Hello readers,For the second time this year at Pocono, it was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. celebrating in Victory Lane. Unlike June where he took advantage of Brad Keselowski trying to save his engine to pass Keselowski and score the win, Earnhard, Jr. needed no assistance on Sunday. Earnhardt, Jr. had one of the dominant cars of the day this time around. His crew chief, Steve Letarte, played the pit stop strategy perfectly and Earnhardt, Jr. had enough car to charge through the field and take the lead from Greg Biffle with 14 laps left. Earnhardt managed to build up a lead of over three seconds when Kurt Busch brought out the final caution with seven laps left. That erased Earnhardt’s lead and put Kevin Harvick alongside him for the final restart. Harvick gave Earnhardt everything he had, but Earnhardt was able to hold him off for the last four laps and score the victory. It was the first time since 2006 that a driver swept the races at Pocono. Now the series heads north to Watkins Glen for the second road-course race of the year.
NASCAR began racing at Watkins Glen for good in 1986. They had attempted to race there in years prior but it didn’t stick. Most drivers saw Watkins Glen and road-course racing in general as an obstacle that they had to get through each year. Now teams and drivers put all their energy and effort into road-course racing, as a road-course win proves that a driver is capable of winning on all types of tracks, not just the ovals. One driver that never had much success on the road courses was Dale Earnhardt. Strangely, his first and last career poles came on road courses, with his final pole coming in 1996 at Watkins Glen.
Earnhardt wasn’t much of a qualifier, earning only 22 poles during his career. And he had only just picked up his first career road-course win the year before in 1995 at Sonoma. So it was a surprise when he set a new track record at The Glen in 1996. What made his run even more remarkable was he did it driving one-handed essentially. Two weeks prior to Watkins Glen, Earnhardt was involved in a terrible crash at Talladega that left him with a broken sternum and collarbone. Despite the injuries, he started the race at Indianapolis the following week, since the driver who starts the race collects the points for the championship. He climbed out of the car after the first caution came out on lap six and turned it over to Mike Skinner for the remainder of the race. He then arrived at Watkins Glen and won the pole. Not only did he win the pole, but he led 54 of the 90 laps and finished sixth. Not bad for a driver who was limited in the use of his limbs and was never the best road course racer.
Most wins among active drivers: Tony Stewart (5).
Defending winner: Kyle Busch took advantage of Marcos Ambrose’s bad luck to hold off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski for his second career win at Watkins Glen and his third win of the 2013 season.
Prediction: As I said when the series was at Sonoma, there are a handful of drivers who circle the road courses as two of their best chances to steal a win. With the emphasis being placed on wins rather than points this season, one of those drivers could earn a Chase berth with a win on Sunday. I believe that will happen as I think AJ Allmendinger will win on Sunday. Allmendinger started second and led 35 laps at Sonoma earlier this year and he comes from a road-course racing background, so I think the Dinger will be celebrating in Victory Lane on Sunday.
David Barr is a graduate of Daniel Boone High School and Mansfield University, where he received his degree in Communications.
