Backstretch Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 4, 2008) – At what point does Kyle Busch start worrying?

The battle for potential Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup bonus points got tighter this past weekend, with Carl Edwards picking up another 10 bonus points for his win at Pocono – pushing his total to 30.

Busch, with 70 bonus points, still has a 40-point lead – but his comfort zone is quickly shrinking.

He has now finished outside the top 10 in back-to-back races, something he’s done only three times this season.

Plus, the competition is catching up – especially in the form of Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson finished third at Pocono, giving him his third top-three finish in the past three races.

Edwards has finished in the top two in three of the last four races, and the top 10 in 10 of the last 12.

But there’s still plenty of good news for Busch.

For one, he returns to a road course, a track type at which he has won twice this season (Mexico City in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Infineon Raceway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series). If Busch wins this weekend at Watkins Glen in either the NASCAR Nationwide Series or NASCAR Sprint Cup, he’ll be the first driver in NASCAR history to win three road-course races in one season.

Also, Busch is strong over the next five tracks. Actually, since 2005, he’s stronger than both Edwards and Johnson at the remaining five tracks in the Race to the Chase. At those tracks (Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, California and Richmond), Busch has an average Driver Rating of 98.9.

Edwards has a 95.0 and Johnson a 96.4.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12 at Watkins Glen International

Driver Races Poles Wins Top Fives Top 10s DNFs Average Finish Driver Rating
1 Kyle Busch 3 0 0 0 2 0 16.3 84.9
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr 8 0 0 2 3 2 20.6 79.7
3 Carl Edwards 3 0 0 1 2 0 10.7 85.6
4 Jimmie Johnson 6 0 0 3 3 1 14.2 104.5
5 Jeff Burton 14 0 0 2 3 3 21.36 74.0
6 Jeff Gordon 15 2 4 6 8 2 12.4 108.2
7 Kasey Kahne 4 0 0 0 0 0 19.8 64.4
8 Greg Biffle 5 0 0 0 1 1 30.2 59.2
9 Tony Stewart 9 0 4 5 7 0 6.1 137.9
10 Denny Hamlin 2 0 0 1 2 0 6.0 112.1
11 Kevin Harvick 7 0 1 2 4 0 12.0 96.2
12 Clint Bowyer 2 0 0 0 0 0 15.0 79.2

Selected Driver Highlights
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Watkins Glen International. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last three races at Watkins Glen. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)
• One top 10
• Average finish of 23.0
• Average Running Position of 17.1, 14th-best
• Driver Rating of 98.6, seventh-best
• 27 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 118.242 mph, seventh-fastest
• 161 (59.2%) Laps in the Top 15, sixth-best
• 67 Quality Passes, fifth-most

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford)
• One top five, two top 10s
• Average finish of 10.7 in three races
• Average Running Position of 15.2, ninth-best
• Driver Rating of 85.6, 10th-best
• 157 (57.7%) Laps in the Top 15, eighth-most
• 56 Quality Passes, ninth-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Four wins, six top fives, eight top 10s; two poles
• Average finish of 12.4
• Average Running Position of 9.6, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 108.2, third-best
• 15 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 118.590 mph, third-fastest
• 196 (72.1%) Laps in the Top 15, tied for fourth-most
• 59 Quality Passes, seventh-most

Robby Gordon (No. 7 Jim Beam Dodge)
• One win, seven top fives
• Average finish of 8.8
• Average Running Position of 11.9, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 106.3, fourth-best
• Six Fastest Laps Run, tied for sixth-most
• 158 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 118.459 mph, fourth-fastest
• 196 (72.1%) Laps in the Top 15, tied for fourth-most
• Series-high 83 Quality Passes

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota)
• One top five, two top 10s
• Average finish of 6.0 in two races
• Average Running Position of 7.8, second-best
• Driver Rating of 112.1, second-best
• Seven Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 118.596 mph, second-fastest
• 87.8% (158 total) Laps in the Top 15, second-best percentage
• 52 Quality Passes (average of 26.0 per race), second-best average

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet)
• One win, two top fives, four top 10s
• Average finish of 12.0
• Average Running Position of 12.7, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 96.2, eighth-best
• Five Fastest Laps Run, tied for eighth-most
• 202 (74.3%) Laps in the Top 15, third-most
• 50 Quality Passes, 11th-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)
• Three top fives
• Average finish of 14.2
• Average Running Position of 7.9, third-best
• Driver Rating of 104.5, fifth-best
• Average Green Flag Speed of 118.326 mph, sixth-fastest
• 237 (87.1%) Laps in the Top 15, second-most

Jamie McMurray (No. 26 Crown Royal Ford)
• One top five
• 17.0 average finish
• Average Running Position of 15.3, 10th-best
• Driver Rating of 90.1, ninth-best
• 151 (55.5%) Laps in the Top 15, tied for ninth-most

Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota)
• Four wins, five top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 6.1
• Series-best Average Running Position of 3.3
• Series-best Driver Rating of 137.9
• Series-high 76 Fastest Laps Run
• Series-fastest Average Green Flag Speed of 119.360 mph
• Series-high 264 (97.1%) Laps in the Top 15
• 73 Quality Passes, fifth-most

At Watkins Glen International:

History
• After several events were held on the streets of Watkins Glen, a permanent 2.3-mile facility was opened in 1956.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at The Glen was in 1957, won by Buck Baker.
• After a six-year absence, NASCAR returned to The Glen in 1964 and 1965.
• After a 21-year absence, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returned to The Glen, and has run one race a year there since 1986.
• The NASCAR Nationwide Series held its first race at The Glen in 1991.
• The first combination weekend at Watkins Glen International for NASCAR’s national series was a NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in 1998.

Track Milestones
• There have been 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International since the first race there in 1957.
• Buck Baker won the first pole and race (1957).
• Tim Richmond won the first pole and race upon the series’ return in 1987.
• There have been 14 different pole winners. Qualifying has been canceled five times.
• The race winner has started first in eight of 25 races. Mark Martin leads all other drivers with wins from the pole with three in a row between 1993 and 1995.
• 16 of the 25 race winners have started from a top-five starting position.
• 18 of 25 races at Watkins Glen have been won from a top-10 starting position.
• The deepest in the field that a Watkins Glen race winner has started was 18th by Steve Park in 2001.
• 15 different drivers have won races, led by Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, with four each.
• Jeff Gordon set the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup record for road-course victories with his victory in 2001, his seventh on a road course.
• There have been two caution-free races at Watkins Glen, both coming in the first three races there (1957 and 1965).
• There has been one race extended by a green-white-checkered finish: 2005 (92 Laps).
• Two active drivers have had a runner-up finish as their best at Watkins Glen: Ryan Newman and Ron Fellows. Fellows has finished second there twice (1999 and 2004), his career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup finishes.

Hot Fact

Scott Pruett has an average finish of 5.8 in five races at Watkins Glen, the best of any driver with more than two starts there. Tony Stewart is second among drivers with more than two Watkins Glen races, with an average finish of 6.1 in nine appearances. Mark Martin has an average finish of 6.9 in 19 races – the third-best of drivers with more than two starts there.

NASCAR in New York
• There have been 63 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in New York:
• 176 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as New York.
• There have been 13 race winners from New York in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver NSCS NNS NCTS
Geoffrey Bodine 18 6 0
Jim Reed 7 0 0
Al Keller 2 0 0
Steve Park 2 3 1
Brett Bodine 1 5 0
Jim Hurtubise 1 0 0
Lloyd Moore 1 0 0
Bill Rexford 1 0 0
Greg Sacks 1 1 0
Jack White 1 0 0
Todd Bodine 0 15 11
Mike McLaughlin 0 6 0
Danny Lia 0 0 1

Watkins Glen International Data

Race #: 22 of 36 (8-10-08)
Track Size: 2.45 miles
Race Length: 90 laps/220.5 miles

Driver Rating at Watkins Glen
Tony Stewart 137.9
Denny Hamlin 112.1
Jeff Gordon 108.2
Robby Gordon 106.3
Jimmie Johnson 104.5
Scott Pruett 98.7
Kurt Busch 98.6
Kevin Harvick 96.2
Jamie McMurray 90.1
Carl Edwards 85.6
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (3 total) at Watkins Glen.

Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: None (inclement weather)
2007 race winner: Tony Stewart, 77.535 mph, 8-12-07)
Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon (124.580 mph, 70.798 seconds, 8-8-03)
Track race record: Mark Martin (103.300 mph, 8-13-95)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 30-32 laps, based on fuel mileage.