For those who ridicule NASCAR as being nothing more than driving fast and turning left, this weekend’s race at Infineon Raceway will surely have them confused as the competition negotiates having to turn the steering wheel to the right several times in completing the tricky multilevel speedway in California’s wine country. Meanwhile, the Nationwide series debuts at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin replacing the one mile oval, the Milwaukee Mile which could not meet its financial obligations to remain on the circuit.
With only two dates on the Sprint Cup schedule, Infineon and Watkins Glen, and three dates on the Nationwide schedule, Road America, Montreal, and Watkins Glen, road racing is something of a novelty for fans of NASCAR’s top two series. While some fans don’t like the format for being more difficult to follow, others feel it’s a form of racing that is under represented in the sport especially considering the proliferation of the cookie cutter 1 ½ mile tracks that have become the norm since NASCAR’s continental expansion starting in the mid 90’s. Clearly, road racing is a format that has a tremendous effect on the drivers. Some drivers are just darned good regardless of format. No one has dominated the road courses, particularly Infineon like Jeff Gordon. Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Robby Gordon, and Kyle Busch all have road course victories. Others such as Marcos Ambrose have rich backgrounds in road racing style events in other series. On lesser teams, some owners employ road racing ringers such Boris Said who might not stand a chance to win the race but are effective enough to give them a boost in owner standings where their regular driver could be destined for failure. In NASCAR history, through the 1980’s, the road course at Riverside, California outside Los Angeles was one of NASCAR’s most historic events. For front runner fans, four time champ, Jimmie Johnson and current hotshot, Denny Hamlin have not had much to brag about on road tracks.
Here’s the top 10 lineup for this weekend’s action. Perhaps Jimmie Johnson has a good shot to get the monkey off his back.
1- Kasey Kahne, #9, Ford
2- Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet
3- Kurt Busch, #2, Dodge
4- Kevin Harvick, #29, Chevrolet
5- Jeff Gordon, #24, Chevrolet
6- Marcos Ambrose, #47, Toyota
7- Tony Stewart, #14, Chevrolet
8- Bobby Labonte, #71, Chevrolet
9- Greg Biffle, #16, Ford
10- Martin Truex, #56, Toyota
Drivers Brandon Ash (#02, Dodge), Brian Simo (#36, Chevrolet) and Michael Waltrip (#55, Toyota) failed to make the show. While the following drivers made the show based on owner’s points: Travis Kvapil (#37, Ford), Kevin Conway (#34, Ford), and David Ragan (#6, Ford).
Some “road racing ringers” include:
17th—Boris Said (#26 Ford)
33rd—Jan Magnussen (#09, Chevrolet)
35th—P.J. Jones (#07 Toyota)
38th—Mattias Ekstrom (#83 Toyota)
Weather should be favorable for tomorrow’s racing action with nighttime lows in the high 40’s and afternoon high’s in the 80’s under partly cloudy skies.
With the hot competition to finish within the top 12 to compete in the Chase, the intensity builds with each subsequent race. Out of the ordinary venues like road courses, short tracks, and restrictor plate tracks create added pressure as some drivers are masters of such competition while others have not figured out the oddities of special circumstance racing. Considering how much of the final ten races are on “cookie cutter” tracks, the suggestion that perhaps a road course event in “the Chase” would be a good suggestion though weather could be unfavorable at Watkins Glen.
So tomorrow, the commands will be for drivers to start their engines, drive fast, turn left AND RIGHT!!!
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