Clockwise.

Of course, Watkins Glen is only one of the two road courses in NASCAR, but it’s the only race where you race clockwise, not counter-clockwise like all other tracks. The pit boxes are also on the right side, the only time we get to see that. In Cup Series, it’s also the smallest in terms of seating capacity (41,000), but also one of the five longest (only Daytona, Talladega, Indy and Pocono are longer).

Because it’s a road course and there’s more to explain, we’ll play it a little more seriously this week. (Worked well for Sonoma anyway.)

Watkins Glen, of course, is one of the oldest road courses in the U.S., built during that road course boom in the 1950s that also spawned Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Road America, Sebring and VIR. But what separated Watkins Glen from everyone else was hosting the U.S. Grand Prix in F1 for 20 years. To this day, no track in the United States has held a Grand Prix for a longer stretch of time, though this is more indicative of the disastrous efforts to bring international open-wheeled racing to the United States and is not indicative of anything else.

(By comparison, the Italian Grand Prix has been held at Monza every year since 1949 and only three times has the event NOT been held at Monza since its inception in 1921. It took more time off for when that Mussolini chap was running amok.)

In any event, Watkins Glen, by default, carries the best “aura” among road courses in the United States and is or has been a stop for pretty much every serious racing series at some point in time: Formula 1, FIA GT, IndyCar Series, Champ Cars, Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series, IROC and, of course, NASCAR. (Pretty much the only major series who has never run at Watkins Glen—to my knowledge—is the ALMS boys.)

NASCAR has been running at Watkins Glen consistently since 1986. Before then, they ran three sporadic events with smaller fields that other races at that time. Buck Baker won the first NASCAR event at Watkins Glen, going flag to flag in the 44-lap affair. Tim Richmond won the first race back at Watkins Glen in 1986.

The track was reconfigured in 1992 to add a bus stop chicane to the backstretch after J.D. McDuffie was killed after a mechanical failure sent him hurtling into the wall in Turn 5 (now Turn 6) at nearly full speed. The bus stop chicane now slows drivers down before they reach Turn 6.

Speaking of turns, how about we go through Watkins Glen turn by turn? If you’d like to see a video, check out this one of Robby Gordon at Watkins Glen a few years ago.

Start/Finish Line

It’s not a long frontstretch, but it’s longer than the “frontstretch” at NASCAR’s other road course, Sonoma. At Sonoma, cars would often still be coming through the final hairpin turn as the green flag was waved, and you would occasionally see the same thing here at Watkins Glen, with cars still coming through Turn 12 as the green flag is dropped.

This was less of an issue this year at Sonoma thanks to the double file restarts and will likely be less of an issue this year at Watkins Glen.

Turn 1

Unlike Sonoma, where the action doesn’t really get started until the second turn, Watkins Glen sets up one of the best places to pass right off the bat: Turn 1, sometimes referred to as “The 90″ because it’s a 90° turn to the right.

The trick, like most road course passing corners, is to dive in deep underneath someone and overbrake through the corner, taking the best line through the corner. Then, hopefully, if you haven’t collected anyone, you can complete the pass going into Turn 2.

This is where the infamous Montoya/Harvick “shoving incident” happened back in 2007. Montoya tried to walk the line with the brakes and couldn’t stop the car fast enough to get into the corner without hitting someone.

Turn 1 has a wide runoff area, so if you do lock it up and somehow get through cleanly, you can rejoin the pack.

Turn 2, 3 & 4

Referred to as “The Esses,” this is equivalent to the esses of Turns 8 and 9 at Sonoma. Gentle turn right, then left, then back right, steady throttle. This is not a good passing area, but you want to be on the inside going into 2, because that will leave you on the inside going into 4. Coming off this corner, most drivers will punch into fourth gear as they head into…

The Backstretch

About half a mile long, this is traditionally the fastest spot on the track, but timing off of this backstretch is critical because otherwise, you’ll seriously mess things up going into…

Turn 5

The bus stop chicane, as mentioned earlier, was created as a safety measure. You have to slow down to navigate the chicane, which has no dangerous physical barrier, so that you are slow enough going into Turn 6. This is second gear through here.

Usually, there is no penalty for missing the chicane so long as you merge back into line where you entered. The speed penalty you incur for doing so is usually enough to keep people from blowing through the chicane.

Drivers will sometimes try to pass through here, but it’s not the best place for it. The problem is not the chicane itself, it’s that you have to be prepared to enter…

Turn 6

Turn 6, or the “Inner Loop” or “Carousel,” is a sweeping turn to the right, less than 180°. You need to be on the inside here, so coming out of the bus stop chicane on the inside is preferred. This is why passing through the chicane is difficult at best, suicidal at worst. The preferred line to pass through the chicane would be on the left, but the preferred line to go through Turn 6 is on the right.

If a driver can pass a driver cleanly one-on-one through the chicane, they might be able to move back to the inside quickly enough to prevent a crossover pass through Turn 6, but it all just depends. If the guy getting passed through the chicane doesn’t let up going into 6, the “passer” will get stuck on the outside and won’t be able to finish it.

In any event, you keep pretty good speed through 6, and this corner is part concrete in some places. (The track is mostly asphalt.) It will “feel odd” to someone who’s not familiar with it because it can feel slicker.

“Sidestretch”

I just made that term up. I don’t know what you’d call this exactly, but coming out of 6, there is another straight that bypasses the Chute and Turns 7 through 9/10. This only part of the NASCAR configuration (much like turns 4 through 7 at Sonoma) and bypasses a lot more of the twists and turns in favor of having a longer straight.

It’s nearly as long as the backstretch and demands that you get off of Turn 6 quickly and correctly. Again, this is why passing through the chicane can be problematic. Because if you screw it up, you will not be in the right position going into 6, coming off of 6, you will not have a good run down this straight and you will not be in the right position going into Turn 10.

One botched pass can screw up an entire lap at a road course. Sometimes several. That’s why you need to pick your passes wisely, or you’re screwed.

Turn 10

For reasons I’ve never quite discerned, sometimes the two final turns are 10 and 11, other times, they’re marked 11 and 12. If you can figure that one out, let me know. NASCAR and TV commentators typically refer to them as 10 and 11, so that’s what I run with.

Slightly less than 90° turn to the left. An important corner because it sets you up for the final turn. If you want to pass going into Turn 1, you usually have to start setting it up here.

Turn 11

90° turn to the right and back onto the frontstretch again.

Do not pass here.
Do not pass here.
DO NOT PASS HERE.

If you pass in this corner, you will regret it or someone near you will regret it or both.

Start/Finish Line Again

And that’s it. Repeat 89 more times.

Is Watkins Glen on Twitter?

Why, yes. Yes, they are.

Watkins Glen Weather

IT GON BE NICE.

For more actual meteorological data, check out Brian Neudorff’s forecast for the area. He has a vested interest in the race’s weather—not only is he going to the race on Sunday, but he’s also a meteorologist on TV in nearby Rochester. He’s also a good NASCAR fan and a cool Twitterer (also here) and you should be following him.

What To Eat

Well, I mentioned that this portion of the season is NASCAR’s “Yankee Goodwill Tour” (10 of 11 races in Union states), so it only makes sense that we feature a restaurant that helps to bridge the cultures of our two nations halves of the same country.

Savard’s Family Restaurant in Watkins Glen, New York features well-reviewed down-home cooking of all strains. You can get Chicken Fried Chicken or Virginia Ham Steak for the Johnny Reb in you, or Fish and Chips or Clam Superstrips if you wish to satisfy Billy Yank.

They even have Montreal Sirloin Steak, for those coming across the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge or the Thousand Islands Bridge.

Fantasy NASCAR/Top 10 Picks for Watkins Glen

Maybe? Soon? I can’t commit to anything on this anymore, it seems like.

*smooch*

That has a lot of people calling foul for some reason, including Kyle Petty. I don’t really see why though. Montoya was angry and swore he didn’t do it, but basically it’s his word versus two electronic scoring monitors. That wouldn’t overturn a speeding ticket in any court of law that I’m familiar with.

I still maintain that NASCAR’s system of policing speed by using a pace car to establish calibrated speed on drivers’ tachometers is “pants-on-head retarded,” but only inasmuch as we wouldn’t keep having issues like this if we’d allow cars to, oh, I don’t know, have something that accurately told them their speed.

Montoya swears he didn’t speed, but the problem is that he doesn’t really know that for sure. It seems foolhardy to cry “conspiracy!” based solely on the word of someone who couldn’t possibly know his speed for sure because he didn’t have a speedometer in the car.

In any event, it’s all moot. Drivers can’t contest it, NASCAR doesn’t overturn it and they’ll never modify the status quo unless they absolutely have to.

Jimmie Johnson is your winner, battling with Mark Martin at the end, but he really didn’t have anything for him.

Tony Stewart finished 3rd. This is his EIGHTH Top 10 in a row (average finish during that span: 3.125) and his 16th Top 10 this season. He had 16 Top 10s total last season. We have 16 races left to go.

Greg Biffle finished in 4th, his best Indianapolis finish ever.

Brian Vickers finished in 5th. He’s had three straight Top 10 finishes now.

Kevin Harvick finished in 6th. Can you believe this is only his third Top 10 of the season? Best finish since finishing 4th at Atlanta back in March.

Kasey Kahne had a strong run in 7th. The new Dodge engines are working wonders for him when he has them in the car. (But not so much for his teammates. More on that in a second.)

David Reutimann notched another solid Top 10 finish in 8th, but he’s still 68 points out of the Chase at the moment. (More on that in a second as well.)

Jeff Gordon finished 9th, but actually lost a spot in the standings to teammate Jimmie because of his win.

Matt Kenseth rounded out the Top 10, his eighth of the season.

The Positive Press Release Bunch (11-20)

11. Juan Pablo Montoya - Dominated all day, leading 116 of 160 laps, but that late speeding penalty kept him out of the Top 10.
12. Joey Logano - Excluding that fluke win at New Hampshire, his best finish since Charlotte.
13. Reed Sorenson - Best finish since an 11th at Talladega in April.
14. Ryan Newman - Never could work to the front today. Only one Top 10 in the last six starts.
15. Carl Edwards - Not bad given his 41st-place starting position.
16. David Stremme - Best finish since a 14th at Texas in April. Breaks up 11 straight finishes of 22nd or worse.
17. Martin Truex, Jr. - Only third finish better than 20th in the last nine starts. No Top 10s in that span.
18. Clint Bowyer - Had a strong run early in the Top 10 but faded late.
19. Casey Mears - Best finish at the Brickyard since a 6th place finish in 2005, his only Top 10 here.
20. A.J. Allmendinger - Three of the four teams at RPM finished in the Top 20.

Jeff Burton had another weak finish in 25th, 1 lap down. His Chase chances are all but gone now.

Kurt Busch was sunk by pit stop woes. He finished 27th, 1 lap down, but held his points position.

Denny Hamlin was sunk by transmission issues. He actually pulled the shifter off. That’s a new one to me. He finished 34th, 16 laps down.

Junior received his third DNF on the year after his engine blew up. He finished 36th.

Mechanical issues also sunk Kyle Busch, who finished 38th. He took the biggest beating of all in the points standings and is now on the outside looking in for the Chase.

Elliott Sadler took one of those new-fangled Dodge engines out and immediately had an oil leak. He finished in 40th, 115 laps down.

Full results if I skipped your favorite driver.

Point Standings After Indianapolis

1. Tony Stewart
2. Jimmie Johnson (-192)
3. Jeff Gordon (-207)
4. Kurt Busch (-446)
5. Carl Edwards (-498)
6. Denny Hamlin (-536)
7. Ryan Newman (-548)
8. Kasey Kahne (-572)
9. Mark Martin (-583)
10. Juan Pablo Montoya (-593)
11. Greg Biffle (-609)
12. Matt Kenseth (-625)
    

    ---

13. David Reutimann (-68)
14. Kyle Busch (-82)

These are basically your contenders right now. Starting at 15th, everyone is at least 120 points out of the Chase. And with only six more races to make up ground, it would take an epic collapse by at least three drivers and a lengthy string of wins by anyone not on this list to have a prayer of making the Chase.

The biggest loser on the day is obviously Kyle Busch. He dropped four spots to 14th and is now on the outside looking in. That average finish of 18th on this season has caught up with him. That is worst among everyone on this list. He’s only had one Top 10 in the last eight starts. At this point, that’s a millstone around his neck.

The biggest gainers include Mark Martin, who jumped two spots to 9th and Greg Biffle who jumped two spots into the Chase in 11th.

Owners Points Bubble After Indianapolis

This isn’t so much a bubble as it is a Grand Canyon at the moment. Almost 200 points separate John Andretti in 35th and Scott Speed in 36th.

I suppose anything can happen, but it’s not looking likely at the moment. Speed’s going to have to get in on speed for the rest of the year.

My Indianapolis Picks

Uh…I never…actually…got around to making them, did I? Oops. Oh well, I mentally chose Jimmie, Jeff and Tony, who were all basically gimmes. So, I guess I’m posting a DNF for…what is this, the fourth race in a row?

NASCAR returns to Pocono next weekend, the second rerun of the season. We’ll see you then!

Flipper, faster than lightning...or at least a greased cheetah strapped to a bullet train.

The race was punctuated by some unusual moments, like the pace car racing out, causing then-leader Trevor Bayne to have to check up rapidly and Steven Wallace to get into him, spinning him. Both drivers salvaged Top 10s, but were never back up at the front like that again.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Steve Wallace, Ron Hornaday, Trevor Bayne, Jason Leffler, Scott Wimmer and Kenny Wallace.

Full results after the jump.

Something old, something new...

Contesting my recent post that NASCAR has become an old man’s game, new Nationwide Series driver Trevor Bayne, 18, will be on the pole for tonight’s Nationwide race at O’Reilly Raceway Park. If you’re keeping track, the ages of the pole winners for the three series this weekend are 20, 50 and 18 (Braun, Martin and Bayne). Strange polarization in the ages of success this weekend.

Behind Bayne, you have more young blood in Brad Coleman, Steve Wallace and Erik Darnell. Then the rest of the Top 10 is Terry Cook, Scott Lagasse, Brad Keselowski, Ron Hornaday, Brendan Gaughan and Mike Bliss.

Full starting lineup after the jump.

Did Not Qualify: 96 Dennis Setzer; 26 Brian Keselowski; 71 Joe Ruttman; 09 John Wes Townley; 0 Mike Wallace.

Older Dominion

And on top of Mark Martin qualifying on the pole, Bill Elliott, 53, turned in a great performance qualifying fourth.

It’s an old man’s game this year.

Behind Martin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Bill Elliott, David Reutimann, Brian Vickers, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson and Clint Bowyer rounded out the Top 10.

Full starting lineup after the jump.

Did Not Qualify: 09 Sterling Marlin; 13 Max Papis; 75 Derrike Cope.

Go 4 it! Connect Four!

Ron Hornaday, a month removed from his 51st birthday, continued the resurgence of the over 50 crowd in NASCAR this season, winning his fourth Truck Series race in a row at ORP. It helped to extend his points lead to 174 over Mike Skinner now, who finished 2nd. If you’re keeping score, that’s two AARP-eligible drivers atop the Truck points standings now. I thought this was supposed to be a developmental series?

Aric Almirola, Dennis Setzer, Colin Braun, James Buescher, Tayler Malsam, Stacy Compton, David Starr and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10.

Full results after the jump.

More Mayfield.

But that’s all a moot point anyway, because it’s been announced today that the assets of Mayfield Motorsports have been sold to John Carter, who has been putting together a team for Terry Labonte and Boris Said in the 08 car. That’s interesting to me because Carter was preparing Fords for Boris, but Mayfield’s operation was with Toyotas and Labonte will be running an unsponsored Simo Carter née Mayfield Toyota this weekend at Indy.

AP: Appeals court rules for NASCAR on Mayfield ban
Mike Mulhern: Jeremy Mayfield’s team shows up at Indy, with Terry Labonte as driver…and a new team owner. And NASCAR gets a legal victory in Richmond.

Put down that ellipse tool, young designer. It's time to break out the rounded rectangle.

You probably don’t know what I mean by that, but that’s okay. This weekend, NASCAR travels to Indianapolis to visit the 100-year-old shrine to American automobile racing: The Brickyard, that large rounded rectangle in a circuit replete with ellipses.

So put out the finest china (and I don’t mean the “Heroes of NASCAR” series of collector plates except for the Bobby Allison Miller High Life one because your cousin Marvin broke it when he put a package of firecrackers in a 10-pound package of ground chuck last Memorial Day) because we’re visiting the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What else can really be said at this point? It’s one of the oldest sporting venues of any stripe in the entire country, and the largest and highest capacity venue in the ENTIRE WORLD.

It’s the second-oldest active track in the United States (after The Milwaukee Mile) and mere days away from its 100th birthday. (August 12, 1909 was the day the track opened.) It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. No other racetrack can claim that.

The Brickyard is also the highest capacity venue anywhere on the planet. It has over 250,000 permanent seats and can be configured to add capacity up to almost 400,000 people. If the track were to hit that full estimated capacity, it would temporarily become the 45th largest city in the country (displacing Raleigh, ironically enough).

The grounds of Indy are so massive, the whole of Vatican City could fit just inside the track. Spanning 559 acres, the entire grounds are larger than all of Monaco.

But that just establishes a sense of scale with this track. What about the track itself?

It’s 2.5 miles long. The frontstretch and backstretch are five-eighths of a mile each and the two short chutes (between Turns 1 & 2 and Turns 3 & 4) are one-eighth of a mile long. This gives the track (as I inferred earlier) more of a “rounded rectangle” feel instead of looking like a true oval. In other words, Indy has four distinct corners, not one long 180° corner like other tracks.

The banking in the corners is shallow, between 9° and 12°. This makes it challenging for the Indy cars because the backend of the car will frequently spin around coming out of a corner as drivers push the car as hard as it will go. NASCAR has nowhere near the same problem, but downforce still remains very important going through the corners.

Tires were an ENORMOUS issue last year at the Brickyard, with NASCAR having to throw competition cautions every ten laps or so because Goodyear screwed up royally. Goodyear has spent a lot of time and money coming up with a better tire for this year and many of the drivers have put in extra tire testing at Indy. This shouldn’t be a problem this year.

Endurance is an important key of this track. It’s a long race and will spread the field out very far. You won’t see a lot of passing, so track position is going to be paramount. Towards the end of the race, expect pit strategy to become pretty important, especially with regards to the wave-around cars. You may see quite a few teams who are a lap down take a chance on getting waved around and pitting later under green this year.

Also watch the winner of the race. Three of the last four winners of the Brickyard 400 went on to win the Cup. (Tony Stewart in 2005 and Jimmie Johnson in 2006 and 2008.) Overall, this has happened seven times in the 15 races that have been held here. This race is a good barometer for championship contenders.

Is Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Twitter?

Yes, yes they are.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Weather

IT GONNA BE NICE

What To Eat

Uh, oops. Forgot to ask my wife about this week. But, I’m picking an easy one. Check out the Mug-n-Bun Drive-In, about a mile from the track. Fresh burgers, giant onion rings, apparently-legendary root beer, what else could you want? HIGHLY recommended by Urban Spoon, RoadFood.com, Yelp and lots more. Cash only, but I love places like this.

Fantasy NASCAR/Top 10 Picks

Tomorrow. For real this week, I promise.

• Orlando Sentinel: Mayfield lawyer: No meth in independent test on NASCAR’s driver
  Even though I haven’t been able to write recently, I have been following the Jeremy Mayfield story. Personally, I’m sick to death of the whole ridiculous saga, but it’s still popular and ongoing. The Orlando Sentinel, which is an actual, serious journalistic organization (unlike this ADD site, which is easily distracted by shiny things), has the latest regarding the saga of his “independent” test.
• Motorsports Fanhouse: Goodyear Looks to Rebound After Last Year’s ‘Debacle’ at the Brickyard
  I don’t know why everyone keeps putting quotes around the world “debacle” with regards to last year’s race at Indy. It was a debacle in every sense of the word (except the “breaking up of ice in a river” sense, I guess). The tests from earlier this season makes it look like Goodyear actually should have a handle on NASCAR tires at the Brickyard this year, but anything better than last season will be a significant improvement.
• Full Throttle: Caitlin Shaw to Pilot the #1 Tundra at O’Reilly Raceway Park
  Full Throttle has the story of 19-year-old Caitlin Shaw who will be debuting in the Truck Series for Red Horse Racing this weekend.
• The NASCAR Insiders: Ask The Insiders Wednesday 33
  And finally, the NASCAR Insiders have their weekly question and answer segment. A bit abbreviated from the off weekend, but always good. Check that out.