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NASCAR tackles The Glen road course Sunday
By: Brian Graham - StatFox
Published: 8/8/2014  at  3:42:00 PM
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

Sunday, August 10 – 1:00 p.m. EDT
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY

The NASCAR circuit moves to upstate New York this Sunday to battle the tricky road course in Watkins Glen, NY for the Cheez-It 355. The 2.45-mile course was completed in 1948 and is comprised of 11 turns. These include the inner loop, outer loop, and the tough-to-navigate boot, which consists of the chute, toe and heel. The surface of the track is both asphalt and concrete. Tony Stewart has five wins in his past 11 races at this track, but due to a broken leg, he missed last year's race, which was won by Kyle Busch.

Odds to Win Race

DriverOdds
Marcos Ambrose4-to-1
Kyle Busch7-to-1
Brad Keselowski7-to-1
Kevin Harvick8-to-1
Clint Bowyer10-to-1
Jeff Gordon10-to-1
A.J. Allmendinger12-to-1
Kurt Busch12-to-1
Jimmie Johnson12-to-1
Joey Logano12-to-1
Tony Stewart12-to-1
Carl Edwards25-to-1
Kasey Kahne25-to-1
Jamie McMurray25-to-1
Dale Earnhardt Jr.50-to-1
Martin Truex Jr.50-to-1
Ryan Newman55-to-1
Denny Hamlin65-to-1
Paul Menard65-to-1
Brian Vickers65-to-1
Matt Kenseth75-to-1
Greg Biffle80-to-1
Kyle Larson80-to-1
Danica Patrick125-to-1
FIELD (Any other driver)200-to-1

Drivers to Watch

Brad Keselowski (7/1) - Although he has yet to win at Watkins Glen, Keselowski has been the runner-up at this event in each of the past three years. Losing to Kyle Busch in 2013 still marked Keselowski's fourth top-10 finish in nine career starts on road courses. He is also catching fire for this season, moving up the standings from 11th to 3rd over the past 10 races thanks to five top-3 finishes (2 wins, 2 runner-ups, 1 third). The 7-to-1 odds aren't great, but Keselowski is our pick to take home the checkered flag on Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson (12/1) - Road courses aren't Johnson's specialty, but top-5 finishes in eight of his 25 road races (32%) isn't too shabby. Four of those strong results have come at Watkins Glen, which includes a 3rd-place showing in 2012. Last year Johnson placed 8th in this race, which was a solid outcome from a mediocre starting position at No. 18. And even with Johnson's horrible luck recently where he's crashed in three of the past four races, he's still sitting in sixth place in the points standings because of seven straight top-10's leading up to the Daytona crash. With rare double-digit odds, place a sizable wager on Johnson for Sunday.

Tony Stewart (12/1) - Stewart loves this venue, cranking out top-7 finishes in 10 of his 14 career starts in upstate New York. This includes five victories (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009) and a pair of runner-ups (2006 and 2008). He hasn't had quite the summer that NASCAR fans are used to, but Stewart has placed 11th or higher in four of his past nine starts. With seven road-course wins to his name, Stewart is worthy of a small wager on Sunday.

Jeff Gordon (10/1) - From 1997 to 2001, Gordon won four of the five races at WGI, but hasn’t fared any better than ninth place in his past 12 starts at The Glen. But the reason he’s on this list is because of the roll he’s been on lately. Gordon has tallied top-8 finishes in eight of his past 11 starts of 2014, which includes victories at both Kansas and Indianapolis. The odds aren’t great for Sunday, but with nine wins and 20 top-5’s in his road course career (43 races), you should drop a unit bet on Gordon to cover yourself.

Matt Kenseth (75/1) - Kenseth is the best longshot pick of the weekend, especially since his odds are much more favorable than the 50-to-1 price he commanded last year. His best finish at The Glen was 8th (2003 and 2012), but his 15.6 average finish over 14 starts in upstate New York isn't too shabby. Kenseth has also been consistently great this entire 2014 season with eight top-5's including 4th-place showings in three of the past five starts. At 75-to-1 on Sunday, Kenseth is worth a look.


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