TOP 30 DRIVERS

GO BOWLING at the GLEN:WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

1. KYLE BUSCH #18
2. MARTIN TRUEX #19
3. DENNY HAMLIN #11
4. KURT BUSCH #1
5. ERIK JONES #20
6. BRAD KESELOWSKI #2
7. KEVIN HARVICK #4
8. JOEY LOGANO #22
9. RYAN BLANEY #12
10. CHASE ELLIOTT #9
11. CLINT BOWYER #14
12. DANIEL SUAREZ #41
13. WILLIAM BYRON #24
14. ALEX BOWMAN #88
15. KYLE LARSON #42
16. RYAN NEWMAN #6
17. ARIC ALMIROLA #10
18. MICHAEL MCDOWELL #34
19. PAUL MENARD #21
20. JIMMIE JOHNSON #48
21. CHRIS BUESCHER #37
22. TY DILLON #13
23. RICKY STENHOUSE #17
24. MATT DIBENNEDETTO #95
25. DARRELL WALLACE JR #43
26. AUSTIN DILLON #3
27. DANIEL HEMRIC #8
28.  DAVID RAGAN #38
29. MATT TIFFT #36
30. RYAN PREECE #47

Friday we break down the Top 5 drivers to watch.

TOP TEN TEAMS

TOP 10 TEAMS POST POCANO

1. JOE GIBBS RACING (LW #1)
2. TEAM PENSKE (LW #2)
3. STEWART HAAS RACING (LW #4)
4. CHIP GANASSI RACING (LW #3)
5. HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS (LW #5)
6. ROUSH FENWAY RACING (LW #6)
7. WOOD BROTHERS RACING (LW #7)
8. LEAVINE FAMILY RACING (LW #8)
9. RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING (LW #9)
10. JTG DAUGHERTY RACING (LW #10)

Denny Hamlin gets fifth win at Pocano and his third win of the season and that helps keep Joe Gibbs Racing at the #1 spot again. Team Penske stays in the #2 place. Stewart Haas Racing moves up a place to #3 and that moves Chip Ganassi Racing back a spot to #4. Hendrick Motorsports stay in Top 5 at #5. Roush Fenway Racing, Wood Brothers Racing, Leavine Family Racing, Richard Childress Racing and  JTG Daughtery Racing all hold their positions this again this week.

These are the Top 10 Teams, Thursday look for our Top 30 drivers in advance of the GO BOWLING at the GLEN, from Watkins Glen Int.

TOP TEN DRIVERS BY TRACK TYPE

TOP 10: ROAD COURSE TRACKS

1. MARTIN TRUEX JR #19
2. KYLE BUSCH #18
3. CLINT BOWYER #14
4. DENNY HAMLIN #11
5. KEVIN HARVICK #4
6. CHASE ELLIOTT #9
7. KURT BUSCH #1
8. RYAN BLANEY #12
9. ALEX BOWMAN #88
10. BRAD KESELOWSKI #2

Top 10 Drivers on Road Course tracks, Thursday look for our Top 30 rankings for Sunday’s GO BOWLING at the Glen from Watkins Glen International.

RACE PREVIEW

GO BOWLING AT THE GLEN

WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

AUGUST 4^th, 3:00PM ET on NBCSN TV

ROAD COURSE, 2.45 Miles 11 Turns

STAGES END 20/40/90 LAPS

Twice a year NASCAR makes a detour from the standard oval and gets its swerve on, on a road course. And this year again a hybrid Roval-Road Course oval in Charlotte. No more just turn left and go. Instead of going counter-clockwise like you would on an oval, road courses go clockwise and twist and turn the whole way. Here at Watkins Glen International the drivers have 11 turns on an almost 2.5 mile course in a truly beautiful part of New York State. There are only five races left or 1,788 miles to go before the Playoffs and it is clear a win gets you in. Drivers in the Top 30 of the points’ race might be thinkin’ this is their best shot if they find themselves near the front toward the end of the race. Restarts will be wild and we should see some gambling on tires and fuel. Chevrolet has won four of the last ten races including last years race. But two of the last three have been won by Toyota’s. In the last ten years Toyota has three wins and Ford has three wins. Who has the advantage? We’ll know on Sunday.

Tuesday look for our Top 10 road course drivers and Thursday look for our top 30 drivers ranked in advance of Sunday’s race.

TOP FIVE DRIVERS TO WATCH

WATKINS GLEN

The #5 pick is a driver that finished in the Top 5 here last year, #20 Erik Jones. Erik has just two finishes here, the first was 10^th place and the second was 5^th. He is #5 hottest over the last six weeks and drives a Toyota who have won half of the last six races here.

My #4 driver to watch only has Top 5 finishes here, #41 Daniel Suarez. Daniel of course only has only two starts here. His first visit here two years was a 3^rd place finish and last year he finished 4^th. The big question is his team, his last two starts he was driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. This year he arrives in a Stewart Haas Racing Ford. Will that make a big difference? We won’t know till Sunday but we do know he knows how to get around on this track.

My #3 driver is a former winner here and the hottest driver, #11 Denny Hamlin. Denny has 13 starts one win at the Glen and three Top 5’s.  He is #4 rated for me on road courses and #1 hottest over the last six weeks.  I don’t look for him to cool off here in the Finger Lakes region.

My #2 pick is another former winner and the top road course driver, #19 Martin Truex. Martin has 13 starts here, that win and five Top 5 finishes. He had a big win at Sonoma this year and of course won here in 2017 on his way to the Championship. He has won here and at the other road course Sonoma Raceway. He is our #1 rated road course driver and is #4 hottest driver over the last six weeks.

The #1 driver is a two time former winner, #18 Kyle Busch. In his 14 starts here Kyle has two wins and six Top 5’s. Like Martin Truex Jr. he has won on both road courses. Be on the lookout for Kyle to make some gambles that take him to (or keep him in) the front of the pack. He is #2 hottest over the last six weeks and ranked #2 on road courses. Kyle finished third here last year.

Monday look for my preview of the Consumers Energy 400 from Michigan International Raceway.

TOP 30 DRIVERS

Gander RV 400:POCANO

1. KYLE BUSCH #18
2. KEVIN HARVICK #4
3. BRAD KESELOWSKI #2
4. DENNY HAMLIN #11
5. ERIK JONES #20
6. MARTIN TRUEX #19
7. RYAN BLANEY #12
8. KURT BUSCH #1
9. CHASE ELLIOTT #9
10. WILLIAM BYRON #24
11. DANIEL SUAREZ #41
12. ALEX BOWMAN #88
13. RYAN NEWMAN #6
14. KYLE LARSON #42         
15. CLINT BOWYER #14
16. JOEY LOGANO #22
17. ARIC ALMIROLA #10
18. RICKY STENHOUSE #17
19. AUSTIN DILLON #3
20. JIMMIE JOHNSON #48
21. DANIEL HEMRIC #8
22. CHRIS BUESCHER #37
23. PAUL MENARD #21
24. MICHAEL MCDOWELL #34
25. TY DILLON #13
26. RYAN PREECE #47
27. DAVID RAGAN #38
28. MATT BENNEDETTO #95
29. MATT TIFFT #36
30. DARRELL WALLACE JR. #43

Friday we break down the Top 5 drivers to watch in Sunday’s Gander RV 400.

TOP TEN TEAMS

TOP 10 TEAMS POST NEW HAMPSHIRE

1. JOE GIBBS RACING (LW #1)
2. TEAM PENSKE (LW #2)
3. CHIP GANASSI RACING (LW #3)
4. STEWART HAAS RACING (LW #5)
5. HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS (LW #4)
6. ROUSH FENWAY RACING (LW #6)
7. WOOD BROTHERS RACING (LW #7)
8. LEAVINE FAMILY RACING (LW #10)
9. RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING (LW #8)
10. JTG DAUGHERTY RACING (LW #9)

After much shifting in position last week we find more this week. Again we find Joe Gibbs Racing in the #1 spot. While they did not get the win they did have three drivers in the top six. Team Penske also remain in the same place, they are at #2. Chip Ganassi Racing stay in place they are #3 again. Stewart Haas Racing return to the #4 spot and send Hendrick Motorsports to #5. Roush Fenway Racing hold on at #6. Wood Brothers Racing are at #7 again. Leavine Family Racing make the move of the week and go up two places from #10-#8. after Matt DiBennedetto got his second Top 5 of the year.  Richard Childress Racing get pushed back a place to #9. JTG Daugherty Racing stay in the Top 10 at #10 from the #9 spot.      

These are the Top 10 Teams, Thursday look for our Top30 drivers at Pocano Raceway.

RACE PREVIEW

GANDER RV 400

POCANO RACEWAY

2.5 MILES

BANKING Turn 1 14 degrees, Turn 2, 8 degrees, Turn 3, 6 Degrees

July 28th, 3:00PM ET on NBC-SN TV

Stages end 50/100/160 Laps

Is this a road course, a flat track, or a tri-oval? How about all of the above? Only three turns, yet each one is banked slightly differently. When you attend this race in this spectacular part of the country, it is like watching a road course because you can’t really see every turn on the track. There are only six races left before the Playoffs and win here could cement a driver in the Playoff hunt. There is nowhere better than here for a surprise winner. We have seen 14 different drivers win here in the last ten years. Those 14 drivers come from eight different teams. Two teams though combined have 65% of those wins. Joe Gibbs Racing has the most wins in the last ten years, with seven – three from Kyle Busch, two from Denny Hamlin and one each from now Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth. That has helped Toyota to get five wins in the last eight races. Hendrick Motorsports has six wins in the last ten years, two each from Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and one each from Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne. Jimmie of course is the only driver still on the team and their last win was in this race in 2014. Does Chevrolet or Ford have anything for the Toyota’s? We’ll know on Sunday.

Tuesday look for our top 10 drivers on flat tracks. Thursday we rank the top 30 drivers for Sunday’s race.

TOP FIVE DRIVERS

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

My #5 driver is starting to heat up like July, #42 Kyle Larson. Kyle is 13^th in points but he is #5 hottest over the last six weeks. Here in the Granite State he has nine starts and has four Top 5’s (44%) including two second place finishes in 2017.  He is rated #5 for me on flat tracks.

The #4 pick is the defending champion of this race, #4 Kevin Harvick. Kevin has 35 starts, three wins and 11 Top 5 finishes. He is my #2 ranked flat track driver but he is also #11 hottest over the last six races.

My #3 driver is another three time winner, #11 Denny Hamlin. Denny’s win here in this race in 2017 was his third win here. Denny has 25 starts, three wins, and nine Top 5’s. His team Joe Gibbs Racing has won 42% of the races here in the last ten years and Denny is my #4 ranked flat track driver. 

The #2 pick is winless here, #19 Martin Truex. Martin is winless but he is getting close. He finished in the Top 5 in his last three straight races. Martin has 25 starts here, no wins and six Top 5’s. Keep in mind three of those Top 5’s came in the last three races. Martin has had some rough races lately and is looking to turn his fortunes around here in New Hampshire.     

My #1 pick is my #1 rated flat track driver and by the way yet another three time winner here, #18 Kyle Busch. Kyle has 27 starts, three wins and 11 Top 5’s. Kyle is a very good flat track driver and his latest win in 2017 shows he knows how to get it done.  His team Joe Gibbs Racing, have won the most races so far this season and as I mentioned have won the most here over the last ten years.   

Monday look our preview the Gander Outdoors 400 in Pocano.

TOP 30 DRIVERS

TOP 30 DRIVERS:FOXWOOD’S 301

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

1. KYLE BUSCH #18
2. MARTIN TRUEX #19
3. DENNY HAMLIN #11
4. KEVIN HARVICK #4
5. KYLE LARSON #42
6. BRAD KESELOWSKI #2
7. JOEY LOGANO #22
8. RYAN BLANEY #12
9. KURT BUSCH #1
10. JIMMIE JOHNSON #48
11. CHASE ELLIOTT #9
12. DANIEL SUAREZ #41
13. RYAN NEWMAN #6
14. ALEX BOWMAN #88
15. WILLIAM BYRON #24
16. ARIC ALMIROLA #10
17. ERIK JONES #20
18. CLINT BOWYER #14
19. AUSTIN DILLON #3
20. RICKY STENHOUSE #17
21. PAUL MENARD #21
22. CHRIS BUESCHER #37
23. TY DILLON #13
24. DANIEL HEMRIC #8
25. DARRELL WALLACE #43
26. RYAN PREECE #47
27. MICHAEL MCDOWELL #34
28. MATT DIBENNEDETTO #95
29. MARK TIFFT #36
30. DAVID RAGAN #38

Friday we break down the Top 5 drivers to watch.