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Wednesday, 8 August 2012

#3WideBlog Race Preview: Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen



Photo via NASCAR.com
     The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York to race 90 laps around one of the oldest road courses in America. The 2.45 mile road course has 11 turns with banking from 6 to 8 degrees. This will be the 30th Sprint Cup Series race at the Glen, which hosted its first NASCAR Grand National Stock Car event won by Buck Baker 1957, the Glen has hosted NASCAR every year since 1986. 2012 Stanley Cup Champion,  captain of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and Ithaca New York native Dustin Brown will serve as Honorary Starter.  

     NASCAR has the best driving talent in the world and will see it this weekend. These heavy stockcars weren’t built to be finessed around a road course and that means we’ll see some beating and banging going into the tight corners. Some drivers take advantage of the tight racing as an excuse to get revenge on their fellow competitors from accidents in previous races without being too obvious.

     Fuel strategy is a major factor and teams will short pit for fuel in the early stage of the race and gamble for a win. Some teams will try to run the race backwards on fuel stops meaning they will count the laps they can run of a tank of fuel and calculate it from the final lap to determine when to make that first pit stop. Sometimes this strategy works if the caution flags fall in their favor and sometimes all the strategy goes out of the window for an ill timed caution flag. Qualifying up front has proven to be important as the winner has come from a top 10 qualifying effort 21 times of the 29 races here and 19 of those wins came from a top 5 starting spot.
     
Photo via NASACR.com
     Juan Pablo Montoya won the pole for the race with a lap of 69.438 seconds (127.020 Mph) for his first pole at Watkins Glen, and the ninth pole award of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. Both of Montoya's Sprint Cup Series wins come on the road courses, with one at Sonoma (2007) and one at the Glen (2010). Kyle Busch took the outside pole with a lap only 0.050 seconds slower than Montoya. Busch also knows how to get around the road courses with one victory at each as well and is definitely looking for a victory to help his wild card hopes.

      The biggest storyline this week will be the drivers trying to get into the 2 Chase for the Sprint Cup wildcard spots. With only 5 races before the Chase begins Kasey Kahne has 2 wins and looks safe for now but the other spot has 4 drivers tied with 1 each. The 4 drivers with 1 win are Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch have the best records here and a chance to get that 2nd win. Gordon holds the record for road courses wins and 4 of those wins came at the Glen. Gordon's Chase hopes were looking thin until a win last week at Pocono. Now he comes in with momentum and knows this race could solidify his Chase hopes. Kyle Busch has 1 win here and 3 top 5 finishes, He’s had fast cars but bad luck and engines problems have put him in this position. Kyle is a good driver and could pull off a few wins in a row and he’ll be a threat this week. The other drivers trying to get in the Chase with no wins are Carl Edwards (who won the preceding NASCAR Nationwide Series race) and Marcos Ambrose, Carl has 2 top 5’s in the last 3 races and Marcos won this race last year. Both of these drivers could win this week and that would make an interesting Chase battle with 4 races remaining before the Chase begins. 
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series TV Schedule 
Sunday Aug 12th

12:00PM ET NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Watkins Glen on ESPN

     NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen                
                                       Starting Lineup
POSCARDRIVERMAKESPONSORSPEEDTIMEBEHIND
142Juan MontoyaChevroletTarget127.02069.438Leader
218Kyle BuschToyotaM&M's126.92869.488-0.050
348Jimmie JohnsonChevroletLowe's Cortez Silver126.92569.490-0.052
42Brad KeselowskiDodgeMiller Lite126.62669.654-0.216
59Marcos AmbroseFordStanley126.52469.710-0.272
639Ryan NewmanChevroletU.S. Army126.31269.827-0.389
714Tony StewartChevroletOffice Depot / Mobil 1126.15069.917-0.479
815Clint BowyerToyota5-hour Energy126.06169.966-0.528
956Martin Truex Jr.ToyotaNAPA Auto Parts126.04969.973-0.535
101Jamie McMurrayChevroletMcDonald's125.95970.023-0.585
1198Michael McDowellFordTRAQM.com125.71370.160-0.722
1224Jeff GordonChevroletDrive to End Hunger125.64370.199-0.761
1378Regan SmithChevroletFurniture Row / Farm American125.61270.216-0.778
1420Joey LoganoToyotaThe Home Depot125.51870.269-0.831
1516Greg BiffleFord3M125.51670.270-0.832
1688Dale Earnhardt Jr.ChevroletNational Guard / Diet Mountain Dew125.50070.279-0.841
1722Sam Hornish Jr.DodgeShell / Pennzoil125.42070.324-0.886
1899Carl EdwardsFordFastenal125.40970.330-0.892
1929Kevin HarvickChevroletBudweiser125.38970.341-0.903
205Kasey KahneChevroletFarmers Insurance125.33970.369-0.931
21195Scott SpeedFordTWD125.33470.372-0.934
2227Paul MenardChevroletMenards / Rheem125.19970.448-1.010
2311Denny HamlinToyotaFedEx Freight125.08070.515-1.077
2417Matt KensethFordFord EcoBoost124.91770.607-1.169
2532Boris SaidFordHendrickCars.com124.79170.678-1.240
2647Bobby LabonteToyotaMiller Welders / Freightliner124.71570.721-1.283
2751Kurt BuschChevroletPhoenix Construction Services124.45570.869-1.431
2831Jeff BurtonChevroletCaterpillar124.20871.010-1.572
2943Aric AlmirolaFordSmithfield124.18771.022-1.584
3013Casey MearsFordGEICO124.13171.054-1.616
3136Dave BlaneyChevroletTommy Baldwin Racing124.10871.067-1.629
3234David RaganFordScorpion Coatings / Al's Liners123.86871.205-1.767
3355Brian VickersToyotaMy Classic Garage123.71071.296-1.858
3438David GillilandFordModSpace123.57671.373-1.935
3583Landon CassillToyotaBurger King / Dr Pepper123.47171.434-1.996
3687Joe NemechekToyotaGenny Light / AM-FM Energy123.43671.454-2.016
3710J.J. YeleyChevroletTommy Baldwin Racing123.27071.550-2.112
3826Josh Wise*FordMDS Transport122.53171.982-2.544
3933Stephen Leicht*ChevroletLittle Joes 
Autos.com		122.33572.097-2.659
40119Chris CookToyotaPlinker Tactical118.87974.193-4.755
41249Jason LefflerToyotaAmerica Israel Racing118.74274.279-4.841
4293Travis Kvapil+ToyotaBurger King / Dr Pepper---
4330Patrick LongToyotaInception Motorsports117.55175.031-5.593

+ Set by Owner Points                                              Starting Line-Up via NASCAR.com
* Denotes Rookie
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