NASCAR hits the road for to second and final road course event of the season.

With just a handful of races remaining until the start of the Chase, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to up-state New York for the twists and turns of Watkins Glen International on Sunday.

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Any mention of favorites for the Centurion Boats at the Glen would have to include Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, as they have combined to win 15 of the series’ last 22 road course events, including four each here in New York. Stewart is the defending champion of this event.

A quick check of the odds reveals that linesmakers aren’t buying into the theory that the road ringers have a chance. Of those drivers listed at better than 10-1 odds at Sportsbook.com, all are full-time drivers.

Stewart and Jeff Gordon lead the way at 9-2, while Kyle Busch and Juan Montoya are next at 8-1. What that means is there is significant value on some other strong road course drivers.

For instance, Kevin Harvick, who boasts a win and 12.0 average finish here, is 15-1. Robby Gordon, with seven Top 5’s in nine previous Glen starts, is 10-1. The top ringers, Fellows and Said, are listed at 25-1 and 30-1 respectively.

Two others to keep and eye on are Denny Hamlin (15-1), the series leader in average finish here at 6.0, and David Gilliland, the runner up at Infineon, who is listed at an eye catching 100-1 odds to win on Sunday.

Carl Edwards picked up the win last week at Pocono, his fourth of the season, to climb up to 3rd place in the series standings, 185-points behind Kyle Busch. Second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continues to quietly stay in contention, just 176-points back.

The best race though seems to be sticking between positions 7-14 in the standings, where eight drivers have grouped themselves within 126 points of one another. Of that crowded field, only six will qualify for the Chase, so the pressure is clearly on.

Greg Biffle has to be the most concerned driver among them heading into Sunday’s event, since his average finish of 30.5 at Watkins Glen in five prior starts is easily the worst of any contending driver. He would have to be on this week’s “avoid list”, alongside Kurt Busch (23.0 avg. fin., zero Top 5’s) and Brian Vickers (23.8 avg.).

This week’s qualifying is scheduled for 3:10 PM ET Friday. A recent statistical study by StatFox has revealed that the combination of qualifying and practice speeds has proven more critical at Watkins Glen than at any other track in terms of finishing in the Top 10.

In fact, of the previous 25 races here, 14 winners have started in the Top 3. Furthermore, the average starting position of the winner is 5.6 and no one outside of the top 18 spots has ever won a Cup race at Watkins Glen. Stewart started 5th in 2007.

The green flag for the race drops at 2:15 PM ET on Sunday.

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