Monticello — Have the days of the road course specialist in NASCAR come and gone?
During each of the two yearly NASCAR road course races, several teams enlist the services of so-called "road course racers." But just how effective are these drivers? In recent years no "specialist" has won a NASCAR event. Each year, NASCAR regulars fare much better than the outside hired guns.
Jeff Gordon leads the list of NASCAR's all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup winners on road courses with nine victories‹four at Watkins Glen International and five at Infineon Raceway.
Tony Stewart is tied with four other drivers‹all oval track aces‹at second with six triumphs. Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Ricky Rudd and Rusty Wallace also have five road- course triumphs.
In the 1960's, Formula One driver Dan Gurney had five victories at the old Riverside (California) track, but the last Cup non-regular to win in the series was Mark Donohue, also at Riverside in 1973.
In recent years, many drivers with road-racing roots have turned their attention to full-time NASCAR racing with good results.
Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Speed raced in Formula One. Robby Gordon and AJ Allmendinger were winners in Champ Car, while Max Papis (No. 13 GEICO
Toyota) was a Grand-Am Rolex Series champion.
Veteran road racers Boris Said, Ron Fellows, Max Papis, and Patrick Carpentier were among the hired guns that qualified for Sunday's ToyotaSaveMart 350.
Carpentier's 11th-place finish was the best at Infineon of the four drivers.
Weekend Racing: The Cup and Nationwide teams will be at the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Speedway, while the Camping World Trucks travel to the .75-mile Memphis Motorsports Park.
Sat., June 27, Nationwide Series World RV Rental 200, race 16 of 35; Starting time: 2:30 p.m. (EDT); TV: ESPN2.
Sat., June 27, Camping World Series O'Reilly 200, race 11 of 25; Starting time: 5:30 p.m.; TV: Speed Channel.
Sun., June 28 Sprint Cup Lenox Industrial Tools 300, race 17 of 36; Starting time: 12:30 p.m. (EDT); TV: TNT.
Racing Trivia Question: Who is the driver of the Sprint Cup No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet?
Last Week's Question: Where is Joey Logano's home town? Answer: He currently lives in North Carolina, but was born in Middletown, Connecticut
You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.