Watkins Glen : Road course

Watkins Glen

August 5, 2013

NASCAR   Week of Aug. 5, 2013

It’s August and appropriately, many are on the road. Road courses, that is.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series head for the 2.45-mile road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y., while the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron – two organizations comprising United SportsCar Racing in 2014 – share an unprecedented doubleheader weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Just five races remain before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ lineup is set. Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson can become the first to lock up a postseason berth this weekend if he leaves The Glen with a margin of 193 points or more over the 11th-place driver. He currently leads 11th-place Tony Stewart by 178 points.

Last year’s Cheez-It 355 finished in dramatic fashion as Marcos Ambrose and champion-to-be Brad Keselowski traded paint on and off the racing surface during the race’s final lap. Ambrose goes for his third consecutive victory at The Glen; Keselowski finished second in both 2011 and 2012.

The Chase top 10/Wild Card fray is in full boil. Provisional Wild Card holders Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. are five and 15 points, respectively, out of the top 10. Stewart has won five times in the past 11 races at The Glen. Truex, the Sonoma winner, can improve his Chase chances by becoming the first driver to sweep both NASCAR Sprint Cup road-course events since 2008.

Jeff Gordon, a four-time Glen winner and the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup road-course winner (nine victories) solidified his top-10 standing with a runner-up finish at Pocono. His first victory of 2013 could be just around The Glen’s seven corners.

Austin Dillon is on a roll, but this weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 could prove to be a speed bump in his quest for the championship. Dillon currently holds a 14-point lead over Regan Smith and Sam Hornish Jr., but he finished 23rd at Watkins Glen last year in his only series start at the road course.

Not only is Smith hoping to regain the lead in the championship points standings this weekend, he hopes he can do it in front of a hometown crowd. Smith is a native of Cato, N.Y.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes the weekend off before heading to Michigan International Speedway for the Aug. 17 Michigan National Guard 200. Matt Crafton padded his championship lead at Pocono as the Californian fashioned his 11th consecutive top-10 finish of the season.