NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen 2009

By: Ryan Boyce on 8/3/2009

If you're a race fan living in upstate New York this week, there's reason for you to be VERY excited about NASCAR's return to Watkins Glen International. Throughout the week, I'll be blogging about everything NASCAR and their 23rd consecutive visit to The Glen in what will definitely prove to be an important race as the Sprint Cup season winds down.

So here are some random tidbits that you might be interested in, if you're not, just keep scrolling to my picks...

Andy Lally WILL be qualifying in a TRG Motorsports entry for the Sprint Cup race on Sunday. The team already fields a car for David Gilliland. "Lally, 34, has won Rolex Series championships in three different classes -- GT (2006), SGS (2004) and SRPII (2001). He also was part of the GT class-winning Rolex 24 Hour GT team in February. Lally currently drives the No. 67 Porsche in the Rolex GT Series." Check out the original article here (Photo courtesy of Nascar.com)

There have been some rumblings that Sprint Cup regular Jimmie Johnson will be racing in a Daytona Prototype for the Crown Royal 200 on Friday, but nothing has been confirmed yet. The Crown Royal 200 is the second stop for the Grand American Road Racing Series at The Glen, and is an extremely short race compared to the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen event that takes place in June. (Photo courtesy of Topspeed.com)

I read an article on NASCAR.com written by David Caraviello that you should definitely check out. He lists his five tracks that will determine the Sprint Cup Champion. Guess which track is number one.

According to Autowire.com, Michael Waltrip Racing has announced that Patrick Carpentier will be stepping in the #55 machine normally driven by Michael Waltrip, and will qualify for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen race on Sunday. Carpentier finished solidly at Infineon this year with a top 15
performance and will definitely be someone to keep an eye on this weekend. Click here (Photo courtesy of The Birmingham News)

Okay, with that, here is my Six Pack of drivers you should pay attention to on Sunday...

TONY STEWART

This one is a no-brainer. In 21 road course starts, Stewart has compiled 6 wins (four of them at The Glen), 10 top 5’s, and 5 top 10’s throughout his career. His last win at The Glen came in 2007, and he finished second last year to Kyle Busch. In nine career starts at Watkins Glen, Stewart has finished outside of the top 10 twice
(2003 - 11th, 2001 - 26th). Coming off an excellent performance at Infineon where he finished 2nd behind Kasey Kahne, Stewart is always a force to be reckoned with at The Glen. (Great photo courtesy of Newsday.com)


MARK MARTIN

He has been having a great season riding for Hendrick Motorsports this year and I expect a strong finish from Mark here at The Glen. Martin has four wins this season at Chicagoland, Michigan, Darlington, and Phoenix. Although he hasn't been to Victory Lane at a road course since 1997 at Infineon, Martin has a staggering 20 top 5 finishes at road courses for his career. He won three years in a row at Watkins Glen International starting back in 1993 through 1995. Just a sidenote, if Martin sticks his car on the pole at Watkins, my money is on him. In all four of his road course victories Martin has started from the pole, and never looked back. (Photo courtesy of Nascar.com)


JUAN MONTOYA

This posting would not be complete without Montoya, who arguably has the most road course experience in the entire series. The former CART and Formula 1 star was screwed in 2007 when Clint Bowyer took him out in The 90, leading to a dismal 39th finish. Fast forward to 1:46 in this video and you'll see what I'm talking about. Besides that, Montoya has been solid with a win at Infineon in 2007, a top 5, and two top 10's in his Sprint Cup career at road courses, with a 6th place finish this year at Infineon. He's also been on a tear lately with strong performances at Indianapolis and Pocono. (Photo courtesy of Nascar.com)


MARCOS AMBROSE

Who? Who is...IT'S MARCOS AMBROSE! Last year in the Nationwide race, Ambrose won his first NASCAR race at Watkins Glen, and then came out the VERY NEXT DAY, starting 43rd, to finish 3RD!!! This V8 Supercar alum from Launceston, Tasmania (that's Australia) can get it done on the road course, finishing an impressive 3rd this season at Infineon. (Photo courtesy of Adrants.com)


JEFF GORDON

He's been ice cold at The Glen since 2001 when he won his 4th race at the historic road course, but you can never count him out, especially this year. Gordon needs a strong finish to try to put some restraint on points leader Tony Stewart and his teammate Jimmie Johnson. He finished 29th last year in Watkins Glen and 9th this year at Infineon. (Photo courtesy of Nascar.com)

And lastly, who I think is going to win at Watkins this year...

DENNY HAMLIN

If you're saying to yourself right now, "WTF, Denny Hamlin?!?!," hear me out. In 7 career road course starts, Hamlin has accrued 2 Top 5’s, 5 top 10’s, and an average finish of 10th position. He just came off a trip to Victory Lane at Pocono, and he's scored top 5 finishes this season at Bristol, Martinsville, The All-Star Race at Charlotte, Michigan, Infineon, Daytona, and Chicagoland. He started second and finished second in 2007 at The Glen, and he's proven to everyone he can be successful at a wide variety of tracks throughout the NASCAR circuit. Hamlin WILL improve upon his 8th place finish last year in Watkins and will be spraying some Great Western champagne on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Athlonsports.com)


Who didn't make my cut? Last year's winner Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson...

My beef against Kyle Busch...

Last year qualifying was rained out and Kyle received a free ticket to the front row with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Although Kyle did hold off Tony Stewart for the win, I don't think he will be in Victory Lane this year. Keep in mind that Busch is desperately trying to race his way into the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff, so we MIGHT see a strong finish from him, but I seriously doubt it. He averages 15th place in 9 road course starts with two wins (1 at Infineon, 1 at Watkins). (Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated.com)

Ohhhh Jimmie Johnson...

Does anyone remember what Jimmie Johnson did the first time he came to Watkins Glen as a Busch Series driver? Take a look...Johnson has been dominant at a ton of tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit, but I don't think Jimmie will find himself in contention to win at Watkins this year. In his 15 career starts at road courses, Johnson has never won, and averages a 15th place finish. (Photo courtesy of Allleftturns.com

Soooo...that's it for now, I'll be writing some more as the week goes on to fill your daily NASCAR fix. All of the statistical data I acquired was from NASCAR.com and the MSN Fox Sports NASCAR site. If you've made it through this lengthy post, I thank you!