 |  | | Mark Martin has led more laps at Watkins Glen than anybody. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
August 10, 2006
08:49 AM EDT (12:49 GMT)
Jeff Gordon has the victories: His nine road-course wins are more than any driver in history, and four of them came at Watkins Glen. Tony Stewart has the streak: He has three of the past four Glen trophies sitting at home and has not finished below 11th at the New York track since 2001. But Mark Martin carries the weight. In 18 races at The Glen, Martin has 16 top-10 finishes, more than doubling Jeff Gordon's seven. Twelve of those were top-fives. His first race there was in 1988, just the second year he ran a full Cup schedule. He was 28th that day, four laps down. He then rolled off 12 top-10s in a row -- including three consecutive victories from 1993-1995 -- at the road course before finishing 15th in 2001. Since then, he's had four more top-10s. Martin's average finish at the track is 6.2, plus he's led more laps (204) than any other driver. But it's been a while since No. 6 was No. 1 at Watkins Glen. What you didn't know
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5 -- Laps led by Mark Martin at Watkins Glen since his last victory there in 1995. Martin led three laps and finished second in 1998, and then led two laps with a runner-up finish again in 2000. |
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Driver Rating: AMD at The Glen
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150.0 -- Tony Stewart, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet. Stewart recorded a perfect driver rating after dominating last year's Watkins Glen race. He led 90.2 percent of the laps (83 of 92) and had to make just eight green-flag passes the entire race to stay up front. |
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NASCAR's driver rating combines the following categories: wins, finishes, top-15s, average lead-lap running position, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead-lap finish. Statistics based on current and past year at track. Maximum rating: 150 points. Numerology Sunday's AMD at The Glen (1 p.m. ET, NBC) will be the 24th race held at the 2.450-mile, 11-turn road course. The Cup Series has visited the track each year since 1986. Before that, there were three NASCAR races run there: 1957, won by Buck Baker; 1964, won by Billy Wade; and 1965, won by Marvin Panch. Most recently, it's been a Chevrolet that has gone to Victory Lane. Chevys have won eight of the last nine races at Watkins Glen, while the only winner during that span to not drive a Bowtie was Tony Stewart (2002), in a Pontiac.
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0 -- DNFs for Jeremy Mayfield in 10 races at Watkins Glen. He is one of just two drivers with more than 10 starts and no DNFs (Mark Martin, 18). Mayfield, whose average finish is 17.9, is not entered in Sunday's race. |
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1 -- Top-10 finish at Watkins Glen among Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch, the drivers ranked 11th, 12th and 13th in the standings. |
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1 -- Victory for Kyle Petty at Watkins Glen (1992), although his average finish there is 23.7. He has finished better than 20th just once in the past six races at the track. |
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1.511 -- Average running position for Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen last year. His lowest running position in the race was 13th. |
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2 -- Drivers who ran the entire race last year inside the top 15: Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson. |
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5 -- Top-10 finishes for Robby Gordon in seven starts at Watkins Glen, and he has led laps in his last six races there. His average finish at the road course is 10.0. |
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5.56 -- Average starting position for winners at Watkins Glen. Eight races have been won from the pole, most recently last year by Tony Stewart. The worst starting position for a winner is 18th when Steve Park won in 2000 driving for DEI. |
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5.8 -- Average finish for road-racing specialist Scott Pruett in four starts at Watkins Glen, the best among drivers with more than two starts. He is entered this weekend to drive the No. 40 Chip Ganassi Dodge in place of rookie David Stremme. |
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7 -- Races in the last nine at Watkins Glen have been won by Jeff Gordon (four) or Tony Stewart (three). |
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8 -- Races in the last 10 that the Watkins Glen winner also led the most laps. |
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15 -- Top-10 finishes at Watkins Glen among Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the three drivers ranked eighth, ninth and 10th in the standings. |
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20 -- Starts at Watkins Glen for Michael Waltrip, the most among full-time drivers. He is the only driver to start every race at the track since NASCAR returned on an annual basis in 1986. |
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25.7 -- Average finish for Kasey Kahne in the past six races. He has led one lap during that span, which began the race following his Michigan victory. |
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33.92 -- Percent of passes made in Turn 1 last year at Watkins Glen, the most popular place to pass. The third straightaway saw the fewest passes last year at 2.67 percent. |
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39 -- Times Tony Stewart recorded the fastest lap in last year's race, or 42.4 percent. Boris Said had the second-most with nine. |
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54 -- Laps led by Jeff Burton at Watkins Glen, the most among full-time drivers who have not won at the track. Burton's average finish there is 20.6. |
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100 -- Points separate sixth-place Mark Martin and 10th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the standings. |
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161.188 -- Average speed, in miles per hour, for Boris Said last year through the backstretch at Watkins Glen, the fastest part of the racetrack. |
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163 -- Laps led by Tony Stewart in the last three races at Watkins Glen out of a possible 272 laps. He led 83 of 92 laps in last year's race. Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon and Jimmie Johnson led the next highest with two each. |
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With five races to go before the Chase begins, 28 drivers are still mathematically eligible for the 10-race playoff. The last driver eligible: Jeff Green, 1,279 points out of the lead and 767 points behind 10th place. The first driver out: Joe Nemechek, 1,302 points out of the lead.
| Chase Watch |
| Watkins Glen statistics for top 15 in points |
| Rank |
Driver |
Wins |
Top-5s |
Top-10s |
Avg. Finish |
| 1. |
Jimmie Johnson |
0 |
2 |
2 |
16.2 |
| 2. |
Matt Kenseth |
0 |
0 |
3 |
16.8 |
| 3. |
Jeff Burton |
0 |
2 |
3 |
20.6 |
| 4. |
Kevin Harvick |
0 |
1 |
3 |
9.4 |
| 5. |
Kyle Busch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
33.0 |
| 6. |
Mark Martin |
3 |
12 |
16 |
6.2 |
| 7. |
Denny Hamlin |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 8. |
Jeff Gordon |
4 |
6 |
7 |
12.6 |
| 9. |
Tony Stewart |
3 |
3 |
5 |
7.4 |
| 10. |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
0 |
2 |
3 |
17.5 |
| 11. |
Kasey Kahne |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15.5 |
| 12. |
Greg Biffle |
0 |
0 |
0 |
34.3 |
| 13. |
Kurt Busch |
0 |
0 |
1 |
26.2 |
| 14. |
Carl Edwards |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19.0 |
| 15. |
Casey Mears |
0 |
1 |
1 |
19.7 |
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