Viewer's Guide: The Glen

Rusty Wallace was a six-time winner on road courses in his Cup Series career including two victories at Watkins Glen. Wallace posted seven top-fives and 10 top-10s in 20 career starts at The Glen, so who better to discuss racing there than the current ESPN analyst?

"It has many different style corners and elevation changes. You'll find drivers flying down the front straightaway, downshifting into second or first gear and then having to make a sharp right turn into the S curves," Wallace said. "The back straightaway, you have to brake hard and go through an inner loop built to slow the cars down. That's a tough corner to get through but it's safer now this way.

"And at Watkins Glen, you are mostly turning right, so the set up is totally different. Teams will take the same style car setup for Martinsville Speedway, but take all the weight that's normally distributed on the left side of the car and move it to the right."

ESPN and its family of networks will have all the coverage this week of Nextel Cup and Busch Series action from Watkins Glen.

"Road racing is all about rhythm and compromise. There are so many corners and you've got to be able to understand them all," Wallace said. "You have to really enjoy road racing. A lot of people don't like it and consider it a nuisance. I actually went to a driving school in California and really learned a lot there on technique. I really loved it from the start."

Wallace expects many of the usual suspects to again challenge up front at The Glen plus rookie Juan Montoya, who has a road-course win in each series this season.

"Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon are the two best right now, and Tony Stewart is right up there with everybody. But, the odds-on favorite is Juan Montoya, because of his victories at Mexico City and Infineon Raceway this year. Montoya will be doing a double, trying to win both of them."

Of course, it wouldn't be a road course without a slew of road ringers entered.

"Look out for the road-racing ringers in both of them," Wallace said. "Every time we run a road race, there's always a specialized road-course racer who pops up. They're used to turning right and left and do it better than most because they do it all the time."

The Car of Tomorrow returns for the first time since New Hampshire in early July but has already been tested on the road course at Sonoma. This will mark the COT's ninth race overall.

"I don't think the Car of Tomorrow will affect the racing at all. It's already a proven piece and I don't expect it to have any problems. I don't think racing will be different; braking points are the same and really everything will be the same," Wallace said. "Racing fans of New York will see a different looking car, but that will be the only difference."

Online fans can watch both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series live race broadcasts from Watkins Glen on NASCAR.COM. To learn more, click on Nextel Cup | Busch Series.

The Craftsman Truck Series returns to action this week at Nashville Superspeedway. SPEED has the coverage.

Check below for times and events for all three series this weekend.