Sauter

Watkins Glen International is the only road course event on the 33-race schedule for the NASCAR Busch Series in 2001. When you factor five road racing specialists into the starting lineup, it gets even more difficult for a Busch Series regular to challenge for the win. In addition, try battling your way from the rear of the field three times during the race. That's what I faced Sunday afternoon. And, despite all of these obstacles, we managed to earn a 12th-place finish in the Quality Farm Stores Chevrolet.

In qualifying, we posted a best lap of 74.435 seconds, at 118.493 mph, to earn the 21st starting position. Qualifying for the Busch cars at Watkins Glen is done European style where a group of five or six cars are on the course at the same time. Cars are spaced so that none of the competitors will be affected by the other drivers on the course. Each driver has five minutes to complete as many laps as possible. Your best lap time and speed during the five-minute session is recorded as your qualifying lap.

Having to work my way through traffic on a road course from the 21st starting position would require a fast, good handling car, plus a lot of patience. Even though I have enjoyed success at Watkins Glen in both NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Busch Series competition, I knew I would have a long, uphill battle all afternoon.

And, the battle became harder when Ashton Lewis literally tore off the left side of my car entering Turn 1 on lap 9. I was forced to pit for major body damage repair and two left side tires and fuel on lap 10. I restarted the race in the 31st position.

I worked my way through traffic, reaching the top 20 on lap 20. On lap 26, I had worked my way back into the top 10. On lap 39, I would pit again, under caution this time, for more body damage repair, tires and fuel. Once again, I had to restart from the rear of the field and begin working toward the front.

The final 12 laps were exciting as I worked through heavy traffic. On lap 74, I had reached the 11th position and was battling for a top-10 spot. Then, with one lap remaining, Kenny Wallace was able to work his way past me for 11th. A long and tough afternoon of racing on the road course concluded for me in the 12th position.

We gained two positions in the overall standings. We are now in 15th.

I love road course racing, but Sunday was a tough battle. I had a great car, but track position hurt all day. The deal with Lewis early in the race messed up the entire left side of the car and the guys had to work each pit stop to make repairs. Our pit stops were awesome, and we got what we got coming from the rear three times. I had a top-10 car, but overcoming all we did, our finish wasn't too bad. We gained in the points and that's important.

I'm really going to be sad if Watkins Glen is not on our schedule next year. I enjoy road course racing and I believe it offers us a challenge that's different from our normal oval races. I'd like to see the Busch Series keep this race.

The next challenge will be at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., on Saturday, July 14. This will be the inaugural race for NASCAR at the new speedway.

I'm looking forward to our first trip to the new track. I drive the Morton Salt car this weekend and I hope that we can continue to have success on the new Busch tracks this season. The Thursday open test day should be really interesting. Chicagoland is a very fast track, but needs another groove to race in. Hopefully, it will develop a second groove by race time Saturday.

We're in a very important stretch of races right now in the Busch Series, and every position in every race is important. I've still got my sights set on a top-10 finish in the points this year, so we have to keep focused and get the most we can each race. This is a big race for our team.

Jay Sauter drives the No. 43 car in the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division and will be submitting a weekly diary to ESPN.com throughout the season.