ThatsRacin.com: Watkins Glen International

Another spin at the top

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:38 EDT

That's Racin's David Poole ranks the top 40 teams in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series following the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (Rankings based on team performance and potential. Each team's previous week's ranking in parentheses:)

1. (2) Tony Stewart -- car No. 20

With three wins in four races, surely nobody questions this team being at No. 1 now.

2. (1) Jeff Gordon -- car No. 24

Spin while leading with two to go at Watkins Glen may be the year's most surprising moment.

3. (3) Denny Hamlin -- car No. 11

Motored right on through the grass and wound up with a second at Watkins Glen.

4. (5) Jimmie Johnson -- car No. 48

Remember when people were panicking that this team might actually miss the Chase?

5. (4) Matt Kenseth -- car No. 17

A fan comes on the track during a red flag for an autograph? Did that really happen?

6. (6) Kyle Busch -- car No. 5

Has his 2008 plans all finalized, but still has championship business to do this year.

7. (8) Carl Edwards -- car No. 99

Went diving into final turn on final lap giving it all he had to win at the Glen. We like that.

8. (7) Kevin Harvick -- car No. 29

Glen shove-off with Juan Pablo Montoya could be the start of a memorable rivalry.

9. (9) Kurt Busch -- car No. 2

Good recovery from Glen speeding penalty puts him further inside Chase safety zone.

10. (11) Martin Truex Jr. -- car No. 1

A couple more solid finishes and he should just about have a Chase spot wrapped up.

11. (10) Jeff Burton -- car No. 31

12. (12) Clint Bowyer -- car No. 07

13. (14) Ryan Newman -- car No. 12

14. (13) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- car No. 8

15. (15) Mark Martin/Regan Smith -- car No. 01

16. (18) Greg Biffle -- car No. 16

17. (16) Juan Pablo Montoya -- car No. 42

18. (17) Casey Mears -- car No. 25

19. (19) Bobby Labonte -- car No. 43

20. (20) Reed Sorenson -- car No. 41

21. (21) Jamie McMurray -- car No. 26

22. (24) Tony Raines/Ron Fellows -- car No. 96

23. (27) Robby Gordon -- car No. 7

24. (22) David Gilliland -- car No. 38

25. (23) Ricky Rudd -- car No. 88

26. (28) J.J. Yeley -- car No. 18

27. (31) Jeff Green -- car No. 66

28. (29) Kasey Kahne -- car No. 9

29. (30) Elliott Sadler -- car No. 19

30. (32) Bill Elliott/Boris Said -- car No. 21

31. (34) David Stremme -- car No. 40

32. (25) Dave Blaney -- car No. 22

33. (36) Paul Menard -- car No. 15

34. (37) Scott Riggs/Patrick Carpentier -- car No. 10

35. (26) David Ragan -- car No. 6

36. (35) Johnny Sauter -- car No. 70

37. (39) David Reutimann/P.J. Jones -- car. No. 00.

38. (33) Brian Vickers -- car No. 83

39. (38) Kyle Petty -- car No. 45

40. (40) Ward Burton -- car No. 4

Said gets Wood Brothers in top 35

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:17 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Boris Said’s last-minute addition to Sunday’s field proved a big plus for the Wood Brothers.

When qualifying was canceled by rain and Said did not make the race, but the Wood Brothers' scheduled driver for the weekend, Bill Elliott, elected to give up his seat in the No. 21 Ford to Said, believing Said had a better chance for a good finish.

Said had to start the race from the rear of the field because of the driver change, but he finished a respectable 14th – good enough to lock the No. 21 into the top 35 in car owner points and guarantee it a spot in next weekend’s race at Michigan.

The No. 21 is now 37 points ahead of Bill Davis Racing’s No. 22 Toyota, which fell to 36th.

“Mission accomplished. At the end, I think we could’ve gotten a top-10 but where the No. 22 was, I had to really think about it,” Said said. “I kind of gave up and let (Kurt Busch) by and then made a little mistake and (Ryan Newman) got by.”

Edwards' gamble comes up short

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:53 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Carl Edwards went for it but came up short.

Edwards was the last driver with a decent shot at catching race winner Tony Stewart and decided to lay it all on the line to make one final pass attempt in Sunday's Centurion Boats at the Glen.

But he drove in too deep, wheel-hopped his No. 99 Ford and ended up in the gravel trap instead.

“I just figured the (heck) with it, I’ve got one more braking zone before the end of this race and I just went in a little deeper,” said Edwards, who still finished eighth.

“I knew I wouldn’t lose too many spots if I did mess up. We ended up eighth and my guys deserve better than that, but still (it) was a fun day and I didn’t want to finish second.”

Hamlin passes on hitting Gordon

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:59 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Although he helped give Joe Gibbs Racing a one-two finish Sunday at Watkins Glen International, Denny Hamlin worried he also missed out on an opportunity for a win.

On the final restart with eight laps remaining, Hamlin moved quickly up on then-leader Jeff Gordon’s rear bumper – just inches away from touching but did not make contact.

“I felt like I should have probably just nudged him a little bit there at that one point, that let Tony get by me,” Hamlin said. “If I had nudged him and got out in clean air – wow, this race could have been ours.

“I was just too busy trying to fend off (Edwards) and couldn’t concentrate on my own marks to try and get around (Gordon).”

Gordon rebounds for fifth place finish

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:01 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Robby Gordon’s first top-five finish of the season couldn’t have come at a better time.

Gordon was parked by NASCAR and missed last weekend’s race at Pocono for his behavior following the Busch race at Montreal, but said his fifth place finish Sunday at Watkins Glen International helped atone for the loss.

“It should make up for missing last weekend, for sure,” Gordon said. “I knew I didn’t have enough to win the thing, so fifth was better than – what – getting spun out and finishing 36th or 38th or something like that.”

Gordon got as high as fourth on the final lap but with a soft brake pedal decided not to challenge a fast-approaching Ron Fellows. “He had the better brake power than I did at that point,” he said.

Earnhardt Jr. takes another hit

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:46 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is running out of time and headed in the wrong direction.

For the second consecutive week, Earnhardt Jr. took a hit in the points standings, this time a blown engine cut short what looked like a good day and dropped him further below the cutoff to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Earnhardt Jr.’s engine expired with 27 laps remaining in Sunday's Centurion Boats at the Glen and he ended up with a 42nd place finish that left him 14th in points, 100 behind Kurt Busch in 12th.

“I think it was due to some of the downshifts I was doing during practice,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “During practice all weekend I was having trouble with the car and struggling, I was using the downshift to slow the car and get some speed out of the thing.

“I thought we were putting on a show. We were working really hard and had something to be proud of and now (we’re) all kinds of disappointed.”

| Watkins Glen

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:40 EDT

ELEVATORS

DOWN – JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
If he wasn’t blocking, he wouldn’t have been in position to wreck Kevin Harvick.

DOWN – DALE EARNHARDT JR.
Somebody needs to seriously get to work in the engine department before it’s too late.

UP – TONY STEWART
Made the same mistake as Jeff Gordon but did it early enough in the race to recover.

OBSERVATIONS/JIM UTTER

• There is a reason Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are considered two of the best drivers in NASCAR and Sunday showed why. They are not infallible, but what you get from each is everything they have. They may go how they conduct themselves off the track in a different manner, but I’ll take a down-to-the-wire finish in a NASCAR race between these two over any others every time.
• The fan which jumped the fence and attempted to retrieve autograph from Matt Kenseth during a late-race red flag period was eventually apprehended by local authorities. NASCAR has passionate fans, but that’s way over the line. As much as the incident may have made for good TV, NASCAR has enough problems keeping up with the drivers on the track and certainly don’t need fans mudding the picture.
• International Speedway Corp. plans to build new media facilities at Watkins Glen International in time for next season’s NASCAR visit to the track. It is long overdue for a track that hosts two of the top motorsports series in the world each season.

FIVE KEY MOMENTS

LAP 45 – Tony Stewart spins on his own entering Turn 1. He gets back on track and rejoins the field in the 20th position.
LAP 63 – Dale Earnhardt Jr., 13th in points entering the race, slows on the track with a blown engine. While pitting on the ensuing caution, Kurt Busch, 12th in points, is flagged by NASCAR for speeding on pit road.
LAP 73 – Juan Pablo Montoya attempts to block the advance of Martin Truex Jr. who then bumps Montoya into Kevin Harvick. Harvick and Montoya get in a heated verbal and physical confrontation on the track in front of the grandstands in Turn 1.
LAP 89 – Just as Jeff Gordon leads the field into Turn 1 to start this lap he appears to drive in too far and spins out all on his own. He regroups and returns to the field, but out of contention for the win.
LAP 90 – The driver with the last, best hope to catch Stewart – Carl Edwards – runs off the course while running second, handing Stewart a safe margin of victory.

NEXT RACE
3M Performance 400
Where: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.
When: 2 p.m. Eastern Sunday.
TV: ESPN
Radio: Motor Racing Network
Last year’s winner: Matt Kenseth

Montoya, Harvick rumble after another accident

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:25 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Welcome to NASCAR, Juan Pablo Montoya.

Montoya got an unexpected up close indoctrination to the hard racing that’s made NASCAR popular as he became embroiled Sunday in a wreck on the track that erupted into a pushing and shoving match between himself and Kevin Harvick.

When all was said and done, there were more heated words exchanged than anything else. Even Sunday’s race winner at Watkins Glen International, Tony Stewart, was disappointed.

“They still had their HANS and their helmets on, so it didn’t impress me,” he said.

The incident started on a restart on Lap 73 of the Centurion Boats at the Glen following a caution. As the line of cars headed into Turn 1, Martin Truex Jr. pulled out of line and attempted to take the inside groove.

Montoya tried to block Truex’s advance, got hit in the rear and plowed into Harvick – an accident which also collected Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, Jeff Burton.

Harvick and Montoya both exited their cars, which were stopped on the track, and immediately got in each other’s face. Several times Montoya could be seen shoving Harvick away as if to try to cut off the conversation.

Finally NASCAR officials and Burton got the two drivers separated. Harvick was the biggest loser, finishing 36th and dropping to 10th in the points standings.

“I just hate it. I’m frustrated with (Montoya). It just seems like he runs over somebody every week,” Harvick said. Asked what he talked to Montoya about during the confrontation, he replied, “I was talking about kicking his (butt).”

Montoya’s crew chief, Donnie Wingo, said the incident started because Montoya “went to the bottom to defend his position and (Truex) got into him.”

Montoya said he tried to explain to Harvick the circumstances and that he was hit from behind. “He started shouting and grabbing me and I don’t appreciate that,” he said.

“If it was my fault I would have gone and said it was my fault. I have a little respect for the guy. Well, I used to have a little respect for the guy because he helped me a lot to start with.”

Jeff Gordon's junk is Tony Stewart's treasure

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:25 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – It was everything NASCAR could hope for and more.

Sunday’s Centurion Boats at the Glen was long on drama but more than that, the race revived a concept many fans and even NASCAR officials have been graving – a serious, determined effort by Nextel Cup Series drivers to choose winning a race over settling for a good finish.

Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were already securely entrenched in this season’s Chase for the Nextel Cup, but as the final controversy-filled laps wound down at Watkins Glen International it was the victory – and the 10 bonus points that come with it when the Chase field is set – that drove their actions.

Gordon appeared to have his 10th road course victory well in hand but spun on his own entering Turn 1 on Lap 89 of 90 while trying to hold off Stewart.

With Gordon out of the picture, Stewart still had to hold off a wild, daredevil-like charge from Carl Edwards to claim Sunday’s win – Stewart’s third win in the past four races and 31st of his career.

Edwards threw caution to the wind on the final lap, trying desperately to catch Stewart and ran his No. 99 Ford off the track in the process, finishing eighth.

“I think it shows the significance of how important those 10 points are,” Stewart said. “You want to win here anyway but running second for myself or Carl didn’t mean anything.

“It was all about winning today because we want those extra 10 bonus points. If you’re solidly in the top 10 right now – settling for second, you might as well kiss your aunt with a hairy mustache. That’s generally not something you really care about.”

The top 12 drivers in points after the 26th race are locked in the Chase. As part of a few changes NASCAR made this season, those 12 drivers are then reseeded, with each driver receiving 10 bonus points for each win earned in the first 26 races.

As more and more drivers become locked in the Chase, the extra points that come from a win are quickly becoming a bigger priority. With Sunday’s win, Stewart would now receive 30 extra points, quickly gaining on Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who each would get 40 for their four wins apiece.

Even Stewart fell victim to pushing his car too hard. He ran off the course in Turn 1 on Lap 45, regrouped and rejoined the field in 20th. Still, Stewart said Gordon was the last driver he would have thought would make a mistake on the final laps.

“I think it shows the strength of our car. We probably stayed closer to him than probably anybody else had all day,” Stewart said. “We kept him from getting in a spot where he could take it easy and get comfortable.”

After Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet came to stop in Turn 1, he mustered a disappointed report back to his crew: “The team deserved to win and the driver didn’t get it done.”

Gordon, too, seemed to subscribe to the theory that racing for the win was now the sole objective.

“I wanted that win really bad. Points don’t mean anything,” Gordon said. “I pushed and I pushed too far. I was driving the wheels off of it and (the crew) was doing an awesome job in the pits and making good calls and put us in position to win.

“I don’t like giving up wins. I don’t like making mistakes.”

The late-race battle for the win was nearly overshadowed by an on-track confrontation earlier in the race between Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya.

While attempting to block the advance of Martin Truex Jr., Montoya got bumped from behind and slammed into Harvick, wrecking them both. Both drivers exited their cars and got in a heated pushing and shoving match on the track until broken up by NASCAR officials.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s hopes to make the Chase took another hit, as the engine in his No. 8 Chevrolet blew up with 27 laps remaining. He fell to 14th, 100 points behind Kurt Busch, the last driver currently in the Chase field.

Jimmie Johnson, who had his own run-in with Montoya earlier in the race, finished third, Ron Fellows was fourth and Robby Gordon fifth. Jeff Gordon still maintains a hefty 344-point margin over second-place Hamlin in the series standings.

| Watkins Glen

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 07:11 EDT

CENTURION BOATS AT THE GLEN

Where: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International
When: 2 p.m. Eastern Sunday
Weather: Sunny with high near 85.
TV: Coverage begins at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
Radio: Motor Racing Network
Race distance: 90 laps or 220.5 miles
Track length: 2.45 miles

PRACTICE UPDATE
Robby Gordon was fastest in Saturday’s final Nextel Cup practice, although there was some debate whether the bypassed the chicane on his fastest lap. Irregardless, Gordon still has one of the fastest cars this weekend. He was sixth fastest in the morning practice. Jamie McMurray has also been consistently quick – second fastest in the final session, third fastest in the morning session.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH
1. Track position is always important on road courses and with qualifying rained out and the field set by owner points and the rulebook, the drivers already above the cutoff to make the Chase get a head start on everybody else.
2. Rookie Juan Pablo Montoya is looking for his third road course victory of the season. He won the Busch race at Mexico City and earned his first Nextel Cup win at Sonoma, Calif.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped outside the top 12 after last weekend’s race at Pocono and isn’t a highly regarded road racer, but he has finished in the top-10 in three of his past four races at Watkins Glen International.

OBSERVER PICKS
David Poole
TONY STEWART: The man to beat these days, especially at The Glen.

Jim Utter
DENNY HAMLIN: Many forget his first NASCAR win came on a road course.

ELEVATORS

UP: ROBBY GORDON
Yes, the rain washed out Gordon’s plan to field Marcos Ambrose in a Cup car, but it was still a nice idea and the least Gordon could do.

UP: KURT BUSCH
He seems primed for a one-on-one battle with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the final slot in the Chase.

DOWN: POINTS RACING
We’ve moved from “having a good points day” to “racing for 10 bonus points.” Is there a difference?

NOTES

• Road racing ace Marc Goossens practiced David Gilliland’s No. 38 Ford during Saturday’s first Cup practice session, but Gilliland returned to the seat in the second practice and plans to race on Sunday. Goossens drove both Cup road course events for Robert Yates Racing last season.
• Marc Mitchell, who finished 20th in his only Busch Series start this season at Milwaukee, has a three race deal in the Automobile Racing Club of America series in the No. 4 Dodge, a Dodge driver development program ride. His first race is this weekend at Nashville.

Mayfield's future now in limbo

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:01 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – A year ago, Jeremy Mayfield had lawyers in a Statesville, N.C., courtroom trying to save his Nextel Cup ride with Evernham Motorsports.

Now, he’s trying to save his career.

Mayfield, 38, announced last week he would bring a quick close to his troubled tenure at Bill Davis Racing at season’s end and seek a new ride for the second time in a year.

The five-time Cup winner’s bitter falling out with team owner Ray Evernham last year and the struggles of this season at BDR – his No. 36 Toyota team has qualified for nine of 22 races – have taken their toll.

When qualifying was canceled Friday because of bad weather, Mayfield squeaked into the field for Sunday’s Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International through tiebreaker provisions in the rulebook.

With opportunities slim this season to perform in races, Mayfield knows any time on the track is precious if he is going to try to restart his career one more time.

“It’s not a good feeling when you have to go home and miss a race, especially after last year when I missed several races with Ray’s deal which I had no intentions of ever doing – that was his doing,” Mayfield said.

“I sat home then. I was excited about this year and then we missed the first four races. Man, that just makes you feel like ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and if you’re not careful, you’ll be forgotten about in this business.”

Such a proposition seemed ridiculous when Mayfield burst onto the Cup scene with his first win in 1998 with Penske-Kranefuss Racing and led the series points for several weeks before finishing a career-best seventh.

He won two more races in 2000, including his second Pocono victory that included the now-famous bump-and-run pass of the late Dale Earnhardt on the last lap. Mayfield seemed poised for greatness.

By the next season, Mayfield’s run with Penske had soured and he left the organization before the end of the year. He rejoined the series in 2002 with Evernham’s Dodge team but struggled from the start.

Although Mayfield won two races with Evernham – including a victory in 2004 that allowed him to qualify for the first Chase for the Nextel Cup – his tenure at the organization was rocky and by last summer the turmoil landed both men in court.

Evernham wanted to replace Mayfield in the No. 19 Dodge at Watkins Glen, but Mayfield sought an injunction to prevent the change. In court documents filed at the time, Mayfield alleged Evernham was an absentee owner distracted by his “close personal relationship” with his development driver, Erin Crocker.

Ultimately, the matter was settled out of court, but again Mayfield was left without a team. Starting over with BDR, along with new manufacturer Toyota, was to be his second chance. Now he seeks a third.

“You have this path in life where you’re kind of wild to start with and you don’t really know what’s going on – you see that with a lot of young drivers that come in here,” Mayfield said. “Now I feel like I’ve matured in my personal life and I want to go racing and race to have fun.

“That’s what I love to do most and I hope I get that opportunity again because I certainly appreciate it a lot more now than I did at any other point in my life.”

Make no mistake, Mayfield has regrets.

“If I had a dream team, I’d go back to my No. 12 car days at Penske. I wish I had that opportunity now,” he said. “There were a lot of things that happened, things between (Michael) Kranefuss and Roger (Penske) and me not getting along with Rusty (Wallace).

“As a driver I could have done a lot of things differently. I wish I had that opportunity over again and I definitely wouldn’t be leaving there, I can tell you that.”

Harvick proves a point at Watkins Glen

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:53 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – There was no controversy to cloud this win.

Kevin Harvick had the frontstretch all to himself on Saturday for a burnout to celebrate his dominating victory in the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, his second consecutive road course win in the NASCAR Busch Series.

Harvick won last weekend’s inaugural event at Montreal, but his victory was overshadowed by the post-race antics of Robby Gordon, who ignored repeated directives from NASCAR to leave the track late in the race and did his own burnout alongside Harvick.

This is his 31st series victory, tying JackIngram for second all time in Busch Series competition. It was fifth this season and first at the 2.45-mile road course. He has won two of the series’ road course races this season.

“Last week, they all wanted to talk about the controversy. I don’t think we left them much choice this week but to talk about us,” said Harvick, who held off Richard Childress teammate Jeff Burton by 3.529 seconds for the win.

“We didn’t qualify like we wanted to but we thought our car was really good in race (set-up). Right when they dropped the green flag, it was good to go.”

Pole winner Kurt Busch dominated much of the early portion of the race but utilized a slightly different pit strategy. When most other cars had pit for their final fuel stop during a caution on Lap 50, Busch lined up 10th on the restart.

He made his way to fourth on a restart with 10 laps remaining and mounted a final charge on Harvick. In one lap Busch went from fourth to second, but ultimately lost ground in Turn 1 and fell back to third.

“We paced the field early on. When we pit early on in the race, we took four tires while a lot of others took fuel only and that put us behind,” Busch said.

“I ran it hard every lap and I think that contributed to our problem. Right when it was ‘show time’, the (brake) pedal bounced off the floorboard.”

Paul Menard finished fourth and rookie Brad Coleman was fifth. Series point leader Carl Edwards had to make a trip to the garage to fix the sway bar and ended up 32nd.

While Edwards maintains a 766-point lead over David Reutimann in driver points, Edwards’ No. 60 team holds only a slim 41-point advantage over RCR’s No. 29 team, which has been shared by drivers Burton and Scott Wimmer this season.

Carpentier gets two NASCAR rides in a week

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:01 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- In the span of a week, Patrick Carpentier has had a crash course in NASCAR’s biggest series.

He won the pole for last weekend’s Busch race at Montreal and finished second driving for Amando Fitz then received a phone call Monday from Ray Evernham asking if he’s like to try again in this weekend’s Cup road course event at Watkins Glen.

Carpentier, former Indy and ChampCar World Series driver, accepted but did not get a chance to qualify because of rain. The team still made the field and Carpentier will start 40th on Sunday.

"From Montreal it’s been like a fairy tale. Two weeks ago we were just sitting at home and we took a chance with the one race, Montreal, and everything worked out," Carpentier said. "I want to say thanks -- I met with Scott Riggs -- to him for giving up his position this weekend to give me a chance to drive his car."

Said to drive for Elliott in Watkins Glen

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:57 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Rain washed out Boris Said’s chance to make another Nextel Cup race on Friday. But what rain took away, Bill Elliott gave back.

Elliott, who has been driving the No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers the past several weeks, saw Said in the garage Saturday morning and offered him the chance to drive in his place for Sunday’s race and Said agreed.

“I haven’t road-raced since Sonoma and this team is so close to where they need to be,” Elliott said. “Bill Elliott doesn’t need the points, so why should my selfishness take away from this race team if I feel like with Boris, having come off fresh from racing last week and as much as he’s road-raced, I feel he can do better than I could?

"And that’s the reason I did what I did.”

Said practiced in the car Saturday and because of the driver change will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field. Said has one NASCAR road course win, coming at Sonoma, Calif., in the Craftsman Truck series in 1998.

Nextel Cup qualifying canceled by rain

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:40 EDT

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – With an enormous points lead that won’t mean much once the Chase for the Nextel Cup begins, Jeff Gordon said he continues to search for ways to benefit from his advantage.

Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for others, Gordon found one such benefit on Friday when rain canceled qualifying for Sunday’s Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International.

This is the third time this season Cup qualifying has been canceled due to inclement weather – Texas and July Daytona were the others. It is also the third time in the past four years Cup qualifying at Watkins Glen has been canceled by rain.

With the field set by car owner points and other provisions in the rule book, Gordon will start from the pole in Sunday’s race – the first time he’s led the field here since the 2003 season. His last win at the Glen was in 2001.

“It’s been one of those days. I was in the pace car riding around and the track was dry but windshield was wet. I thought we would find a window for it, but (the rain) just keeps rolling in and left parts of track wet,” Gordon said.

“I don’t think we would have won the pole if we had gone, but I think we had a shot at the top five. I’m glad we could take advantage of our points position and starting up front is going to be important here.”

With five races remaining before the field for the Chase is set, Gordon enjoys a nearly insurmountable 366-point advantage over second place Denny Hamlin.

Having such a large advantage is providing Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet team a chance to spend extra time to prepare for the final 10 races which will determine the championship.

“While everyone is looking to transition to next year, we’re probably going to be a little behind for next year because our focus is on winning the championship right now and seizing this opportunity,” Gordon said.

“This race this weekend is more about trying to get bonus points, trying to get a win for team chemistry and momentum. This race doesn’t mean anything toward the championship for us.”

While the rainout benefited several teams, including Gordon’s, it also proved frustrating for others.

Marcos Ambrose, who was scheduled to make his Cup debut in a car provided by Robby Gordon, did not make the field, nor did Ward Burton, A.J. Allmendinger, Boris Said, Brian Simo and Klaus Graf.

Gordon was fielding a car for Ambrose after spinning him out while he was leading on a late-race restart last weekend in the Busch Series race at Montreal. Gordon had been black-flagged at the time and ordered to leave the track but refused.

“There’s no guarantee on anything. I’m just really excited we actually got this opportunity in the first place, and hopefully it will happen again,” Ambrose said “I can’t predict it, but hopefully it’ll work out.”