Why Watkins Glen's repave is 'not going to change anything'
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will be racing on a newly repaved Watkins Glen International road course this weekend, but drivers aren't expecting it to take away from the exciting drama it has been known to provide.
After participating in a two-day organizational test session at the end of July, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards is looking forward to the challenge.
It's going to be fast," Edwards said. "It's very smooth. But I also felt like I got sideways a couple times and it wasn't as treacherous as I thought it would be as fresh as that pavement was. "
Edwards has never won at the 2.45-mile road course, but he does have five top-five finishes to his credit and an eighth-place result in last year's event.
"That place (Watkins Glen) is always fun," added Edwards. "I really enjoy the road courses. Hopefully it's a really good race. But, that's one of those races that could turn out so many different ways depending on everything that happens."
AJ Allmendinger, who also participated in the test, recorded his only Sprint Cup victory at Watkins Glen in 2014. Desperately needing a win to make the Chase in the midst of a lack-luster season, Allmendinger is hoping to turn it around on the fresh pavement.
"It's just a great race track. I think the repave has done really well," Allmendinger said. "It's smooth and I think the racing is still going to be great. It's not going to change anything. It's always a place where I look forward to coming to. It's good memories and it's a fun place to get around."
Kyle Busch has driven his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a pair of wins there and also finished second to Joey Logano last season. Busch said he learned a lot in the test session, but he expects the track to be even faster in Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.
"We learned that the track isn't quite as fast as we expected it to be," Busch said. "It's probably tire limited. You get the chance to slide around a little bit still. It seems like the slip of the cars is still the same as last year. We'll see if speeds increase more with getting more rubber down on the race track and having more cars, and series there."
Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon is the top Chase seed among winless drivers with five races to go before the cutoff. From his point of view, the track is fast, but Dillon feels drivers will have to put in the extra effort to find the speed.
"It seems to be the same Watkins Glen, just with a lot of grip," said Dillon. "There's a lot of speed out there, and it's just how bad you want to go get it."
