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Thursday, August 9
Gordon favored at the Glen
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com
Sunday marks only the second time that Winston Cup drivers get to do something they normally don't do at any other point in the season: turn right.
And if they're zigging instead of zagging, it means they're either on the West Coast at Sears Point Raceway, or in the Northeast at Watkins Glen International Raceway, site of Sunday's Global Crossing at the Glen.
|  | | Jeff Gordon finished second at Sonoma earlier this year and is looking for his seventh road-course victory. |
At 2.45 miles, the Watkins Glen layout is a mere hair shorter than last Sunday's venue, the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But that's where the similarities end. Like Sonoma, Watkins Glen is a twisting, 11-turn road course that puts a premium on handling, but also is one of the most difficult tracks upon which to pass.
That's why, in 12 of the 18 previous Cup races contested at WGIR, the winner has come from either the No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 qualifying positions. Start high, finish high -- and remember to turn right at the right time -- is the mantra for drivers at the legendary New York racing facility.
Without question, this weekend's favorite to win is current Winston Cup points leader Jeff Gordon, who is a three-time winner at Watkins Glen, having taken the checkered flag in his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet three consecutive years from 1997 through 1999.
A win at Watkins Glen would make Gordon the first driver in Winston Cup history to capture seven career road course victories. He is currently tied with Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Rusty Wallace on the all-time road course win list -- but Gordon accomplished that feat in a more difficult way: all six road course wins were consecutive (1998-2000 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, and his three consecutive triumphs at Watkins Glen).
"It was difficult winning my first road course event, not to mention six in a row," Gordon said. "But the team worked hard on the setups, I worked hard on my driving and things just started to click. We knew we were capable of winning on a road course, we just had to have it all come together during a race. It finally did and that gave us confidence that carried over to five more wins."
Last year's race at Watkins Glen featured a controversial on-track incident between Gordon and fellow competitor Tony Stewart that spilled out into a pushing and shouting match after the race between the two. It was the first time that Gordon has shown any type of true anger publicly in his fabled Cup career, but the incident is long behind him now, he says.
"My philosophy is what happens on the track stays at the track," the three-time Winston Cup champion said. "Tony and I race every week, we both want to win and you can't let last year's incident become a distraction. If it becomes a distraction, then you lose your focus.
"Tony's a fierce competitor and when he's in front of me, he's my biggest rival. The next driver I'm trying to pass is my biggest rival until I get by them."
And that list of rivals will be pretty long this weekend, particularly with several drivers who either have true road course racing backgrounds or have also done as well as Gordon on twisting serpentine tracks.
"Ron Fellows, Boris Said and Robby Gordon are going to be tough because of their road racing background," Gordon said. "But guys like Rusty (Wallace), Mark (Martin), and Jerry (Nadeau) are always strong. Steve Park won this race last year and Tony (Stewart) won earlier this year at Sears Point. I expect Ricky (Rudd) and Dale (Jarrett) to be in contention, also."
Coming into Sunday's race Gordon holds a comfortable 160-point lead over Jarrett, with Rudd a close third, 179 points behind. Gordon leads the overall series in pole positions (five), races led (17), average finish (10.9), average start (9.1), top-5 finishes (13, no other driver has more than nine), laps led (1,552). He also is tied for most wins (4) and most top-10 finishes (14).
But Gordon isn't the only heady contender to watch for. Mark Martin is also a three-time winner at The Glen, having won from the pole each time in three consecutive outings (1994 through 1996). Given the struggles Martin had in the first half of this season, a win this weekend would further solidify the second-half comeback that Martin and the No. 6 Viagra Ford team have mounted in recent weeks.
"We're taking the same car to Watkins Glen that we took to Sonoma," Martin said. "The car was great during the race, but I messed up during qualifying so that put us at a disadvantage from the start. It took the whole race just to fight my way up to 10th. This weekend the Viagra team intends to qualify up front and stay up there for the whole race."
If he doesn't win, Martin is a near-lock to finish strong Sunday based on his career record at Watkins Glen: he's finished in the top-10 in 12 of his 13 career starts there. He finished second behind Park in last year's race at WGIR, where he also still holds the record for driving the fastest Cup race there, covering the 220.5-mile with a winning speed of 103.30 mph in the 1995 event.
"The difference between racing at Watkins Glen and Sears Point mostly has to do with the difficulty of the turns," Martin said. "At Watkins Glen, it is a whole lot more like a big right-hand oval rather than at Sears Point, you've got all kinds of turns and ups and downs. It is a much easier course to drive if you're not as familiar with road racing. I'm not saying it is easy, just easier than some."
Then there's the wild-card, the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford of Rusty Wallace. Wallace has six career road course victories, including two triumphs at Watkins Glen in 1987 and 1989 (Rudd is the only other driver with multiple wins at WGIR, also with two). And judging from the words coming out of Wallace's mouth, he's on a mission to win there again this Sunday.
"We think we're back on top of our game on the road courses, so we're headed into this weekend looking for more poles and race wins," said Wallace, who holds the Watkins Glen qualifying record of 121.234 mph in 1999. "We've always been thought of as top threats on the road courses and I'm confident that we won't let anybody down this weekend, that's for sure."
Wallace admittedly had a terrible outing on road courses last season, finishing 26th at Sonoma and 34th at Watkins Glen. But after his fifth-place showing at Sonoma in June, Wallace is looking for an even higher finish at Watkins Glen.
"Our performances on the road courses last season were terrible ... they were really personal embarrassments for me," said Wallace. "I'd just as soon forget the 2000 trip to Watkins Glen. It seemed like it was just one disaster after another from the start of practice until we were in the rental car and headed back toward the airport after the race was over.
"Our run out at Sonoma proved that we're headed back in the right direction on the road courses," he said. "As good as we were out there this time around, we look to be even better at Watkins Glen."
Wallace may have another bit of incentive as well: Gordon won last Sunday's Brickyard 400 one day after celebrating his 30th birthday. This Sunday may be Wallace's turn, as he turns 45 on Aug. 14.
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR Winston Cup for ESPN.com.
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