With five races left and three spots not claimed by race winners on the Chase Grid, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will run the final road course race of the season at Watkins Glen International this weekend.
The I Love New York 355 at The Glen will test driver skills, pit crew ability and crew chief strategy as many drivers are in a “must win” situation if they want a shot at the championship in NASCAR’s 2017 playoffs. This could be the year that we see all sixteen spots on the Chase Grid filled by drivers with at least one win during the regular season. There is also the possibility that there could be more than three new 2017 winners in these last five races and as a result one or more drivers with a win not able to race for the championship. Below is how the Chase picture looks headed to the road course race this weekend.
Drivers will have to navigate the 2.45-mile track that has seven different turns as well as uphill and downhill portions. Those facts make racing at Watkins Glen a challenge for the drivers plus they will have to find a place to pass cars that won’t result in them driving off the race track. Should a driver make a mistake, the best case scenario is going through the grass and instead of gaining spots, losing spots that are difficult to regain. The worst-case scenario is wrecking the car and potentially collecting other cars in the process. Most people don’t correlate road course racing with massive wrecks, but as we found out a few years ago wrecks on a road course can be as scary as any track when they happen in the wrong spot.
The pit crews will also face a challenge that only comes at Watkins Glen International. The cars enter pit road with the right side of the car toward the wall requiring the pit crews to service the cars in reverse of the manner that they do at every other race during the year. You may think that is not much of a difference, but when you think about pit stops that happen in around 12 seconds, any deviation from the normal situation can cause mistakes that can cost the driver spots on the track.
For the crew chiefs that strategy of when to pit becomes even more difficult this year. The 90 lap race (220.5-miles) will be divided into two stages of 20 pas each and a final stage of 50 laps. We’ve seen in the past where this strategy has a looking like it is not going to be a factor early in the race, but that car is in the front of the field near the end of the race when the strategy has had the majority of the race to play out. However, the stage racing that began this year could change those previous strategies that include fuel millage. It may come down to the choice between playoff points for winning stages or making the Chase by just winning the race.
Here is a look at how the top drivers drivers at The Glen rank…
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Watkins Glen International
- Kyle Busch – 110.4
- Brad Keselowski – 102.4
- A.J. Allmendinger – 98.7
- Jimmie Johnson – 95.2
- Kurt Busch – 93.5
- Martin Truex Jr. – 91.8
- Kevin Harvick – 91.5
- Denny Hamlin – 87.0
- Joey Logano – 86.8
- Kyle Larson – 84.6
NOTE: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2016 races (12 total) among active drivers at Watkins Glen International.
Kyle Busch not only has the highest driver rating, but also the most wins among active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers. He is the only one who has two wins at the track during his career. Kyle got his first win of the 2017 season last week and could be a serious threat to make it back-to-back wins for the season with the momentum from last week’s Pocono win.
Denny Hamlin won this race last year and joined the list of active drivers with a single career Watkins Glen win that includes A.J. Allmendinger, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.
With just five active drivers that have won a race at Watkins Glen in NASCAR’s top division, I can’t decide if that gives the advantage to one of those drivers or makes the odds better that we will see a first time Glen winner this weekend.
I guess we will all have to watch the race unfold to find out the answer.
The green flag will waive and begin giving us that answer Sunday, August 6th starting at 2:00 PM central time (3:00 PM eastern time) in the I Love New York 355 at The Glen from Watkins Glen International.
By: Buck Stevens
