Watkins Glen Finger Lakes 355 Top Tier Elite Deadline Analysis

Tony Stewart

What I said about him earlier this week:

Watkins Glen has been Tony Stewart’s own personal playground. In thirteen races he has five wins and has only finished lower than 11th twice. Last season he had his worst finish. He crossed the finish line in 27th but it can be chalked up to him being to aggressive on the last lap. Before he crashed he was running in the top ten (7th place average running position). In the other race he finished outside the top 11 he was involved in an early wreck with Jeff Gordon. Between 2009 and 2004 Tony Stewart won four times and never finished worse than second. This year at Sonoma Tony Stewart started in 24th and drove up to a second place finish.  Stewart’s even better at this road course so look for him to win the Finger Lakes 355.

Starting Position:

7th

Average Practice Speed Rankings

11th (Average Speed Chart)

Chassis Selection:

Tony Stewart is driving his Sonoma chassis that finished 2nd in June.

Pit Stall Location:

Tony Stewart is pitting in pit box #2. Jeff Gordon is pitting behind him and Juan Pablo Montoya is pitting in front of him. I like this pit stall selection because it’s so late on pit road. It allows them time to call audibles on pit stops.

What to expect / Areas of concern:

Tony Stewart is still my favorite to win but Ambrose is a close second. Stewart ran a lot of laps in practice and I think his car is good over long runs. This five time winner will be tough to beat in the Finger Lakes 355.

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Marcos Ambrose

What I said about him earlier this week:

Marcos Ambrose is the defending champion at Watkins Glen. Last year he started 3rd, led 21 laps, and earned the 2nd best driver rating (132.2). Ambrose has been very successful at Watkins Glen. In four races his worst finish is 3rd and his average finish is 2.3. Picking Ambrose is the smart thing to do this weekend. The only possible concern about Ambrose is how he performed at Infineon. At that serpentine track he started on the pole but dropped like a rock after the first 10 laps. At the end he rebounded for an 8th place finish but it wasn’t pretty.

Starting Position:

5th

Average Practice Speed Rankings

1st (Average Speed Chart)

Chassis Selection:

Ambrose will be piloting his Sonoma chassis at Watkins Glen (finished 8th)

Pit Stall Location:

Ambrose will be pitting in pit box #31. David Gilliland is pitting behind him and Travis Kvapil is pitting in front of him.

What to expect / Areas of concern:

The defending winner will be good but I do have a concern. He didn’t run that many laps in practice compared to his competition. The same was true at Sonoma and in that race he wasn’t good over long runs.