What: Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.
Where: 2.454-mile road course in Watkins Glen, New York
When: Sunday, Aug. 9; 2 p.m. ET.
TV/Radio: NBCSN, MRN Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Distance: 220.5 miles, 90 laps.
Pit road speed: 40 mph.
Caution car speed: 45 mph.
Fuel window: 33 laps.
On the front row | See the full lineup
Defending race winner AJ Allmendinger (127.839 mph) won his first Watkins Glen pole position besting fellow Chevrolet driver Martin Truex Jr. The top 10 qualifiers were separated by less than six-tenths of a second. It’s Allmendinger’s fourth career Sprint Cup Series pole. He also was the top qualifier at the Sonoma, California, road course in June. Kyle Busch is the last driver to win at the Glen from the pole position (2008)
Fastest in practice: Four-time race winner Jeff Gordon was fastest in final practice just ahead of second-year driver Kyle Larson, Greg Biffle and two-time Glen winner Kyle Busch. Another former road course winner Clint Bowyer (Sonoma, 2012) led opening practice ahead of defending race winner Allmendinger. Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. were the only drivers to post top-10 laps in both sessions.
Last year’s winner: Allmendinger’s thrilling victory last year in this race was his first and still only one in his Sprint Cup career, earning him and the single-car JTG Daugherty organization its first championship berth. The former open-wheel star is always considered the pre-race favorite at the two Cup road courses and was second fastest in opening practice en route to claiming his first pole position here.
This year he won’t have his great nemesis Marcos Ambrose to battle with up front as Ambrose returned to his native Australia to race this season. However, there are a lot of hungry non-winners this week who are widely considered road course aces. Gordon, Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and the Glen’s all-time winningest driver Tony Stewart lead that charge.
On the line: Five races remain to set the 16-car Chase field and the intensity is noticeably amped in the garage. Jamie McMurray leads the list of non-winners still ranked safely among the top 16 in the standings. Bowyer and Kahne are ranked 15th and 16th with only a 25-point cushion for Kahne while Larson (19th) and Stewart (25th) are further behind in points and may need to rely on a victory to get in the Chase. Of those drivers currently ranked among the top 16, only Harvick and Gordon have ever won at Watkins Glen. Four-time 2015 winner Kyle Busch sits only 13 points out of 30th-place, the minimum points position a winner must be ranked to qualify for the Chase.
Just own it: Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are currently tied with six wins apiece in this race — double that of any other organization. However, JGR driver Kyle Busch‘s win in 2013 is the only time that one of those two teams has won here in the last six years. A victory by one of the four Hendrick drivers would deliver Chevrolet its 750th Cup win. A victory by one of the four Gibbs drivers would give Toyota its 13th win in the last 17 NASCAR national series races.
Road Course Masters | RELATED: Read more about Gordon’s ascent
Two of NASCAR’s most celebrated champions — Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon — also happen to be two of the sport’s most accomplished road racers. Tony Stewart is Watkins Glen’s all-time winningest driver with five victories, his seven top fives the most of any active driver. He’ll start his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy a season-best third on Sunday.
Gordon, NASCAR’s most successful road course driver with nine career wins, has four at Watkins Glen and is the all-time leader in laps led (262) here. He’ll start fifth in the Cheez-It 355 — the final road course race in Gordon’s final season of Cup competition.
Nuts and Bolts: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still looking for his first road course win and should it happen this weekend, it would be a big reversal of fortune for the sport’s Most Popular Driver. His 22.4 average finish at the Glen is the worst among the top-16 drivers in points. He has only three top-10 finishes yet two DNFs in 15 starts here. Qualifying is hugely important at the Glen. Nine of the 32 races have been won by the pole sitter, 65 percent of race winners have come from a top-five starting position. Steve Park’s 2000 victory from the 18th starting position is the farthest of any race winner.
Brad Keselowski and retired driver Mark Martin hold the record for runner-up finishes at the Glen with three each. Earnhardt and Matt Kenseth hold the record for most starts (15) without a win.
They said it: “We’re all road course ringers these days. It’s amazing how smart this garage is and how great these competitors are.” — Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet.
“I look forward to these races. I always do every year. It’s kind of fun, a weekend ‘off’ from the oval stuff. Love the opportunity to turn right, turn left, and have some shifting going on. You try to make the most of it and have some fun with it and come out of here with some decent finishes. Over the years we’ve run real well here at Watkins Glen. I’m really optimistic about being here this weekend.” — Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Crispy Toyota and winner of the season’s other road course race in Sonoma, California, in June.