Once again, the NASCAR Cup drivers are shaking their heads and repeating the refrain of a couple of years ago. “Where did he come from?”
Kevin Harvick is the subject of that question, having won at Michigan and Richmond back-to-back after the longest drought of his Cup career. Can he make it a hat trick this weekend at Watkins Glen? Well, he’s won there before, back in 2006 in a Richard Childress Chevy.
The more likely scenario this weekend, however, is that we will not see the 16th different season winner Sunday afternoon. Road course aces like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, A.J. Allmendinger, and Road America winner Tyler Reddick are going to be hard to beat, although Martin Truex Jr. did post a win at the Glen in 2017. And since he’s in a heated points battle with Ryan Blaney for the final playoff berth, he’ll be motivated.
Blaney extended his margin from 19 to 26 points at Richmond as the regular season winds down. These are the only two drivers currently in contention for the playoffs on points, so one of them will race in the postseason unless there’s a new winner this weekend or next weekend at Daytona.
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But Sunday’s Cup field will have perhaps the most talented crop of road course “ringers” in history. Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen and fellow Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat, sports car racers Mike Rockenfeller and Kyle Tilley, and NASCAR Euro champion Loris Hezemans will join Cup semi-regular Joey Hand in the field.
Raikkonen probably has the best car in the bunch, as he will be driving Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 Chevy. Trackhouse has three wins on the season, two of them on road courses, so they field potent machines.
The Cup cars qualify at 9 a.m. Saturday and the Xfinity Series races at noon, both on the USA Network. Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen Cup race airs at noon, also on USA.
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Also on tap this weekend, the NTT IndyCar series will run its last oval race of the season at Wide World Technology Raceway. It may be seven-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson’s last opportunity for a win in the series. Johnson has struggled on the road and street courses the last two seasons but has been very racy on the ovals. He has no contract after this year, so it’s uncertain whether he will return to the series in 2023.
With just three races to go, there are six drivers with a realistic shot at the 2022 championship. Three of them are Team Penske drivers and three are from the Chip Ganassi Racing stable, demonstrating the domination of those two teams.
Will Power leads with 450 points while Scott Dixon is nipping at his heels, only six points in arrears. This year’s Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson is a further six points back with Josef Newgarden 10 points behind him. 2021 champion Alex Palou is nine points behind Newgarden while Scott McLaughlin is another 25 points back and 52 behind leader Power. But with 53 points possible for the winner/pole sitter/lap leader in each race, all six are in serious contention. The race airs at 3 p.m. Saturday on USA and Peacock.
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Finally, if you ever wanted to own a piece of racing history, here’s your chance. Newman/Haas Racing, once a powerhouse in Indy car racing with multiple wins and championships, is selling 42 of its racecars. Included are cars driven by legendary drivers Mario and Michael Andretti and Nigel Mansell. Sotheby’s will conduct the auction on Oct. 29 so get your bids in early!
