He has four wins here including three in a row from 1997-1999. However, I'm going to go with the driver that has won two of the last three Watkins Glen races and is inarguably HOT. Tony Stewart won this race in 2002 and 2004. I think he can do it again in 2005.
For my backup this week I'm going with the 2004 runner up and dedicated road race guru Ron Fellows. He just needs to catch a break and he can win.
