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Centurion Boats at the Glen Preview

Aug 7, 2008 - 10:24 AM

August 10, 2008
Watkins Glen International 
Watkins Glen, New York
Race 22 of 36 on Sprint Cup circuit

TV: ESPN, 1 p.m. EDT

Laps: 90 
Track length: 2.45 miles 
Race length: 220.5 miles
Configuration: 11-turn permanent road course

Qualifying record: Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 124.580 mph, 2003
Race record: Mark Martin, Ford, 103.300 mph, 1995


DRIVERS TO WATCH
----------------

Jeff Burton
Team: Richard Childress Racing
Car: No. 31 Chevrolet Impala
2008 Earnings: $3,377,581

One of the circuit's most consistent drivers, finished 21st at 
Pennsylvania and dropped to fifth in the standings, 226 points 
behind Kyle Busch; was ninth at the Brickyard; ran in the top 15 
through the first 17 races but finished 37th at Daytona and 19th 
at Chicago; won at Bristol for first victory of the season; finished 
13th in the Daytona 500 and eighth at California; was fifth in 
Las Vegas and 10th at Atlanta; had 10 top 10s through first 19 
races; finished eighth in last season's standings, one year 
after placing seventh; finished in the top 10 in half of the 
races last season, including nine top fives; lone win of the 
2007 season came in April at Texas; finished the season strong 
with five top 10s over the final six races; ran 40th in this race 
last season.

Kyle Busch
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
Car: No. 18 Toyota Camry
2008 Earnings: $4,739,063

Is in the midst of a stellar first season with Joe Gibbs Racing,
winning seven races and posting 12 top fives through 21 races; 
lead dropped to 176 points atop the standings after finishing 
36th at Pennsylvania; ran 15th at the Brickyard; earned first 
road course win at Sonoma; ran dead last at Pocono then 
finished 13th at Michigan; ran 17th at Bristol after power 
steering failed and transmission issues relegated him to 38th 
at Martinsville; won at Atlanta, Talladega, Darlington, Dover 
and the second Daytona race; runner-up finish at Richmond was 
marred by a late-race incident with Dale Earnhardt Jr.; had the 
dominant car and led the most laps at the Daytona 500; was 
strong at Las Vegas early, but struggled late and wound up 11th; 
is building off a sensational run at Hendrick Motorsports in his 
move to JGR and Toyota; finished fifth in the final 2007 
standings after qualifying for the Chase for the second 
consecutive season; had 20 top-10 finishes last season, 
including 11 top fives; lone win came during the first Bristol 
race - the inaugural Car of Tomorrow event; ran seventh in this 
race last season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 
Team: Hendrick Motorsports 
Car: No. 88 Chevrolet Impala 
2008 Earnings: $3,142,670

The circuit's most popular driver finished 12th at Pennsylvania
after running 12th at the Brickyard; remains second in the 
standings, 176 points behind Busch; snapped a 76-race winless 
stretch by winning at Michigan on fumes; nearly snapped skid but 
was involved in a late-race incident with Busch at Richmond and 
wound up 15th; has 12 top 10s through 21 races; ran fifth at 
Bristol after a third at Atlanta and second at Las Vegas; was 
the top finishing Hendrick car at the Daytona 500 with a 
ninth-place showing; was involved in an early race crash at 
California and finished 40th; made the move from his father's 
Dale Earnhardt Inc., where he won 17 Cup events, to Hendrick 
Motorsports; got off to a good start with his new team by 
winning the Bud Shootout; suffered through a tough final season 
at DEI, finishing 16th in the standings; had 12 top 10s last 
season, but also posted 11 finishes of 25th or worse; finished 
42nd in this race last season.

Carl Edwards 
Team: Roush Fenway Racing 
Car: No. 99 Ford Fusion
2008 Earnings: $4,751,700

Earned fourth win of the season - and first since April 6 - last
week at Pennsylvania; the victory helped Edwards jump two spots 
in the standings, 185 points behind Busch; finished second to 
Jimmie Johnson at the Brickyard - his fourth runner-up this 
season; won at Texas for his third win of the season; was docked 
100 points and fell from the top spot in the standings after 
being penalized after his win at Las Vegas; victory at Texas was 
his 10th career Cup win; had the dominant car again at Atlanta, 
but blew an engine and finished 42nd; ran 19th in the Daytona 500; 
qualified for the Chase last year and won at Dover after placing 
12th at New Hampshire, but failed post-race inspection and was 
docked 25 points and fined; penalty dropped him from third to 
sixth in the standings and he never recovered; won the 2007 
NASCAR Busch Series championship; finished with 11 top-fives and 
15 top-10s last year; also won at Michigan and Bristol; was also 
second to Busch at Darlington, Dover and the second Daytona race; 
finished eighth here last year.

Jeff Gordon
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
Car: No. 24 Chevrolet Impala
2008 Earnings: $3,575,460

Ran 10th at Pennsylvania for his 10th top-10 finish of the season;
remains sixth in the standings; finished fifth at the Brickyard; 
finished 18th at Michigan; ran second at Martinsville; rebounded 
to finish fifth at Atlanta after being involved in a scary 
late-race crash at Las Vegas where he finished 35th; bounced back 
with a third at California after opening his 2008 season with a 
disappointing 39th in the Daytona 500; already has three DNFs this 
season after posting just one last year; only a dominant finish by 
teammate Jimmie Johnson kept him from capturing a fifth 
championship last season; finished with 10 top-10 finishes in the 
final 11 races - the other finish in that span was an 11th at 
Dover; totaled a remarkable 30 top-10 finishes and 21 top fives in 
36 races last year; spun with less than two laps remaining at 
Watkins Glen while leading, costing him another potential win - 
still managed to finish ninth; had six checkered flags last season 
and 81 career, just two shy of tying Cale Yarborough for fifth 
place all-time; had 10 poles last season - double that of Ryan 
Newman who had five.

Jimmie Johnson 
Team: Hendrick Motorsports 
Car: No. 48 Chevrolet Impala 
2008 Earnings: $4,300,951

Finished third at Pennsylvania a week after winning at the 
Brickyard; sits fourth in the standings; ran second at Chicago;
two-time defending series champion blew a motor at Lowe's and 
finished in 39th place; bounced back with three top-10s, 
including a sixth at Michigan; picked up his first win of the 
season at Phoenix, then ran 13th at Talladega and 30th at 
Richmond; finished second at Texas following a fourth at 
Martinsville; had a disappointing three-race stretch at Las 
Vegas, Atlanta and Bristol when his average finish was 20th; ran 
second at California after starting this campaign with a 27th at 
the Daytona 500; battled teammate Gordon for the top spot in the 
Chase early last season, then took off - winning four straight 
races over the second half of the Chase; suffered through an 
up-and-down season before the Chase, finishing 39th at the 
Brickyard after a fiery crash on the heels of a 37th at Chicago; 
finished the season with 10 wins, 20 top-fives, 24 top 10s, yet 
failed to finish four races; finished third in this race last 
year.

Kasey Kahne
Team: Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Car: No. 9 Dodge
2008 Earnings: $4,482,669

Finished seventh at Pennsylvania and moved up to seventh in the
standings; bounced back from disappointing 33rd at Sonoma and 
30th at Loudon by running seventh at Daytona, 15th at Chicago 
and seventh at the Brickyard; finished second to Dale Earnhardt 
Jr. at Michigan; won first Pocono race from the pole; had a 
stellar two weeks at Lowe's, winning the Sprint All-Star Challenge 
then snapping a 52-race winless skid by taking the checkered flag 
in the Coca-Cola 600; has nine top 10s this season; after winning 
six races in 2006, struggled in 2007 when he finished 19th in the 
standings with just one top five and eight top 10s; also had six 
DNFs and dipped as low as 36th in the standings at one point; took 
on the famed Budweiser sponsorship after Earnhardt moved to 
Hendrick Motorsports; finished 26th in this race last year.

Matt Kenseth 
Team: Roush Fenway Racing 
Car: No. 17 Ford Fusion
2008 Earnings: $3,388,299

Finished 11th at Pennsylvania after blowing a tire at the 
Brickyard where he finished 38th; dropped two spots and is in
13th in the standings; ran third at Daytona and Michigan; 
finished 38th at Richmond and 41st at Talladega; ran 38th at 
Phoenix following a ninth at Texas and 30th at Martinsville; had 
consecutive top 10s at Bristol and Atlanta; was 20th at Las Vegas 
due to a late-race incident with Jeff Gordon; ran fifth at 
California, fresh off a disappointing 35th place showing at the 
Daytona 500; last season had a late-Chase surge with a win at the 
season-ending race at Homestead, following a third at Phoenix and 
a second at Texas; finished fourth in the final standings; had 13 
top five finishes and 22 top 10s last season; won the series 
championship in 2003 despite capturing only one checkered flag, 
prompting NASCAR to change to its current Chase format; enters 
this season without long-time crew chief Robbie Reiser who has 
been replaced atop the box by Chip Bolin; ran 12th in this race 
last year.

Tony Stewart 
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing 
Car: No. 20 Toyota Camry
2008 Earnings: $4,012,742

Finished second to Edwards last week at Pennsylvania; slid to a 
23rd-place finish after running well at the Brickyard; finished 
fifth at Chicago in first race since announcing he will leave JGR 
at the end of the season to drive for his own Stewart-Haas Racing 
team next season; fell ill at Daytona and was relieved by J.J. 
Yeley who finished 20th; is now in ninth place, just 49 points 
inside the Chase cut-off; was involved in an early crash at Dover 
and finished 41st; came close to winning at Lowe's, but cut down a 
tire with three laps remaining while leading and finished 18th; 
finished 38th at Talladega then bounced back to finish fourth at 
Richmond; ran 14th at Phoenix following back-to-back top-10 finishes 
at Martinsville and Texas; finished second to teammate Kyle Busch 
at Atlanta, but was vocal about the poor Goodyear tire quality; 
suffered a hard crash at Las Vegas, injured his ankle and finished 
last; had another disappointment in the Daytona 500, finishing 
third despite having the lead with one lap to go; moved within two 
points of the points lead after the first two Chase races last 
year, but could not keep pace with Johnson and Gordon and faded 
to sixth in the final standings; won this race last year.


2007 Top 10
-----------
 1. Tony Stewart (20), Chevrolet
 2. Denny Hamlin (11), Chevrolet
 3. Jimmie Johnson (48), Chevrolet
 4. Ron Fellows (96), Chevrolet
 5. Robby Gordon (7), Chevrolet 
 6. Martin Truex Jr. (1), Chevrolet
 7. Kyle Busch (5), Chevrolet
 8. Carl Edwards (99), Ford
 9. Jeff Gordon (24), Chevrolet
10. Greg Biffle (16), Ford

Past Champions
--------------
2007  Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 77.535 mph
2006  Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 76.718 mph
2005  Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 86.804 mph
2004  Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 92.249 mph
2003  Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 90.441 mph
2002  Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 82.208 mph
2001  Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 80.081 mph
2000  Steve Park, Chevrolet, 91.336 mph
1999  Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 87.722 mph
1998  Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 94.466 mph
1997  Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 91.294 mph
1996  Geoffrey Bodine, Ford, 92.334 mph
1995  Mark Martin, Ford, 103.300 mph
1994  Mark Martin, Ford, 93.752 mph  
1993  Mark Martin, Ford, 84.771 mph
1992  Kyle Petty, Pontiac, 88.980 mph
1991  Ernie Irvan, Chevrolet, 98.977 mph
1990  Ricky Rudd, Chevrolet, 92.452 mph 
1989  Rusty Wallace, Pontiac, 87.242 mph
1988  Ricky Rudd, Buick, 74.096 mph
1987  Rusty Wallace, Pontiac, 90.682 mph
1986  Tim Richmond, Chevrolet, 90.463 mph
1965  Marvin Panch, Ford, 98.182 mph
1964  Billy Wade, Mercury, 97.988 mph  
1957  Buck Baker, Chevrolet, 87.007 mph