Credit: Autostock

Fellows settles for second place -- again

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Five years ago, Ron Fellows made his second career start in a Nextel Cup car. He was driving a Joe Nemechek-owned car in a deal that was put together at the last minute.

Fellows finished second that day to Jeff Gordon.

Ron Fellows

Eight starts later, and Fellows is still looking to improve upon that finish. He came pretty close Sunday at Watkins Glen International, falling 1.5 seconds short of winner Tony Stewart in the Sirius at the Glen.

"I don't have any complaints, just a little disappointment," Fellows said. "Second again -- man."

Fellows has five NASCAR victories at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen road course, three in the Busch Series and two in the Craftsman Truck Series. The Canadian is one of the best road racers in the world, and all of his NASCAR starts have been at Watkins Glen or Infineon Raceway.

SIRIUS AT THE GLEN •   Results •   Standings

So while Fellows might have a technical advantage with his road course skills, he's at a decided disadvantage when it comes to the teams for which he drives. Part-time efforts don't usually work that well in Nextel Cup racing these days.

But this weekend, while he was with a part-time team, Fellows drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc. The No. 1 team has made five starts this year, all with John Andretti. Martin Truex Jr.'s Busch Series Chance 2 Motorsports team -- a sister team to DEI -- pitted Fellows' car.

VIDEO Victory Lane Stewart says cramps made for a tough win Final Laps Stewart takes the checkers ahead of Fellows Top Finishers Top finishers assess their performance

This was no part-time effort. It was clear from the drop of the green flag that Fellows was going to be one of the cars to beat. He passed 20 cars in 10 laps and was in the top 10 by lap 30.

With 34 laps to go, Fellows made his final pit stop. He was ninth after the cycle of pit stops but continued to move forward.

When Brendan Gaughan slid off the track with 18 laps to go, Fellows was in fourth. But at that point, Casey Mears and Dave Blaney were playing the fuel-mileage game, meaning Stewart was the guy Fellows had to race.

That was made clear when Stewart and then Fellows quickly dispatched Mears, setting up a duel that would last until the end of the race.

"I just didn't have the grip at the end," Fellows said. "I worked the car pretty hard. All I could do was watch Tony Stewart for those last eight or 10 laps. I was kind of hoping we didn't get that last caution, to be quite honest. We seemed to be reeling him in then. That cooling off period I don't think did our tires much good."

Stewart stretched his lead to over two seconds, but Fellows chopped it down. The two cars, however, were evenly matched, and Fellows could get no closer.

So he had to settle for second. Again.

"I guess it's just a test that getting a win here is not going to be easy," Fellows said. "Certainly being with DEI is a huge leg up. Being with one of the best teams is the only way it's going to happen. Hopefully we can maintain that relationship and get a win here."