The First Reid: Winless No More? Watkins Glen Provides Big Opportunity
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
For those who still have aspirations to run for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the final 10 races of the season, the future is now—and its name is Watkins Glen.
For three drivers in particular—Tony Stewart, Marcos Ambrose and AJ Allmendinger—the best shot at a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup arguably comes this weekend at the 2.45-mile road course in New York’s Finger Lakes district.
The winner of two of the last three races at WGI, Ambrose will be front and center as the odds-on favorite, and with good reason. The Australian driver is the most accomplished road racer in the Cup series, as his record at the Glen attests.
Before last year’s anomalous 31st-place finish, the result of a crash, Ambrose had finished in the top three in his only five previous starts at WGI, winning in 2011 and 2012.
Likewise, Allmendinger is no slouch at the high-speed road course, having finished no worse than 13th in five career starts, with top 10s in his last three appearances. Allmendinger has completed all 452 scheduled laps in his five starts combined.
Stewart, of course, is a five-time winner at the Glen, having taken the checkered flag most recently in 2009. The three-time series champion hasn’t been as competitive as he’d like to be on the ovals this year, but a road course puts more of the onus on the driver, and Stewart’s skill set is unquestioned.
Ambrose, Allmendinger and Stewart aren’t high enough in the standings to bank on qualifying for the Chase on points, but Sunday could bring a season-changing event for any of the three.
@nascarcasm
Emergency memo to track owners.
Want irony? The same guy who won at Pocono earlier this year because of a piece of litter won again yesterday and is grabbing a broom.
Much like Kyle Larson’s truck from Eldora Speedway, Pocono Raceway only has three sides.
Last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars finished P2, P3 and P4. And thanks to the ingenuity of the #11 team, they earned a P5 also.
Mark Martin will be joining Roush-Fenway Racing as a coach. Jack Roush knows Mark’s years of knowledge will help develop his young drivers. He also didn’t want all of Carl Edwards’ gym equipment to go to waste.
(Follow @nascarcasm on Twitter. His unique views on NASCAR are his own – but chances are you have probably figured that out by now.)
NASCAR NUMBER
By Reid Spencer
5: The number of laps led by race runner-up Kevin Harvick in Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway. That boosted Harvick’s total for the year to 899 laps led, surpassing his previous single-season high of 895 laps in 2006—and Harvick still has 15 races to run this year.
63: The number of laps led by Jeff Gordon in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono. That increased Gordon’s career total of laps led at Pocono to a series-best 1,037 for the record six-time winner at the Tricky Triangle.
12: The number of years between season sweeps at a single track for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who on Sunday won his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono this season. Earnhardt last swept events at a track in 2002, when his only two victories of the year both came at Talladega.
20: The finishing position of Ryan Truex in Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono, a career best for the 22-year-old younger brother of Cup veteran Martin Truex Jr. In 20 previous starts in the series, Truex’s best result was 30th at Martinsville on Mar. 30.
97: Of a possible 542, the number of laps led by Marcos Ambrose in six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen International, site of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen. Ambrose has two victories, a pole and five top-three finishes at the 2.45-mile road course.
NASCAR Notes
For only the second time in his career, Dale Earnhardt Jr. swept at a race track, winning both events at Pocono Raceway. His win on Sunday catapulted him to the top of the Chase Grid Outlook, and if the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup began today, he’d start as the No. 1 seed. … Kevin Harvick needed only eight points in Sunday’s race at Pocono to clinch a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He got 43. Assuming he starts the remaining five races of the regular season, Harvick has locked up his spot in NASCAR’s playoffs. He joins fellow clinchers Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Carl Edwards. … In leading a race-high 63 laps in Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway, Jeff Gordon reached two major milestones. First, he reached 1,000 laps led at Pocono, becoming the first person to accomplish the feat. Later in the race, once he led 51 laps, Gordon became the sixth driver in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history to reach 24,000 career laps led. … Toyota’s record-setting streak in the NASCAR Camping World Series has come to an end. The manufacturer won each of the first 10 races of the season (and 12 consecutive overall dating back to 2013) heading into last Saturday’s race at Pocono. But Austin Dillon, driving a Chevrolet, ended the streak with his win at the Tricky Triangle.
Tune-In: NASCAR On Television, August 4-10
Monday, August 4
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 1
8 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Colorado (re-air), FOX Sports 2
Tuesday, August 5
11:30 a.m., The 10: NASCAR’s Wildest Throw-Downs (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Noon, NASCAR Race Hub Special (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race at Indianapolis (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Wednesday, August 6
1 p.m., Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race at Indianapolis (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Colorado (re-air), FOX Sports 2
Thursday, August 7
1 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Special (re-air), FOX Sports 1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Pocono (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Eldora (re-air), FOX Sports 2
9 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Columbus (re-air), FOX Sports 2
10 p.m., Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race at Indianapolis (re-air), FOX Sports 2
Friday, August 8
9 a.m., FOX Sports 1 on 1: Jimmie Johnson (re-air), FOX Sports 1
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Iowa, FOX Sports 1
Noon, NASCAR Live, FOX Sports 1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
2 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Final Practice, FOX Sports 1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Live, FOX Sports 1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Practice, FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
3 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR Nationwide Series Final Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 1
4:30 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Saturday, August 9
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2
2 p.m., NNS Countdown, ABC
2:15 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Watkins Glen, ABC
Sunday, August 10
11 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FOX Sports 2
Noon, NSCS Countdown, ESPN
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Watkins Glen, ESPN
6:30 p.m., TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Race at Road America, FOX Sports 1
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FOX Sports 1
National Series Schedule
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
The Next Race:Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
The Place:Watkins Glen International
The Date/Time:Sunday, Aug. 10, 1 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN
Radio: MRN Radio,Sirius XM Channel 90
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
The Next Race: Zippo 200 at The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International
The Date/Time:Saturday, Aug. 9, 2:15 p.m. (ET)
TV: ABC
Radio: MRN,Sirius XM Channel 90
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
The Next Race: Michigan National Guard 200
The Place: Michigan International Speedway
Date/Time: Saturday, Aug. 16, 12:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: FOX Sports 1
Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Channel 90
NASCAR National Series Standings
This year, wins matter more than in any season in the 65-year history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Essentially, a win locks a driver into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Currently there are 11 different winners. The remainder of the 16-driver Chase Grid will be filled by those drivers highest in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points. See below for how the current Chase Grid would look if NASCAR’s playoffs began today:
Chase Grid Outlook
Pos Driver Wins
1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3
2 Brad Keselowski 3
3 Jimmie Johnson 3
4 Jeff Gordon 2
5 Carl Edwards 2
6 Joey Logano 2
7 Kevin Harvick 2
8 Kyle Busch 1
9 Denny Hamlin 1
10 Aric Almirola 1
11 Kurt Busch 1
12 Matt Kenseth 0
13 Ryan Newman 0
14 Clint Bowyer 0
15 Kyle Larson 0
16 Greg Biffle 0
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Pos Driver Points
1 Chase Elliott # 714
2 Regan Smith 712
3 Elliott Sadler 702
4 Ty Dillon # 702
5 Trevor Bayne 673
6 Brian Scott 673
7 Chris Buescher # 586
8 Brendan Gaughan 584
9 Ryan Reed # 538
10 James Buescher 533
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Pos Driver Points
1 Ryan Blaney 408
2 Johnny Sauter 401
3 Matt Crafton 396
4 Ron Hornaday Jr. 388
5 Darrell Wallace Jr. 377
6 German Quiroga 365
7 Ben Kennedy # 364
8 Timothy Peters 359
9 Joey Coulter 353
10 Jeb Burton 324
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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