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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — The picturesque drive into Watkins Glen International in upstate New York takes you on two-lane highways through vast elevation changes; by red barns and corn fields; past produce stands and small family cemeteries.
You pass through “villages,” not “cities” and can go an hour or more before any sort of traffic signal. Red-white-and-blue bunting hangs on many homes scattered out in rolling green pastures set against the wide blue skies. There are “noise limit” reminders and “snowmobile crossing” signs. This is a place offering the comforts of bed-and-breakfast lodging, not the chain hotels of many other venues on the race schedule.
And yet this most serene of NASCAR settings ironically sets up one of the most important ultra-competitive events in the sport. There are only five more chances for a driver to “win” his way into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. And this final road course race of the season presents both a prime and unique opportunity.
Gone are the days when drivers generally conceded this race to the small group of road course experts like Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart.
There have been seven different winners in the last 10 races at the 2.45-mile, seven-turn course. And two of the three repeat winners in that time — Marcos Ambrose and Tony Stewart — will not be competing in this weekend’s I Love New York 355 at the Glen (3 p.m. ET Sunday, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Twenty years and a handful of different championship scenarios ago, a victory at The Glen was a resume-maker, ego-boost and cool trophy. Now, more than ever, it’s a championship player. And the drivers have duly taken note.
There is an oft-shared joke that everyone shows up at a road course and a short track race breaks out.
“It just seems like the gentlemen’s agreement or the etiquette of how road-course races were run in years past is less and less each year,” said Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch, who has a win at the series’ other road course in Sonoma, but is 0-for-16 here in New York.
“Everybody’s really bumping and grinding a lot harder. They’re not afraid to throw in the front bumper when it’s not supposed to be in that position. That’s why I think the road courses have become the fan favorites because of the energy level and the amount of contact that is available at the road courses.
“You can feel it, you can sense it in the car, you know when you go to Sonoma or Watkins Glen that the contact is going to be there and guys aren’t afraid to mix it up anymore.”
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Five drivers in particular — Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano — are separated by only 91 points vying for the three playoff spots still up for grabs. Of them, only Logano has won here.
Kenseth has never won a Monster Energy Series road course race. He has only one top 10 at Sonoma, but seven here in New York, including the past three races.
McMurray has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona road course, has three pole positions at Sonoma but has never won a Monster Energy Series road course race. His best showing is runner-up at Sonoma in 2004. His best finish at Watkins Glen is third in 2006.
Bowyer won at Sonoma in 2012 and was the runner-up there in June. He has four top-10s at Watkins Glen, with a best finish of fourth place in 2012.
Two practices for Sunday’s race will be Saturday – an opening 55-minute session (at 10 a.m. ET) and a 50-minute session (at 12:30 p.m. ET), with qualifying set for 12:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, roughly three hours before the race start.
“I think everybody knows that you are going to a road course and you’ve got a lot of different aspects from a driver’s standpoint and the team standpoint that you have to pay attention to,” said 2006 Watkins Glen winner Kevin Harvick.
As Ryan Newman joked, “The hardest thing for me is pretty simple … to win.”