Sprint Cup 2012: Race 22: Road Racing at Watkins Glen

No subject is more hotly debated among NASCAR fans than road racing. Some see it as a total distraction from the real competition. For some it’s a nice diversion – a trip to wine country in California in June and then Watkins Glen in upstate New York in August – how quaint to see the mighty Sprint Cup cars turning both left and right, Some are dead serious that it plays an important part of testing who the true champions are and that a road race should be included in The Chase. We propose another idea. Keep things the way they are and use road racing as a means to create more of an identity for the Nationwide series which has three road races right now, Road America in Wisconsin, Watkins Glen, and next week they cross the border in to Montreal. How about adding a couple more races to the Saturday series so it develops more of its own personality and that road racing requires its own battery of skills, some drivers could realy prosper in that format.

Juan Montoya earned the poll for today’s race – one of the few bright spots for Earnhardt/Ganassi racing this year. Montoya is an especially tough road racer. Other fellows to watch are Marcus Ambrose, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, and Jimmie Johnson.

POS		CAR		DRIVER		MAKE		SPONSOR		SPEED
1		42		Juan Montoya		Chevrolet		Target		127.02
2		18		Kyle Busch		Toyota		M&M's		126.928
3		48		Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet		Lowe's Cortez Silver		126.925
4		2		Brad Keselowski		Dodge		Miller Lite		126.626
5		9		Marcos Ambrose		Ford		Stanley		126.524
6		39		Ryan Newman		Chevrolet		U.S. Army		126.312
7		14		Tony Stewart		Chevrolet		Office Depot / Mobil 1		126.15
8		15		Clint Bowyer		Toyota		5-hour Energy		126.061
9		56		Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota		NAPA Auto Parts		126.049
10		1		Jamie McMurray		Chevrolet		McDonald's		125.959
11		98		Michael McDowell		Ford		TRAQM.com		125.713
12		24		Jeff Gordon		Chevrolet		Drive to End Hunger		125.643
13		78		Regan Smith		Chevrolet		Furniture Row / Farm American		125.612
14		20		Joey Logano		Toyota		The Home Depot		125.518
15		16		Greg Biffle		Ford		3M		125.516
16		88		Dale Earnhardt Jr.		Chevrolet		Natl Grd / Diet Mountain Dew		125.5
17		22		Sam Hornish Jr.		Dodge		Shell / Pennzoil		125.42
18		99		Carl Edwards		Ford		Fastenal		125.409
19		29		Kevin Harvick		Chevrolet		Budweiser		125.389
20		5		Kasey Kahne		Chevrolet		Farmers Insurance		125.339
21		195		Scott Speed		Ford		TWD		125.334
22		27		Paul Menard		Chevrolet		Menards / Rheem		125.199
23		11		Denny Hamlin		Toyota		FedEx Freight		125.08
24		17		Matt Kenseth		Ford		Ford EcoBoost		124.917
25		32		Boris Said		Ford		HendrickCars.com		124.791
26		47		Bobby Labonte		Toyota		Miller Welders / Freightliner		124.715
27		51		Kurt Busch		Chevrolet		Phoenix Construction Services		124.455
28		31		Jeff Burton		Chevrolet		Caterpillar		124.208
29		43		Aric Almirola		Ford		Smithfield		124.187
30		13		Casey Mears		Ford		GEICO		124.131
31		36		Dave Blaney		Chevrolet		Tommy Baldwin Racing		124.108
32		34		David Ragan		Ford		Scorpion Coatings / Al's Liners		123.868
33		55		Brian Vickers		Toyota		My Classic Garage		123.71
34		38		David Gilliland		Ford		ModSpace		123.576
35		83		Landon Cassill		Toyota		Burger King / Dr Pepper		123.471
36		87		Joe Nemechek		Toyota		Genny Light / AM-FM Energy		123.436
37		10		J.J. Yeley		Chevrolet		Tommy Baldwin Racing		123.27
38		26		Josh Wise*		Ford		MDS Transport		122.531
39		33		Stephen Leicht*		Chevrolet		Little Joes Autos.com		122.335
40		119		Chris Cook		Toyota		Plinker Tactical		118.879
41		249		Jason Leffler		Toyota		America Israel Racing		118.742
42		93		Travis Kvapil+		Toyota		Burger King / Dr Pepper		-
43		30		Patrick Long		Toyota		Inception Motorsports		117.551