Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Week 22 Preview

Watkins Glen 2013


Well folks this upcoming weekend Nascar turns right -did you hear that Juan Pablo Montoya?- you have a chance. (Sorry JPM fans, but the fact is he hasn't won on a left turn only track in Nascar).  Weeks at road courses always seem to bring some excitement to the series. The excitement comes from the fact that Nascar fans only get to see these Gen 6 cars go right twice a year and also because road courses can bring unlikely winners.

Watkins Glen could end up effecting the Chase by giving a guy in the top 20 a chance to steal a victory and have a chance at a WC spot (especially with the unknown outcome of what Tony Stewart's season holds after he broke his leg on Monday). So take a look at last years Glen results here and notice that Marcus Ambrose is your back to back race winner.


The Good:

  • Marcus Ambrose- Well we have to start with the Australian on this list because 1) he doesn't find himself on it very often and 2) he has won the last 2 races here.  Also in 5 career starts at the Glen he has an average finish of 2, SECOND! On top of that he hasn't finished outside the top 3 yet. 
  • Brad Keselowski- This can be taken with a grain of salt because BK only has 3 starts here, but he has finished 2nd the last two times out. The first time he started 32nd and ended up finish 20th so he did improve and maybe showed he started his learning curve the first time out.
  • Kyle Busch- 8 Starts at the Glen and 7 top 10's. Similar to BK his only poor finish was his first career race here in which he finished 33rd. He also has a win here in 2008 when he started from the Pole.
The Middle
  • Carl Edwards- He has a career of quality finished at Watkins Glen and finished inside the top 14 7 of his 8 starts (the other was a 19th place finish in his first career start here). Problem is his last two here were the other two not top 10 finishes he has had (14th and 12th).
The Bad:
  • Kurt Busch- When you think of Kurt you think of a wheel man, a guy who gets after it and lays it all out there. That is Kurts problem at the Glen, he has been boom or bust. While he does seem to find his way to the front, at the end of many races he finds himself in the 30's with a beat up car half running. 
  • Dale Earnhart Jr- Jr just doesn't like to go right, that's all that's to it. He can, but stats show that he typically struggles. If he comes home with a top 15 he should be happy and move on to the thought of winning at Michigan.

More coverage:
Well hope you are ready to take some right turns at the Glenn this weekend! Check back early next week after the race for a Watkins Glen Review with Power Rankings. Also next week Nascar heads to Michigan and as do I. I should get a preview out early on and if you follow me on Twitter you can follow along while i'm at the track.

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