All NASCAR fans get tired of the same old jokes from those who don’t understand the sport. ‘It’s boring, all they do is turn left,’ folks tell me. ‘They got in circles.’ Well, twice a year the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series goes to road courses where right and left turns are needed to negotiate the twists, turns and elevation changes that come with road course racing.
With just five races until the Chase cutoff, the window of opportunity is closing on those outside the top twelve in points. Jeff Burton, David Reutimann, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers need to start putting pressure on those just inside the Chase cutoff if they want to run for the cup. With all the focus on them, will another driver slip under the radar and take home the checkers in upstate New York? For that and more of my thoughts on this weekend’s race, continue reading as I preview the race now known as the Helluva Good! at The Glen.
1. Will a “Road Course Ringer” be a factor this weekend?
A few years ago many road course experts took to the NASCAR field for these road course races. “Road Course Ringers” as they became known always qualify well, but normally run with low budget teams and have trouble keeping up with the Hendrick’s, Roush’s and Gibbs’s of the NASCAR world.
The best finish by a “Road Course Ringer” in the past five years was 2nd by Ron Fellows in 2004 at The Glen. Fellows also finished 4th in 2007 at Watkins Glen. At Sonoma in late June the best ringer run was an 11th Patrick Carpentier who was driving Michael Waltrip’s #55. The “ringers” entered this weekend are Boris Said, Patrick Carpentier (who again will be driving the #55 for Michael Waltrip), Ron Fellows, Brian Simo, Tony Ave (who is he?), Andy Lally (who is he, part 2?) and P.J. Jones.
My personal favorite ringer is Boris Said. I’ll admit, for two weekends of the year I’m a “Said Head.” How can you not like that hair do? Now, Boris has made a few runs at oval tracks—like Indy and Daytona (where he sat on the pole in ‘06—and has attempted to become more of an oval regular, but he still thrives at road courses.
Now a few NASCAR regulars would be considered ringers if they didn’t run every week. Guys like Chase contender Juan Pablo Montoya (whose lone win in the Cup Series came in 2007 at Sears Point), Marcos Ambrose and Robby Gordon all come from road racing backgrounds and will be contenders this weekend.
If any one of the above drivers is considered the favorite to win this weekend it’d be Montoya who has had two stout runs in the past two weeks. He’s hitting his stride just as the Chase race is starting to heat up. I’d bet he has a great weekend—so long as he doesn’t tangle with Kevin Harvick again—and contends for the win, but has to back off in the end because he needs a good finish. He will not risk going for a win and finishing deep in the field. Read on for more thoughts on points racing.
2. Kyle Busch swept the road course races last year and needs a good finish to get in position to make a run at the Chase…Can he do so at Watkins Glen?
Driver #18 has been an anomaly this season. In the first ten races he won three and had an average finish of 15th. In the last eleven races his average finish has slipped to 21st and he’s finished no better than 7th in his last five runs. In the last five races (dating back to Loudon, where he scored the 7th) “Shrub” has finished 7th, 14th, 33rd, 38th and 16th. Not exactly the 2008 Kyle Busch.
With just five races until the Chase cutoff, the window of opportunity is closing on those outside the top twelve in points. Jeff Burton, David Reutimann, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers need to start putting pressure on those just inside the Chase cutoff if they want to run for the cup. With all the focus on them, will another driver slip under the radar and take home the checkers in upstate New York? For that and more of my thoughts on this weekend’s race, continue reading as I preview the race now known as the Helluva Good! at The Glen.
1. Will a “Road Course Ringer” be a factor this weekend?
A few years ago many road course experts took to the NASCAR field for these road course races. “Road Course Ringers” as they became known always qualify well, but normally run with low budget teams and have trouble keeping up with the Hendrick’s, Roush’s and Gibbs’s of the NASCAR world.
The best finish by a “Road Course Ringer” in the past five years was 2nd by Ron Fellows in 2004 at The Glen. Fellows also finished 4th in 2007 at Watkins Glen. At Sonoma in late June the best ringer run was an 11th Patrick Carpentier who was driving Michael Waltrip’s #55. The “ringers” entered this weekend are Boris Said, Patrick Carpentier (who again will be driving the #55 for Michael Waltrip), Ron Fellows, Brian Simo, Tony Ave (who is he?), Andy Lally (who is he, part 2?) and P.J. Jones.
My personal favorite ringer is Boris Said. I’ll admit, for two weekends of the year I’m a “Said Head.” How can you not like that hair do? Now, Boris has made a few runs at oval tracks—like Indy and Daytona (where he sat on the pole in ‘06—and has attempted to become more of an oval regular, but he still thrives at road courses.
Boris Said (right) chats with Jack Roush in 2008 (File)
Now a few NASCAR regulars would be considered ringers if they didn’t run every week. Guys like Chase contender Juan Pablo Montoya (whose lone win in the Cup Series came in 2007 at Sears Point), Marcos Ambrose and Robby Gordon all come from road racing backgrounds and will be contenders this weekend.
If any one of the above drivers is considered the favorite to win this weekend it’d be Montoya who has had two stout runs in the past two weeks. He’s hitting his stride just as the Chase race is starting to heat up. I’d bet he has a great weekend—so long as he doesn’t tangle with Kevin Harvick again—and contends for the win, but has to back off in the end because he needs a good finish. He will not risk going for a win and finishing deep in the field. Read on for more thoughts on points racing.
2. Kyle Busch swept the road course races last year and needs a good finish to get in position to make a run at the Chase…Can he do so at Watkins Glen?
Driver #18 has been an anomaly this season. In the first ten races he won three and had an average finish of 15th. In the last eleven races his average finish has slipped to 21st and he’s finished no better than 7th in his last five runs. In the last five races (dating back to Loudon, where he scored the 7th) “Shrub” has finished 7th, 14th, 33rd, 38th and 16th. Not exactly the 2008 Kyle Busch.
In order to make the Chase he’s going to have to up his ante and start running like the old Kyle Busch. Will his new “positive attitude” affect the way he runs races? I have a feeling that while it can’t hurt to be a little less grouchy his new attitude may cost him in running for the Chase. However, he did win both road course races last season, so he might be able to reclaim some of last year’s magic and make a run for this weekend’s crown.
3. Kasey Kahne has been running well lately…Can he sweep the 2009 road races?
Since his win at Sonoma in June Kahne has finished outside the top ten once, a 15th at Daytona. He’s reeled off three straight solid finishes since that run at Daytona, solidifying his run at the Chase. He’s seventh right now in the standings and sits almost 200 points ahead of the cutoff.
He outdueled Tony Stewart to win at Sonoma in June and took Richard Petty to victory lane for the first time in nearly ten seasons. Can he do it again at Watkins Glen, a place where he’s run five times and finished no better than 14th? He’ll need a good qualifying run to start his weekend. He started second in 2006. Maybe he can rekindle some of that fire and sweep the right turn road races this season.
4. How will the Chase and points standings be affected by this road course race?
Viewed as a “wild card” race by many competitors, the road course race at Watkins Glen will play a huge factor in the final standings. There’s just five races to go and only 180 points separate tenth place Mark Martin from sixteenth place man David Reutimann.
Reutimann got shoved out of the way by Denny Hamlin at Pocono on Monday and has expressed his anger over being, ‘dumped’. “I’m not happy. I’m aggravated. I’m mad as heck,” he said earlier this week. “I’m not sugarcoating any of that. I’m still really, really aggravated. Maybe we can get things sorted out."
3. Kasey Kahne has been running well lately…Can he sweep the 2009 road races?
Since his win at Sonoma in June Kahne has finished outside the top ten once, a 15th at Daytona. He’s reeled off three straight solid finishes since that run at Daytona, solidifying his run at the Chase. He’s seventh right now in the standings and sits almost 200 points ahead of the cutoff.
He outdueled Tony Stewart to win at Sonoma in June and took Richard Petty to victory lane for the first time in nearly ten seasons. Can he do it again at Watkins Glen, a place where he’s run five times and finished no better than 14th? He’ll need a good qualifying run to start his weekend. He started second in 2006. Maybe he can rekindle some of that fire and sweep the right turn road races this season.
4. How will the Chase and points standings be affected by this road course race?
Viewed as a “wild card” race by many competitors, the road course race at Watkins Glen will play a huge factor in the final standings. There’s just five races to go and only 180 points separate tenth place Mark Martin from sixteenth place man David Reutimann.
Reutimann got shoved out of the way by Denny Hamlin at Pocono on Monday and has expressed his anger over being, ‘dumped’. “I’m not happy. I’m aggravated. I’m mad as heck,” he said earlier this week. “I’m not sugarcoating any of that. I’m still really, really aggravated. Maybe we can get things sorted out."
He’s 121 points away from the 12th spot and even mentioned on TV Sunday that a 20th place finish at Watkins Glen would, “feel like a win for me.” Problem is he might need more than a 20th place finish to make any ground up on those in front of him racing for the top 12 in points.
If anyone in the top twelve has trouble this weekend it might be the Roush Fenway Racing teammates of Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. Kenseth averages a 19th place finish in his Cup career when he has to make right turns along with his lefts and teammate Biffle fares slightly worse. “The Biff” averages a 22nd place showing at road courses in his Cup career.
------------------------------------------------------
This might be the final Cup preview for the 2009 season. It’s been fun, especially two weekends ago when I was live in Indianapolis. Normally the Brickyard signals the end of summer for me, but this year’s football schedule has dictated otherwise. I’ll still bring you a thought or two on the race come Monday, but after that it’s all up in the air as to what you may or may not see on here until the end of the month. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment