(photo from nascar.com)
NASCAR invades Watkins Glen for the second of two road courses of the 2009 season. The road courses can be like the restrictor plate races, in that it could be anybody’s game. In the early days of going to the road courses, most of the Cup veterans would just hope that they could get through the race without running off the course and crashing. Just hurry up and get the heck out of town when the race is over!
Now these group of drivers have gone to road race schools, hired some road race veterans to help them learn how to drive on a road course, and really taken pride in trying to lean to road race! One of these drivers include, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Michael Waltrip, Mark Martin, and Tony Stewart, just name a few. These drivers now are considered very good road racers!
Now throw into the mix a few of the former road racers that are now NASCAR veterans like Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, and Sam Hornish, Jr., now you have a good mix of racers to thrash about at Watkins Glen!
Additionally another group of drivers not to be left out are the “road race ringers”! These are the so called hired guns that some of the team owners give rides to at the two road race courses. For this race at The Glen you have drivers like Canadian racer Ron Fellows, “The SaidHead” Boris Said, Max Papis, Brian Simo, P. J. Jones, and Andy Lally. Each one of these “road race ringers” are looking to put it to the NASCAR vets at this road course.
It has been a long time since one of the “road race ringers” was a winner at either of the road courses, so with that in mind I have a prediction to make. Even tough the “ringers” really understand how to get around the road courses, and I am a road racing “SAIDHEAD” at heart , I believe that a wily old NASCAR vet will take home the checkered flag this Sunday. Even though I never have been a fan of his, I believe that not only this race is his to loose, but I also believe that this championship is his to loose!
I am picking the #14 Home Depot/ Old Spice SHR Chevy driven by Tony “THE SMOKER” Stewart to cross the finish line first at The Glen!
Does anyone remember who was the very first “road race ringer” hired by a Nascar team? I wrote an article about this driver a few months ago when NASCAR visited Infineon.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
