Watkins Glen International - The Huluva Good (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

Heluva Good! at The Glen
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to Watkins Glen's 2.45 mile road course for the 22nd race of the 2010 season, the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen. We took a look at past performances and season trends to handicap the field this week.


When: Sunday, August 8, 2010; 1:18 p.m./et.


Weather: Mostly sunny with a high around 84; wind out of the SSW at 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.


The Track: Watkins Glen International

The Glen is a 2.45 mile road course. It has 11 turns including some of the only right-hand turns NASCAR drivers will make all season.


Key to Race: STEWART, ROBBY GORDON, AND BORIS

Tony Stewart has won five of the last eight races at The Glen and Jeff Gordon has visited Victory Lane four times at the track. Road course specialists like Boris Said, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Robby Gordon are always tough when right-hand turns are required.


Qualifying Procedures:

46 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Cars not in the top 35 in the 2010 owner's point standings will have to qualify based on speed. Starting positions 1-43 will be determined by a one lap qualifying run on Friday, August 7 at 11:10 am/et.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top 5

No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart has won five of the last eight races at The Glen. We like his chances to make it six out of the last nine.
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya is always tough on road courses. This is the weekend to use the No. 42.
No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose has been spectacular in road course races so far in his career. This is a good chance for him to add some positive to what has been mostly a negative season for the Tasmanian.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has cracked the top five in four of his eight career starts at The Glen. He is a solid pick once again.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Rowdy has been great at Watkins Glen the past two seasons. We like his chances.


6 to 10

No. 7 Robby Gordon: Road courses are where Gordon shines. He is a good sleeper choice to make the top 10.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has cracked the top 10 in six of his nine career road course starts. He is worth using this week.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon has four career wins at Watkins Glen. He has struggled a little lately at the track, but the No. 24 is always a threat to win on road courses.
No. 99 Carl Edwards: Edwards has finished in the top 10 in five of his last six road course starts. He should make it another on Sunday.
No. 83 Boris Said: Said teaches driving school for other Cup drivers on how to manage The Glen. The "Said Head" is a great option on Sunday.


11 to 20

No. 29 Kevin Harvick: Harvick has cracked the top 15 in six of his eight career starts at The Glen, including a win in the 2006 race. He is a decent option this weekend.
No. 2 Kurt Busch: Busch's average finish in six starts at Watkins Glen is 21st. He is a rejuvenated driver this year and should have no trouble finishing better than his average.
No. 43 AJ Allmendinger: Allmendinger has finished inside the top 15 in the past four road course races he has run. He isn't a bad fourth driver on most fantasy teams.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer has finished ninth, 14th, 16th, and 23rd in his four career starts at The Glen. We expect he will finish right around his track average on Sunday.
No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne proved he has figured out road courses with his win at Infineon last June. He will finish better than his average 18th place finish at The Glen, but we don't think he will be quick enough to crack the top 10.
No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin has 12 top five finishes, including three wins at The Glen during his career.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: Newman has been successful at Watkins Glen in the past. He will be a top 20 driver on Sunday.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Sadler has cracked the top 20 in five of the last six races at The Glen.
Even after last week's scary crash at Pocono, this is a good weekend to add him to your team.
No. 17 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has finished in the top 10 in just three of his 10 career starts at The Glen. He will be doing well to crack the top 15 this weekend.
No. 13 Max Papis: Max Papis has no issue making right-handed turns. He is someone that could surprise.


21 to 30

No. 56 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex Jr. has finished in the top 20 in four of his eight career road course starts. He is a decent fifth driver on fantasy teams this weekend.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: McMurray has averaged a 17th place finish at Watkins Glen during his career. He will be just a little slower than his average this trip to New York.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior has worked hard to improve his driving skills on road courses, but the results have yet to materialize at Watkins Glen. He isn't much of an option.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle has cracked the top 30 just three times in seven career starts at The Glen. He is too risky of a pick for our taste.
No. 82 Scott Speed: Speed has been a consistent top 25 finisher in road courses so far in his career.
No. 07 P.J. Jones: Road course guru, Jones takes the wheel of the Robby Gordon Racing's No. 07 car on Sunday. He is an interesting sleeper pick, but there are better options.
No. 31 Jeff Burton: Burton has made the top 10 just three times in 16 career starts at The Glen. There are better options this weekend.
No. 20 Joey Logano: "Sliced Bread" hasn't embarrassed himself in his first three road course starts, but there are much more established road course warriors that are less risky picks this weekend.
No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard has averaged a 24th place finish at The Glen during his career. He isn't a terrible option.
No. 6 David Ragan: Ragan still has a lot to learn when driving on road courses. He isn't an option.


31 to 35

No. 00 David Reutimann: Reutimann has never had any success on road courses. He also isn't an option.
No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish Jr. proved he can turn right during his time in open-wheel racing, but his success on road courses has yet carried over to stock cars. He isn't worth taking a chance on this weekend.
No. 26 Patrick Carpentier: Carpentier shouldn't have an issue getting the No. 26 car into the race.
No. 12 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski smashed up his ride in his first taste of Cup road-course racing at Infineon this year. He isn't an option this weekend.
No. 71 Andy Lally: Lally didn't embarrass himself at The Glen last year.


Field Fillers

No. 35 Tony Ave
No. 78 Regan Smith
No. 37 Travis Kvapil
No. 55 Michael McDowell
No. 38 David Gilliland
No. 34 Kevin Conway
No. 09 Bobby Labonte
No. 46 J.J. Yeley
No. 87 Joe Nemechek
No. 36 Casey Mears
No. 66 Dave Blaney


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Juan Pablo Montoya
3. Marcos Ambrose
4. Jimmie Johnson

Sleepers:

1. Boris Said
2. Marcos Ambrose

Bust of the Week

Jeff Burton

 

[ATP]

in no way can marcose ambrose be a sleeper, hes got to be odds on to win this

 

[HacheMan]

Heluva Good! at The Glen
Track history: Watkins Glen International hosts one of the two road course races on the Cup schedule. The Glen has had an on-again off-again history of racing. In 1957, Buck Baker put his No. 87 Chevrolet on the pole, led all 44 laps to win the first NASCAR race. It wasn't until 1964 that NASCAR returned for two years and then again dropped the track from its schedule. After the track went into disrepair it was purchased by Corning Enterprises and International Speedway Corporation. They restored the facility and reopened it in 1984. On August 9, 1986, Tim Richmond drove the No. 25 Chevrolet from the pole to the checkered flag in NASCAR's return to The Glen.

The 2.45 mile track has 11 turns with varying lengths and banking ranging from 6 to 10 degrees. The Glen is different from Infineon in California (the other NASCAR road course) in that the straightaways are longer. Drivers who can brake well going into the tight turns and can run smooth laps will have an advantage over the rest of the field. Some teams hire road course specialists in one-race deals to replace their drivers for these events. The "hired guns" have prior experience at WGI, Infineon, sports car venues and even open-wheel road courses. The Cup regulars have improved their "non-oval" driving over the past few years and are giving the specialists a run for their money.

August 10, 2008: It was all Kyle Busch in the 2008 Centurion Boats at the Glen race. Rain washed out qualifying and since his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 M&M's Toyota was the current leader in the owners' points, Busch started up front. He led the most laps (52 of 90) and went on to earn his eighth victory of the season. By winning this race, Busch swept the two road-course events in 2008.

August 10, 2009: The 2009 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen was rescheduled from Sunday to Monday due to rain. 48-Jimmie Johnson took the green as the pole-sitter, led 4 of the 90 laps and finished 12th. A huge wreck on lap 62 in Turn 9 brought out the red flag for 20 minutes. 9-Kasey Kahne bumped 77-Sam Hornish Jr. who spun in front of 31-Jeff Burton and 24-Jeff Gordon. Gordon, who hit Hornish at full-speed, said it was the hardest hit of his career. 14-Tony Stewart, who started 13th, led the most laps (34) and earned his series-leading 5th career win at WGI.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. There were 46 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. Here are our picks for Sunday's Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen in Watkins Glen, New York.

Mid-Pack picks

In the 2007 Nationwide Series at WGI, Marcos Ambrose finished 13th. He returned in 2008 and 2009 and won both races. He's attempting the NNS three-peat on Saturday. In his first start here in the Cup Series in 2008, he drove from a 43rd place start to a 3rd place finish. In the 2009 Cup race he finished runner-up to Stewart. Enough has been written about him switching off the engine to conserve fuel while in the lead at Sonoma this past June. That cost him his first Cup victory. We don't think he'll do that this weekend. Look for Ambrose to be going all out on Sunday.

This week most of the fantasy experts are dipping into the mid-pack ranks and favoring Robby Gordon. We look at mid-packers every week, so we agree! The 2003 winner of this event is not afraid of out-braking other cars in the turns. He has an aggressive road racing style and will be mixing it up at the front. Over the last ten years, only track favorite, Tony Stewart, has scored more driver championship points than Gordon at WGI. At 33rd in the points, he should be a reasonable buy in most games.

Juan Pablo Montoya was running sixth in 2007, his first start at the New York road course, when he was hit from behind with less than 20 laps to go. He finished 8 laps down in 39th. He returned with a vengeance and scored a 4th and 6th in the 2008 and 2009 editions of this race. At Infineon Raceway, Montoya scored a win, two 6th places and a 10th in his four Cup starts. In his one start at the Mexico City road course, he started 3rd and won the event. We think this is the best weekend to use him as your third or fourth driver.

We have to look at the "hired guns" this week for our deepest pick. Both Ron Fellows and Boris Said pop up as the best of the ringers but Fellows' team (Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 36) is outside the top-35 in points and may not make the field. We're going with the man with the hair in the No. 83 Toyota. Said is one the best at road courses. He finished 8th at Sonoma in June. He won a truck race there as well. Like Robby Gordon, he's fearless in the turns on road courses. Give Boris a look for the tail-end of your roster this week, or, if you really want to gamble and your game lets you wait on qualifying, go with Fellows.