Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Watkins Glen Odds & Ends: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen

compiled by Mike Forde
NASCAR Media Services

History

· After several events were held on the streets of Watkins Glen, a permanent facility was opened in 1956.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was in 1957, won by Buck Baker.
· After a six-year absence, NASCAR returned to The Glen in 1964 and 1965.
· After a 21-year absence, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returned to The Glen, and has run one race a year there since 1986. This weekend’s race will be the 25th running since its return in 1986.

Watkins Glen International Data
Race #: 22 of 36 (8-8-10)
Track Size: 2.45 miles
Race Length: 90 laps/220.5 miles

Driver Rating at Watkins Glen
Tony Stewart 135.0
Marcos Ambrose 106.9
Jimmie Johnson 106.5
Kyle Busch 104.9
Denny Hamlin 104.6
Juan Pablo Montoya 101.4
Kurt Busch 99.4
Carl Edwards 91.4
Robby Gordon 89.2
Jeff Gordon 88.9
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2009 races (4 total) at Watkins Glen.

Qualifying/Race Data
2009 pole winner: Jimmie Johnson (71.340 mph, 123.633)
2009 race winner: Tony Stewart, 90.297 mph, 8-10-09)
Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon (124.580 mph, 70.798 seconds, 8-8-03)
Track race record: Mark Martin (103.300 mph, 8-13-95)
Estimated Pit Window: Every 30-32 laps, based on fuel mileage.

Notebook
· There have been 27 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International since the first race there in 1957.
· Buck Baker won the first pole and race.
· Tim Richmond won the first pole and race upon the series’ return in 1986.
· There have been 15 different pole winners.
· The race winner has started first in nine of 27 races. The last race winner to start from the pole was Kyle Busch in 2008.
· Mark Martin leads all drivers with wins from the pole with three in a row between 1993 and 1995.
· 17 of the 27 race winners have started from a top-five starting position.
· 19 of 27 races at Watkins Glen have been won from a top-10 starting position.
· The deepest in the field that a Watkins Glen race winner has started was 18th by Steve Park in 2000.
· 16 different drivers have won races, led by Tony Stewart, with five.
· Jeff Gordon set the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup record for road-course victories with his victory in 2001, his seventh on a road course. He has since won two more (both at Infineon Raceway), for a career total of nine.
· Three active drivers with more than one start have an average finish in the top 10: Carl Edwards (8.8 in five starts), Denny Hamlin (7.5 in four starts), Mark Martin (7.8 in 20 starts), Tony Stewart (5.3 in 11 starts) and Marcos Ambrose (2.5 in two starts).
· Tony Stewart has a Driver Rating of 135.0 at Watkins Glen, the highest average rating by any driver at any track since the Loop Data statistic’s inception in 2005.

NASCAR in New York
· There have been 65 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in New York:
· 178 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as New York.
· There have been 13 race winners from New York in NASCAR’s three national series.


LAS VEGAS HILTON SUPER BOOK HELUVA GOOD! ODDS TO WIN THIS WEEK

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