NASCAR notes: Cup drivers have adapted well to road racing

It has been 20 years since NASCAR returned to Watkins Glen International, a road course the stock car boys briefly sampled in the 1950s and ’60s.

When the modern stars of the sport arrived at the natural terrain circuit in upstate New York in 1986, there was some sheer terror among their ranks.

“I drove a cab in Detroit, but Watkins Glen worried me a lot more,” the late Benny Parsons said after finishing eighth in that race. “A lot of these guys have no clue what they’re doing out there, especially when they see a right turn.”

But NASCAR, undaunted by its experience at The Glen, added another road circuit, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., in 1989.

Since then, twice a year, NASCAR’s best are called upon to find their way around tracks that not only have a variety of turns, but also include elevation changes.

Every race on the Sprint Cup schedule counts the same, so teams and drivers have made it their business to find a way to improve at the two road courses, although some teams still hire road racing specialists like Ron Fellows, P.J. Jones, Boris Said and Scott Pruett for these events.

But, overall, the Cup regulars, many of whom have gone to multiple road racing schools to perfect their skills, have become very adept on the road circuits.

One of the best is Robby Gordon, who won both Cup road races in 2003.

“NASCAR drivers throughout the last couple years — I’m going to go back even as far as 10 years — they’ve started to put a lot of effort into their road racing because it’s … two of the 36 races,” Gordon said. “And if you run the Nationwide car as well, it could be four.

“So there’s a lot of good road racers. I mean, Mark Martin has been a phenomenal road racer for as long as I can remember. I teamed up with him in the late ’80s. We won the 24 Hours of Daytona together … look at what’s happened the last eight years in Cup races, it’s been a NASCAR regular that’s won all these races.”

Other top-notch road racers among the Cup stars include defending Watkins Glen champion Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch, who won the June race at Sonoma.

Apparently, there’s not as much difference between racing on ovals and road circuits as some people think.

“The biggest thing on the oval is, you know, back off early, get it into the corner, then get back on the gas,” Robby Gordon said. “It’s similar to how I run the road races, as well. I try to roll the middle as fast as I can. And I think, you know, that’s helped me on the road courses.

“But, you know, the short ovals I normally run pretty good at, so it seems like that works there, too.”

Of course, not everyone enjoys road racing.

“It’s no secret that I really don’t like road courses,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Watkins Glen is a little faster and flatter than Infineon Raceway, but I grew up watching racing on ovals and not road courses.

“I’ve had a good run or two at the Glen, and I’m running the Nationwide race there (Saturday) to get some extra seat time, but I just generally don’t like road course racing. We just want to run well, get through it and get on with oval track racing (next week) at Michigan.”

SPECIAL PLACE: Part-time NASCAR driver Boris Said, whose racing background is almost entirely in road racing, planned to do a double this week, racing in both the Nationwide race and, if he can qualify, Sunday’s Cup event.

Whether he gets it done or not, Said just loves racing at The Glen.

“Even though I’ve had my share of ups and downs at The Glen, I still consider it my home track,” explained Said, who resides in Southern California. “I like everything about it: The track, the area, the people, the restaurants, the Saidhead fan club and Seneca Lodge.”

Said’s fondness for the 2.45-mile road circuit began in his early days as a sports car racer. His Cup debut was at the track in 1999, winning the outside pole. Overall, he has competed in 14 NASCAR races at Watkins Glen, including seven in Cup, five in Nationwide and two in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Among the Cup highlights are a third-place finish in 2005 and eighth in 2001. He also won the pole for the 1998 Nationwide — then Busch — race and finished fourth in the 2001 event.

But one race at The Glen continues to haunt the free-spirited Said.

In 2001, Said was taken out in an incident with Robby Gordon, who went on to win the race.

“I had the fastest car that day and I know I could have won the race,” he said. “But I got punted from behind by Robby, spun out and hit the fence. That one is still hard to swallow.”

HE SAID IT: “That stuff happens all the time, all the time, because that’s in the heat of the moment. It’s competitive, there’s sweat running down your forehead, this is a decision-making business that you have to do now. Not always are you going to make the right decisions and you never know what the right decision is until the whole thing unfolds.” — driver Greg Biffle talking about the pit road argument between eventual Pocono Raceway winner Carl Edwards and crew chief Bob Osborne last Sunday.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Kyle Busch has won a total of 15 races in NASCAR’s top three series this season, including the Cup race at Sonoma and the Nationwide race on the road course in Mexico City. If the 23-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver wins Sunday, he would become the first driver to take three national-series road course events in one season.

Busch has seven wins in Cup, six in Nationwide and two in trucks heading into the weekend. He could use a good finish in Cup, coming off of finishes of 15th and 36th after winning three of the previous four races.