Watkins Glen By The Number
Aug 09, 2012
Track Specifications:
a 2.45-mile paved road course.
90 laps, 220.5 miles (355 k)
It has 11 turns with a variety of banking in turns ranging from 6 degrees to 10 degrees.
The length of the frontstretch is 2,141 feet and the length of the backstretch is 1,839 feet.
Watkins Glen International has hosted the race since 1986.
Grandstand seating capacity: approx 41,000
Opened: 1956
- 2011 Race Winner: #9-Marcos Ambrose, 99.417, started 3rd
- Race Record: Mark Martin, 103.900mph, 8/13/1995
- Slowest Race Record: Kyle Petty, 50.879mph, August 1992
- Youngest Winner: Kyle Busch (08/10/2008 - 23 years, 3 months, 8 days)
- Oldest Winner: Geoffrey Bodine (08/11/1996 - 47 years, 3 months, 24 days)
- 2011 Pole Sitter: #18-Kyle Busch, 126.421, finished 3rd
- Track Qualifying Record: Kyle Busch, August 2011, 126.421mph
- Worst Starting Spot to Win: Steve Park, August 2000, started 18th
- Youngest Pole Winner: Jeff Gordon (08/09/1998 - 27 years, 0 months, 5 days)
- Oldest Pole Winner: Morgan Shepherd (08/13/1989 - 47 years, 10 months, 1 days)
- At Watkins Glen International...
• After several events were held on the streets of Watkins Glen, a permanent facility was opened in 1956.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was in 1957, won by Buck Baker.
• After a six-year absence, NASCAR returned to The Glen in 1964 and 1965.
• After a 21-year absence, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returned to The Glen, and has run one race a year there since 1986. This weekend's race will be the 27th running since its return in 1986.
• There have been 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International since the first race there in 1957.
• Buck Baker won the first pole and race.
• Tim Richmond won the first pole and race upon the series' return in 1986.
• There have been 17 different pole winners.
• The race winner has started first in nine of 29 races. The last race winner to start from the pole was Kyle Busch in 2008.
• Mark Martin leads all drivers with wins from the pole with three in a row between 1993, 1994 and 1995.
• 19 of the 29 races at Watkins Glen have been won from a top-five starting position.
• 21 of the 29 races at Watkins Glen have been won from a top-10 starting position.
• The deepest in the field that a Watkins Glen race winner has started was 18th by Steve Park in 2000.
• 18 different drivers have won races, led by Tony Stewart, with five.
• Jeff Gordon set the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup record for road-course victories with his victory in 2001, his seventh on a road course. He has since won two more (both at Sonoma), for a career total of nine.
• Three active drivers with more than one start have an average finish in the top 10: Marcos Ambrose (2.2 in four starts), Tony Stewart (7.0 in 13 starts), Carl Edwards (8.7 in seven starts), and Kyle Busch (9.2 in seven starts).
• Two drivers have scored their first career NSCS wins at Watkins Glen International: Marcos Ambrose (08/15/2011) and Steve Park (08/13/2000).
• Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Watkins Glen International winner: Kyle Busch (08/10/2008 - 23 years, 3 months, 8 days).
• Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Watkins Glen International winner: Geoff Bodine (08/11/1996 - 47 years, 3 months, 24 days).(NASCAR)(8-7-2012)
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