2016 Watkins Glen International, Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

I am writing this article before the Pennsylvania was run due to the fact it was postponed by rain once again. Seeing that this week the series is heading to the second of two road course races on the year I don’t think the results of the Pocono race will change my opinions on this weeks’ race.

CHEEZ-IT 355 AT THE GLEN

Watkins Glen International is an eleven turn road course located in Watkins Glen, NY. The track was repaved after last years race so we will see a new surface but with the same configuration. This is a race that will be run rain or shine with rain tires and windshield wipers if need be. No worrying about missing a race due to work concerns on a Monday.

Tony Stewart: Tony won the race at Sonoma earlier this season and he has been running very well since that time. He leads the series with wins at this track with five. He has also finished in the top ten in ten of his fifteen career starts here and will have a lot of confidence coming into the weekend after his win at Sonoma.

Jeff Gordon: We will have to watch the entry list this week to see if Jeff will be subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. once again. At this time the #88 car has TBD on the entry list until Dale can be examined by doctors once again. If Jeff does run he is another must have on your roster here. He has four wins at this track and has led more laps than any other active driver with 262 laps led.

A.J. Allmendinger: A.J. won the race here back in 2014 and sat on the pole here last year. This is probably this teams only chance to make the Chase and they will need to win this race to do that. This is the type of track that A.J. thrives on and he could upset the Chase order by picking up a win this weekend.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has won two races at Watkins Glen in his career and he finished second here last year. He has been very good all year and is tied for the series lead with four wins on the season. Besides his two wins he has nine top ten finishes in eleven starts here which is very impressive for road course driving.

Carl Edwards: Carl is looking for his first win at this track but, he has run consistently well here with five top five and eight top ten finishes in eleven starts. You won’t find a lot of drivers on the circuit who run more consistently. All of the Joe Gibbs drivers have shown that they have superior equipment to the other teams this season as they have accumulated ten wins between the four drivers.

Joey Logano: Joey picked up his first win at this track last season and has finished in the top ten in four of his seven career starts here. It is always interesting to see how Joey races other drivers and if he is going to do something that makes other drivers thinks they need to pay him back for some bumping and banging to make a pass. There is always a lot of that that goes on during these races and tempers can flare.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at this track also but, he has finished second three times in only six starts here. Brad has a great attitude when it comes to these races and I still remember the last lap battle between him and Marcus Ambrose back in 2012 when they were both racing each other off the paved surface where Marcus came away with the win and Brad was like a little kid talking about how awesome the last lap was even though he didn’t win the race.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in eight of his fifteen career starts. Kevin runs well at both Sonoma and Watkins Glen which means he knows how to shift and get around road courses with the best of them. I look for him to come away with another top ten finish.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is still looking for his first win at this track but has run well here on most occasions. He has finished third here twice and has sat on the pole two times also. This team had struggled quite a bit lately failing to finish in the top ten in six straight races until they came away with a third place finish at Indy a couple of weeks ago.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is another driver looking for his first win here but, he has been very impressive for most of the season. He ran well at Indy and sat on the pole at Pocono. Both of these are flat tracks that have some similarities to a road course and even though we don’t think of Martin as a road course guru he could very well surprise a lot of people this weekend.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Brad Keselowski
• Kyle Busch

Yahoo Driver Group B

• A.J. Allmendinger
• Tony Stewart
• Carl Edwards
• Martin Truex Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Jeff Gordon
• Michael McDowell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

1. Tony Stewart
2. A.J. Allmendinger
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kyle Busch
5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: A.J. Allmendinger

Stay Away From: Kasey Kahne

Big 18: A.J. Allmendinger