Watkins Glen Qualifying Rained Out
Jeff Gordon has the pole for the third time this year because of a rain out, one of the benefits for dominating so far this season. He has struggled at the Glen in recent years, so I think it’s time he got that monkey off his back, and runs this race up front all day, from start to finish, but that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Jeff Gordon, who has led the standings for the last 17 weeks, took advantage of that and will start first — the third time this season he has started first after qualifying was rained out. The remainder of the 43-car lineup was set according to the Cup rule book.
Gordon will start his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole for the eighth time this season, with five of them earned with fast time. Second-place points man Denny Hamlin will line up on the outside of the front row in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevy. Source: Rain (again) washes out qualifying at Watkins Glen
This definitely doesn’t not bode well for the rest of the drivers, Gordon has definitely been a master at the road coarse races these past few years, and would have probably been close to starting on the front row anyway. But, he hasn’t run well at the Glen lately, he has mastered Sonoma though. After winning four of five races at the Glen from 1997 through 2001, he’s failed to crack the top 10 in the five races that followed. The closest he’s come was 13th in this race here last year, but it certainly hasn’t been for lack of strength. Problems in the pits, errant fuel calculations and general bad luck have plagued him during this span. In 2007, he has finished in the top 10 in all but two races, however, and it’s hard to imagine that with momentum like that on his side, he won’t get the this monkey off his back. It will be interesting to see how Juan Montoya moves up threw the field, and with Tony Stewart starting fifth, some of the best competition is right behind him. Stewart has been as close to perfect as any driver can be at The Glen, with three victories and a runner-up finish in his last five races. The only time he struggled was in 2003 where he still managed to finish 11th.
Here is how they will start on Sunday:
1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont N/A N/A N/A
2 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Ground N/A N/A N/A
3 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT N/A N/A N/A
4 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility N/A N/A N/A
5 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot N/A N/A N/A
6 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot N/A N/A N/A
7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s N/A N/A N/A
8 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s N/A N/A N/A
9 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil N/A N/A N/A
10 01 Regan Smith Chevrolet U.S. Army N/A N/A N/A
11 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s N/A N/A N/A
12 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker N/A N/A N/A
13 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite N/A N/A N/A
14 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser N/A N/A N/A
15 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Kodak think: N/A N/A N/A
16 16 Greg Biffle Ford Nintendo Wii N/A N/A N/A
17 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal N/A N/A N/A
18 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley’s Big Red N/A N/A N/A
19 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC N/A N/A N/A
20 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker N/A N/A N/A
21 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries N/A N/A N/A
22 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance N/A N/A N/A
23 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW N/A N/A N/A
24 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target N/A N/A N/A
25 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light N/A N/A N/A
26 96 Ron Fellows Chevrolet DLP HDTV N/A N/A N/A
27 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers / EA SPORTS NASCAR 08 N/A N/A N/A
28 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW N/A N/A N/A
29 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam N/A N/A N/A
30 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s N/A N/A N/A
31 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Quaker State / Menards N/A N/A N/A
32 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Haas Automation / Best Buy N/A N/A N/A
33 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil N/A N/A N/A
34 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Haas Automation N/A N/A N/A
35 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar N/A N/A N/A
36 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull N/A N/A N/A
37 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS N/A N/A N/A
38 55 Terry Labonte Toyota NAPA Auto Parts N/A N/A N/A
39 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie N/A N/A N/A
40 10 Patrick Carpentier Dodge Valvoline / Stanley Tools N/A N/A N/A
41 00 P.J. Jones Toyota Burger King N/A N/A N/A
42 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC N/A N/A N/A
43 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing N/A N/A N/A
Here are the ones that do not get a chance, even as several looked like they were good enough to make the field, Boris Said is one of those gun slinger road course racers who usually run well, he was not feeling too good about losing all the money he invested to run here.
“For a part-time team, you don’t get to race that much and two races in a row get taken away,” Said said. “I don’t understand why the schedule can’t be adjusted and just qualify [Saturday] when it’s going to be sunny. It’s just hard for a small team — it pretty much puts us out of business, it puts me out of business. It’s just a lot of income lost.
“We’re going to Talladega. That’s our next race. That’s our last race. We’ve shown performance every time we’ve gone, but the problem right now, an independent team, it’s almost impossible. Right now, it’s just depressing.”
Did Not Qualify
44 49 Klaus Graf Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America – - -
45 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull – - -
46 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Lucas Oil / State Water Heaters – - -
47 37 Brian Simo Dodge Front Row Motorsports – - -
48 160 Boris Said Ford SOBE – No Fear – - -
49 177 Marcos Ambrose Ford Camping World / RVs.com / Kingsford – - -
