by Larry McReynolds

Comment

With a smaller fuel cell than the teams ran last year, fuel mileage should play a role in the outcome of this race. Teams try to run it backwards, making their last pit stop at the moment you enter your fuel window and know that you can make it to the end of the race. Track position is so important, but if you get a caution just outside that window, it changes the complexion of the race, just as it did at Infineon.

Who to Watch

Robby Gordon: If I had to pick a winner, I'd put my money on Gordon. He had the car to beat at Infineon, and he goes to The Glen with a little more fire in his belly, which can be good and bad. That group just can't beat itself. For example, they didn't have the greatest strategy at Infineon.

Jeff Gordon: Crew chief Steve Letarte was smart at Sonoma, and other teams can learn from his example. If a caution flag flies just outside your fuel window, get four tires. When you get to your fuel window, all you have to do is hit pit road for a few seconds to top off with gas. That's where Robby Gordon's team messed up. If they knew they couldn't make it, they should have gotten tires. That way, you're going to spend a lot less time on pit road under green than if you wait, stay out and put on tires while fueling up later in the race.

Kurt Busch: The No. 2 was the car to beat a year ago, but one little hiccup prevented Busch from completing the first Busch-Cup sweep in track history. They almost got too aggressive trying to make it to pit road before the caution was displayed, and it ended up costing them the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya: Two for two in the NASCAR road-course races that he's run this season, Montoya will probably be a factor in both the Busch and Cup races this weekend.

Jamie McMurray: Next to Robby Gordon, McMurray probably had the best car at Sonoma. He continues to run well on road courses, and his team certainly needs to stop the bleeding if they want to keep alive any hope of making the Chase. Since winning at Daytona, McMurray has finished 38th, 33rd and 40th.

Bowtie Brigade: Three-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart, defending race winner Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. should run well, too.

What to Watch

Keys to winning: The philosophy of racing at Watkins Glen is the same as the philosophy of racing at Infineon. Drivers need to stay on the racetrack and not get off of the asphalt. Run your race and follow your strategy. Then if you don't have a mechanical failure, you can finish in the top 12 pretty easily.

Turning point: The biggest problem that teams faced at Infineon Raceway and will face again at Watkins Glen is a car that won't turn. The Car of Tomorrow magnifies that problem.

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Pit strategy: While teams can run this 90-lap race pretty easily on two stops, they won't get the 33 to 35 laps per fuel run that they used to get with the larger fuel cell.

Aggressive tendencies: It's a fine line at Watkins Glen between underdriving and overdriving your car. But drivers can be more aggressive because The Glen is more forgiving with more grip. Drivers must be really careful that they don't overdrive Turn 1 and the bus stop/chicane on the backstretch. Those are the two biggest places where you've got to walk that tightrope. You can pretty much take whatever your car will give you at other places around the track.

Frantic finish: As the laps wind down, you'll hear over the radio, "8 to 10 laps to go," and all heck will break loose. Drivers will start pile-driving each other and overdriving the race car out in the pea gravel. It never fails.

Performance preview: On NASCAR Performance (following the Knoxville Nationals on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on SPEED), we will touch on shifting and transmissions.

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FOX race analyst Larry McReynolds has more than 25 years of NASCAR experience as a mechanic, crew chief and broadcaster. He and his fellow Crew Chief Club members take you behind the wall at www.crewchiefclub.com.

"How to Become a Winning Crew Chief" is on bookstore shelves, or you may order your own autographed copy from www.DWStore.com.