Sprint Cup qualifying at Watkins Glen rained out
Fri 8th, August 2008
Watkins Glen, NY (Sports Network) - Rain forced cancellation of Friday's qualifying for the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. Morning practice was also scrubbed because of inclement weather.
By rule, the starting grid for Sunday's race at Watkins Glen will be set by the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points, giving Kyle Busch the pole position. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will start on the outside of the first row.
Carl Edwards and two-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson will make up the second row.
Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Jeff Burton (fifth), Jeff Gordon (sixth), Tony Stewart (ninth), Kevin Harvick (11th), Clint Bowyer (12th), Matt Kenseth (13th) and David Ragan (14th).
Without the opportunity to make a qualifying attempt, Boris Said and Brian Simo will miss Sunday's race.
Five races remain until the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" begins September 14th at New Hampshire, and the spotlight shines ever-brighter on the 12th-place cut-off. Only 97 points separate ninth-place Stewart from 14th-place Ragan.
Kenseth fell out of the top-12 after an 11th-place finish Sunday at Pocono. Kenseth is now 11 markers behind 12th-place Bowyer. He was eighth in points after the July 12th race at Chicagoland, but has fallen five positions since then. Kenseth and Johnson are the only drivers to compete in the "Chase" every year since the championship program began in 2004.
Even though he was involved in a crash in the opening laps at Pocono, Harvick rallied for a fourth-place finish, and as a result, moved up two spots in the standings. Harvick sits in the 11th spot, eight markers ahead of his Richard Childress Racing teammate Bowyer.
Harvick has an impressive record at The Glen, recording one victory (2006) and four top-10 finishes in seven races. Harvick, unfortunately, finished 36th in last year's race after being involved in an incident with Juan Pablo Montoya. Martin Truex, Jr. got into the back of Montoya, sending him into the turn too fast as he hit Harvick. The two got out of their cars and started pushing and yelling at each other.
Stewart is the defending race winner. Stewart watched as Gordon slid off the track with two laps to go last year. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver held off his teammate Denny Hamlin at the finish line by 2.460 seconds for his third victory of the season and his 32nd career victory in the series. Gordon, the points leader at the time, ended up finishing ninth.
Meanwhile, Sunday's weather forecast at Watkins Glen calls for scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. NASCAR has brought 600 rain tires on reserve.
The sanctioning body used rain tires for the first points-paying race last week in the Nationwide event at Montreal.
The green flag is scheduled to drop around 2 p.m. (et).
Said to fill-in for Petty at Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen, NY (Sports Network) - Boris Said will replace Kyle Petty in the No.45 Dodge for the Centurion Boat at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. Said originally did not make the field for Sunday's race since qualifying at Watkins Glen was rained out Friday.
This will be Said's first competition in Petty Enterprises equipment. He had to seek permission from Ford before hopping into Petty's Dodge. He drives the No.60 No Fear Racing Ford in the Sprint Cup Series on a part-time basis. Said will start from the rear of the field.
"Boris is known around the world as one of the premier road course racers," Robbie Loomis, Petty Enterprises vice president of operations, said. "He will give us another great opportunity to assess our program. Everyone at Petty Enterprises is grateful to Boris for helping us out."
Said, a road-course veteran, has made 32 Sprint Cup starts with a career-best finish of third in August 2005 at Watkins Glen.
Petty has not driven the No.45 car since May at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Terry Labonte and Chad McCumbee have shared driving duties in Petty's absence. Labonte is expected to drive the car next week at Michigan.
Trading Paint: Centurion Boats at The Glen picks
Welcome to Trading Paint, a weekly entry where a statewide panel of four auto racing "experts" will make picks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. This week: Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
The rules are simple:
1. A panelist can't pick the same driver in back-to-back weeks.
2. Standings will be calculated each week based on the actual points earned by the drivers each panelist picks to win.
After 21 races, the standings are as follows, with their pick of last week's winner in parentheses:
1. Steve Kaminski (Jimmie Johnson) -- 3,136
2. Jeff Bleiler (Jeff Gordon) -- 2,912
3. Mike Pryson (Denny Hamlin) -- 2,803
4. Antoine Pitts (Kyle Busch) -- 2,696
Jeff Bleiler -- Jackson Citizen Patriot
Not the greatest showing for me at Po-co-oh-no. Jeff Gordon let me down, and Kaminski again comes through with a top-three pick. We're off to a road course now, and it's time to get back on course, of course.
• Winner -- Denny Hamlin. He was runner-up to Tony Stewart last year and was 10th a couple years back at The Glen. Plus, Den rhymes with Glen. It's fate.
• Sleeper -- Robby Gordon. He's had a couple top-10 finishes at The Glen and may be even higher this week.
• No chance -- Boris Said. He's almost always in these road course events and is sometimes up there, but I'm just not feeling it. It won't be a good week for Boris, Said Jeff Bleiler. I know, stop it already.
Steve Kaminski -- The Grand Rapids Press
Let's see how sharp you guys are this week, and no peaking at the answer.
Q: Name the NASCAR driver whose last name is spelled the same frontwards and backwards.
Give up?
Mr. Bleiler, I'm guessing you said Truex? Mr. Pryson, did you go with Harvick? And Mr. Pitts, no, it isn't Kahne.
A: You should have said J.J. Yeley.
Speaking of Yeley, I saw that Hall of Fame Racing has replaced him with Brad Coleman. I'm sure Hall of Fame Racing is going to start winning all kinds of races now.
On to Watkins Glen. ...
• Winner -- Kevin Harvick. He is barely hanging on to a spot in the Chase, and he hasn't won since the 2007 Daytona 500. But he has won at this track.
• Sleeper -- Robby Gordon. He has six top-five finishes in eight Watkins Glen starts.
• No chance -- Jeff Burton. He has only one top-five finish in the past 16 races, and he's no road course whiz.
Antoine Pitts -- The Ann Arbor News
Well, I'm hoping for a clean race this week at The Glen. I've had just about enough of all these fiascos. If it's not weather one week, it's tires another week.
• Winner -- Jeff Gordon. Win No. 1 of the season has to come at the place where he's won four times before.
• Sleeper -- Robby Gordon. Well, isn't this week that he's built for in this series?
• No chance -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. He hates road courses.
Mike Pryson -- Jackson Citizen Patriot
Just one week until the boys get back to Michigan, but first a stop at crazy, and this week wet, Watkins Glen.
Last week, my "no chance" pick was Tony Stewart, and he finished second. Needless to say, I'm in midseason form. On the other hand, my riding of the David Ragan bandwagon is starting to look good. I still say he makes the Chase. He's 14th in the points heading to this week's road course.
This week, it's time to go a little off the board for the winner.
• Winner -- Juan Pable Montoya. He's the closest thing to a road course specialist among NASCAR regulars. Even though he's having a disappointing (OK, dismal) season, he knows how to win on a road course. At Sonoma in June, he started 21st and still made it all the way to a sixth-place finish.
• Sleeper -- Matt Kenseth. I never feel quite right calling a former points champion, a "Sleeper," but Kenseth is sitting 13th in the points and in need of a solid finish. With five races left until the Chase, there's little room for anything outside the top-10 for Kenseth.
• No chance -- Kurt Busch. As the anchor of Penske Racing South, he's been pretty much just that -- an anchor. Teammate Ryan Newman already is off the squad for 2009. How safe can Kurt Busch's job be when he fails to make the Chase.
mlive.com
Centurion Boats at The Glen PostQ
While not known for his road course racing skills Jimmie Johnson has not been that bad on this track type. He hasn’t been running that great either but does have six straight top 20 finishes with his best finish, 3rd place, coming at Watkins Glen International last season. Johnson vaults to the top of the PostQ forecast thanks in large part to rain on Friday. Qualifying was cancelled allowing Johnson to start the race from the 4th spot while he ranked 3rd on our Speed chart. Johnson is on a roll with three consecutive top 3 finishes. Johnson may not take the checkers but he will be a contender this weekend in the Centurion Boats at The Glen.
The driver that is most likely the favorite this weekend is Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as Gordon IS known for his road racing prowess. Gordon has three wins at The Glen since 1998 but has not been to victory lane at the track since the 2001 season. Gordon has yet to see the checkered flag first this season which is surprising. He will be hungry to get that check mark in the win column and had a good chance to do so. Like other starting up from the rain on Friday was a benefit. Gordon also has been quick in the practice sessions on Saturday ranking 7th on our Speed chart. The Hendrick duo could be battling for the win Sunday.
It has been a long and tumultuous season for Robby Gordon. An early season switch Ford to Dodge set the team back earlier in the year and he has yet to rebound. Gordon has just five top 20 finishes on the season with a 36th place finish at Infineon, the other road course track earlier this season. Gordon is desperate for a decent run and anything in the top 20 would be an accomplishment. He will have to come from the back of the pack due to his 31st place ranking in the point standings but looked solid in the practice sessions on Saturday ranking 14th on our Speed chart. Watch for the #7 Menards Dodge to move through the field on Sunday making for some exciting racing.
Throughout his career a sticking point has been road courses with Matt Kenseth. He is averaging a 17th place finish in the last nine road course starts with just two top 10s. On a good note one of those top 10s came last time out at Infineon when he finished in the 8th position. It doesn’t look like things will go that will this weekend however as Kenseth did not look in the practice sessions on Saturday. He ranked outside the top 30 on our Speed chart and is just 20th on the Driver Rating category calculated by NASCAR. Road courses have been Kenseth’s Achilles heel and he gets our ‘buyer beware’ label for this race.
One driver that has been posting some solid finishes in recent weeks has been A.J. Allmendinger. He has three consecutive top 20 finishes after having just two in his first 10 starts of the season. Allmendinger, however, with his limited seat time at the Cup level will likely struggle at Watkins Glen on Sunday. In his lone road course start Allmendinger posted a 37th place finish. With very little road course racing experience, a bad starting spot (37th place) don’t look for a fourth top 20 finish from Allmendinger this weekend. Avoid the #84 Red Bull Toyota especially with the road course ringers in the race.
profantasysports.com
Centurion Boats at the Glen: Tony A Tiger?
By Brian Gabrielle
Last Week: We never threatened to win any of our straight-up bets, but Denny Hamlin outdistanced Kyle Busch to give us a head-to-head win, and a winning week. For the week, we won 0.24 units on 1.5 units wagered, a return of 16%; for the season, we've profited 5.02 units on 30.5 units wagered, a return of 16.5%, and we've given you winning weeks in 16 of 21 events. (Note that if you'd eschewed the relatively conservative betting pattern we outline below, and simply bet one unit per wager we recommend, last week you'd have lost 2.26 units on four units wagered; for the season, that would leave you with a profit of 6.73 units on 83 units wagered, a return of 8.1%. But there's clearly a bit more week-to-week risk associated with that strategy.)
Take Tony Stewart (+450), 1/6th unit. This week, we hit the series' second and final road-course event, in Watkins Glen. Stewart has won three of the past four races at this track and has four victories here overall in his nine tries at the Glen. Now, you could make the argument that the No. 20 team isn't the same since Stewart announced he's leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season, and many fans have reported hearing Tony the Tiger and his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, cursing one another out during races on their radio channel. But last week at Pocono, Stewart finished a solid second and started to look like his old self again. If he's going to win a race this year, it might just have to be this Sunday's.
Take Robby Gordon (+1000), 1/6th unit. Gordon has finished in the top five at Watkins Glen in five of the past six seasons, including one win. There's no question he's pretty much a hanger-on at just about every other track style on the Sprint Cup circuit, but at road courses, he' has to be considered a favorite. Ride him this week.
Take Kyle Busch (+800), 1/6th unit. Normally, I wouldn't think of taking the Shrub at a road course, but considering the way he went through the field at Sonoma like crap through a goose, it's a wise bettor who respects the younger Busch at all track types this season. Yeah, he's coming off a crummy effort at Pocono, but that's just about the only track where he's struggled this year. Sonoma excellence doesn't always translate to greatness at Watkins Glen, but I'm willing to take that chance.