Moving right along. We’ve made it half way through ‘The Race to The Chase” and there’s nothing like a wild card to throw into the points mix. The Sprint Cup series gear up for the final of the 2 road course races on the current cup schedule – Watkins Glen International.

(Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. combined led all but 5 laps of last year’s Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International.

We’ll hear the term “road course ringer” a lot over the course of the weekend. Teams will put drivers known to be good on road course tracks in their cars to sub for their full-time driver just for these specific races. Only one really doesn’t have to look outside the Sprint Cup Series Garage to find a road course ace or two.

Both, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon lead all drivers with 4 wins each at the Glen.

Current points leader Tony Stewart has won 3 times there in the past 5 races and has finished 1st or 2nd in those past 5 races.

“It’s horsepower and aerodynamics just like it is anywhere else we go,” Stewart said. “It just happens to be in the form of a road course. Sonoma has a lot less grip in the racetrack. You have to really be careful with the throttle there, and that puts more of the race in the driver’s hands. If anything, Sonoma is probably more technical than Watkins Glen because there’s hardly any time where you get a chance to rest. You’re always either shifting or accelerating or braking or turning or doing something. At Watkins Glen, at least on the frontstretch and on the backstretch, there are three straightaways where you get a little bit of time to take a break. Watkins Glen seems to be more in the crew’s hands and the engine builder’s hands. Obviously, there’s still a job that I need to do in the race car, but I’m relying on the equipment and the crew a lot more at Watkins Glen.”

Stewart was runner-up in the race last year at the Glen.

Jeff Gordon won three consecutive races there from ’97-’99 and the next in ’01, but since he has only posted one top-10 finish which was a 9th place finish in ’07.

“We tested at Road Atlanta, which is a better track for Watkins Glen, and we’re certainly hoping that pays off for us at Watkins Glen”, Gordon said. “The keys for success there is that it’s a fast road course and you’ve got to get up through the ‘esses’ (S turns) really well. You’ve got to get through the carousel good and you’ve got to get into all the braking zones good. It’s the same concept it’s always been. For me, it’s if I get out in front, don’t wheel-hop getting into turn 1 and spin out with two or three laps to go. So that’s what I’m going to be working on. Fuel mileage is also real important on those road courses. But it’s a little bit different approach at Watkins Glen than at Sonoma. Sonoma is such a finesse track that you can give up a lot of power there and still maintain a pretty decent pace to get your fuel mileage, where at Watkins Glen you can’t. You’ve got to run hard. You’ve got long straightaways. You’ve got to have the power. So it makes it a lot trickier to get good fuel mileage”.

Gordon finished 29th in last year’s race at the Glen. If momentum plays a factor, Gordon is coming off of an 8th place finish Monday at Pocono Raceway.

Kyle Busch is the defending race winner. He dominated the race leading 52 of the 90 laps. He swept both road course races last year in the series.

“Track position was very important last year,” Busch said. “Hopefully we can have a good qualifying lap and have some good track position from the start.”

Busch wasn’t able to continue the streak as he finished 22nd at Infineon back in June.

Two other full-time Cup series drivers that are also known for their road course skill: Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya. Both have won road course events in the Nationwide Series. Ambrose won the Nationwide Series race last year at the Glen and then turned around to finish 3rd the next day in the Sprint Cup Series race. Montoya won in the Nationwide Series in Mexico City and posted his first Sprint Cup Series victory at Infineon.

Believe it or not a “road course ringer” hasn’t won a Sprint Cup Series event since 1973 and ever since Mark Donohue won the race year in California at Riverside International Raceway.

To look at the ‘big picture’ of points racing, points leader Tony Stewart can clinch his berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship if he has a 781-point lead over the driver in 13th place after Sunday’s race. Kyle Busch is currently sitting in 13th in the standings, 726 points out of 1st.

The Nationwide Series will also race at Watkins Glen International this weekend for their 1st of 2 road course appearances.Later this month, the series will once again make their annual return to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. As previously mentioned, Marcos Ambrose won last year.15 drivers will pull ‘double duty’ this weekend with Nationwide Series points leader Kyle Busch, series runner-up Carl Edwards, Marcos Ambrose, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, David Ragan, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Robby Gordon, Paul Menard, Joe Nemechek, Dave Blaney and Scott Speed.