Ringers don't have much success at Watkins Glen

Will a road-course ringer ever answer the bell at Watkins Glen? There have been some close calls, but since the Glen returned full-time to the Cup schedule in 1986, no road-course specialist has been able to break through with a trip to Victory Lane.

There are various reasons. In some ways, it's a numbers game, as only a handful of one-off drivers make the field every summer. Most ringers are more familiar with lighter, nimbler sports cars and open-wheeled machines and not so much with Cup cars, particularly with the current chassis. Rarely do specialists wind up in top-level equipment. And over the course of a race, it's hard for a cobbled-together pit crew to perform flawlessly every time.

But if there's a driver on the entry list for Sunday's race that might end the drought, it would be Canadian Ron Fellows. To say Fellows knows his way around Watkins Glen would be like saying Dale Earnhardt could be a little intimidating at times.

The 49-year-old native of Toronto has four Nationwide Series victories, three of those coming at the Glen. When the trucks ran here, Fellows won twice and narrowly missed a third. And in 11 Cup starts at the Glen, he has three top-five finishes.

In 1999, Fellows led three laps and finished second to Jeff Gordon. A late-race caution caused when Johnny Benson crashed set up a one-lap shootout, but Fellows was unable to get a clear shot at a pass before the checkered flag waved.

Few people might have given Fellows much of a chance in 2004, when qualifying was rained out and he was forced to start last in a field of 43. But using every bit of his experience and methodically working his way through the field, Fellows finished second to Tony Stewart, who was battling stomach cramps.

Fellows was closing the gap on Stewart, and might have had a chance to get by, but Brendan Gaughan spun with 16 laps to go. On the restart, Stewart was able to pull away and wound up winning by 1.517 seconds.

"I was kind of hoping we wouldn't get that last caution," Fellows said. "We had been faster, but on a clear track he was able to stay in front. He seemed to be in control. I was working a lot harder. We needed some more lapped traffic."

That was the race in which Sterling Marlin referred to Greg Biffle as "that bug-eyed dummy" after the two got together on the track. And it was Jeff Burton's final race for Jack Roush. He moved to Richard Childress' No. 30 at Michigan, and a young driver by the name of Carl Edwards took control of the No. 99 Ford.

One year later, Boris Said and Scott Pruett scored top-five finishes as Stewart repeated as winner.

Pruett finished sixth in 2006 and Fellows came in fourth in 2007, but neither led a lap. Two drivers with extensive road-course experience -- Marcos Ambrose and Juan Montoya -- recorded top-five finishes in last year's race.

So back to the original question: Can a ringer win? It's not likely.

Fellows is back, driving a James Finch Chevrolet that's been to Victory Lane once this season. But with the exception of P.J. Jones, who finished fourth here in 2002, the other road-course ringers have limited experience at best. Patrick Carpentier, filling in for Michael Waltrip, has made two starts with a best finish of 20th. In two starts, Brian Simo's best effort was 37th and Max Papis has a 43rd. Finally, Andy Lally has extensive racing experience, but he's attempting to make his Cup debut this weekend.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.