Despite the fact Tony Stewart had won at Watkins Glen four times and had a five-race streak of top-two finishes at the track entering Monday's race, I didn't pick him. I also didn't pick him after gushing about Stewart and his chances at the Glen in last Thursday's blog entry, throwing the proverbial book of loop data right in your face.
Nope, sitting in our "NASCAR Now" meeting room prior to the race, I drew the second pick in the pool. With Marcos Ambrose already off the board, it left me with a coin flip between Smoke and Juan Pablo Montoya. After examining the speed charts from practice, I decided to take the 42, and watched Stewart fall all the way to the 10th pick behind pole sitter Jimmie Johnson, defending road course winner Kasey Kahne and last year's winner Kyle Busch, among others.
The lesson? Don't doubt Stewart's ability at Watkins Glen. The dude just flat-out dominates. The same way I was dominated much of Monday by the combination of heat, humidity and poison oak sores. Itchy and sweaty is my favorite way to write a blog.
Overall, it was a weekend of domination. Tony Stewart versus the field. Tiger Woods versus Padraig Harrington. Yankees versus Red Sox. Me versus pizza.
Now, time for me to dominate this blog entry. And then I need you to dominate the reading of it. It's time to step up … for all of us.
Are you pumped? You should be.
Road warrior
Tony Stewart now has the most wins at Watkins Glen with five, and he's all by himself for the second-most road wins in NASCAR Cup Series history, two behind Jeff Gordon's nine. Gordon's road course wins have come in 34 races, while Stewart's eight have come in 22, meaning he's won about one in every three road course starts.
What's most impressive to me, however, is that Stewart has now finished first or second in six straight starts at The Glen. That hasn't happened much in Cup Series history, just 11 times, and only four times over the past 20 seasons. Graphical evidence? You got it.
Most consecutive top-two Cup finishes at a track since 1990
Seasons -- Driver -- Top-twos -- Track
2001-04 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 7 -- Talladega
2004-09 -- Tony Stewart -- 6 -- Watkins Glen
2004-06 -- Jimmie Johnson -- 6 -- Charlotte
1992-95 -- Rusty Wallace -- 6 -- Martinsville
Trivia break: Who holds the series record for most consecutive top-two finishes at a track?
Passing of the torch
For a long time, Jeff Gordon was the unquestioned King of the Road, and it wasn't close. However, now he hasn't won at Watkins Glen since 2001, while Tony Stewart has won there five times.
The torch wasn't just passed to Smoke, it was yanked right out of Gordon's hands. And you have to be careful with that torch, or you'll get burned. Insert Tony Stewart and Smoke joke here.
Gordon hasn't just slipped to average at the track, after his hard crash Monday, his back wasn't the only thing hurting. His statistics took a big hit, too.
Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon at Watkins Glen since 2002
Stat -- Stewart -- Gordon
Wins -- 5 -- 0
Top-5s -- 7 -- 0
Best finish -- 1st -- 9th
Avg. finish -- 2.5 -- 22.3
That's over an eight-race span. Stewart's average finish is weighed down by an "awful" 11th place in 2003.
Trivia break: Since 1997, only two drivers other than Gordon and Stewart have multiple wins on a road course, who are they?
Don't worry, be happy
Kyle Busch fans, I know you're out there. Maybe it's safe to come out of hiding this week, make a quick comment about how much faster Dale Earnhardt Jr. is without brakes, and then race for cover while empty Amp cans are being hurled at you.
And you shouldn't yet give up on your Chase chances. For that matter, neither should fans of Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer and even David Reutimann.
They're all within 165 points of 12th in the standings. In 2005, Matt Kenseth was in 16th place, 165 out of the last Chase spot (and don't forget that only 10 drivers made the Chase back then) and rebounded to make the Chase and finish seventh in points.
That being said, those four drivers need to get a move on. Kenseth trimmed a cool 61 points off his Chase deficit in the next race in 2005, a third-place finish at Michigan.
Trivia break: Who has blown the biggest points lead over the Chase cutoff with four races to go?
Trivia break answers
1. Like the answer to most NASCAR trivia questions, it's Richard Petty. The King had 11 straight top-two finishes at Richmond from 1970 to 1975.
2. Robby Gordon and Kyle Busch each have a pair of road course wins, each sweeping both races in a season.
3. Last season, Kasey Kahne held a 107-point lead over 13th with four races to go before the Chase, but fell out of the top 12 after Richmond.
Matt Willis
