Looking Ahead to Watkins Glen

As Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to recover, Hendrick Motorsports has yet to announce who will race in Watkins Glen Next Weekend.

Jeff Gordon will race Pocono today, but the really smart money for Hendrick is to keep Dale out one more week. Why? Simply put, he’s better on road courses and honestly, it’s what NASCAR needs; A little drama, maybe some controversy, A little outrage from Junior Nation perhaps? Jeff Gordon has more starts there and is actually tied with 3 other drivers for racing there 22 times. Gordon has 4 wins, 3 pole positions and has led the most laps there ever with 262. He also has the most road course wins in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

Even if you have never been a NASCAR fan, this is the course to watch. Nestled at the southern end of Seneca Lake, this picturesque course is by far the most fun as a spectator to watch with racecars assailing the turns as the drivers attempt to beat them into submission.

This week at Watkins Glen, NASCAR had a 2 day testing period as the track had been repaved.

NASCAR Sprint cup driver Brad Keselowski crashed his car head on when a brake line failed and he carried too much speed into a turn hitting a tire barrier. He walked away unscathed, but I can’t help but wonder how this effects his mental status upon his return for the actual race. “There’s only so many of those hits you’re going to take before someone gets killed.” He said in a press conference Tuesday. “Road courses remain the most dangerous tracks in motorsports. It’s funny because a lot of times we end up talking about Daytona or Talladega and they don’t ever worry me as much as road courses do. I can promise you that.”

After his interview, he tweeted, “I accept the risk of being a professional NASCAR race car driver at all tracks and plan on returning to @WGI undaunted by this week’s wreck.”

When the field is set for the August 7th race at The Glen, keep an eye on the #2 Miller Lite car that Keselowski drives. My guess is he will be somewhere in the middle or rear, just making laps instead of making racing interesting. Maybe he can just show up for the Oval tracks and leave the real racing to real Drivers. The simple fact is, these cars have never been safer. NASCAR does everything in its power to create the safest product possible at ridiculous speeds for racing that fewer people are watching each year. They may be legislating the danger and excitement right out of the sport. So please forgive me when an exciting course comes around and one driver crashes in testing due to a mechanical failure and then promptly complains to the media that he has to race on a course that has more than just left hand turns. Good grief, kid. Get out there and do your job.