Track facts for Watkins Glen International:

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• Number of previous races: 29.
• First Sprint Cup race: August 4, 1957, won by Buck Baker.
• Last Sprint Cup race: August 15, 2011, won by Marcos Ambrose.
• Won from pole: 9, last time by Kyle Busch in 2008.
• Won from top-5 starting position: 19 times in 29 races (65%).
• Won from top-10 starting position: 21 times (72%).
• Won from 21st or worse starting position: 0 times (0%).
• Worst starting spot for race winner: 18th, by Steve Park in 2000.
• Most laps led: 83, by Tony Stewart in 2005.
• Fewest laps led by a race winner: 4, by Ricky Rudd in 1988.

• Track records:

  • Fastest race: 103.030 mph by Mark Martin in 1995.
  • Fastest qualifying speed: 126.421 mph by Kyle Busch in 2011.
  • Most lead changes: 14 in 1991, 2006 and 2011.
  • Closest finish: Jeff Gordon's .172 second margin over Jeff Burton in 2001.
  • Most caution flags: 10 in 2006.

• From 2007-2011 a typical Watkins Glen race had 10.6 lead changes, 5.4 cautions for 13.8 laps, and an average green-flag run of 12.0 laps.

Manufacturers / Owners:

• Victories by manufacturer: Chevrolet 16, Ford 6, Pontiac 4, Buick 1, Mercury 1, Toyota 1.

• Victories by owner: Rick Hendrick 6, Joe Gibbs 5, Jack Roush 3, Raymond Beadle 2, Richard Childress 2, all others 11.

Driver Notes:

• The most Watkins Glen races without a:

  	Active Drivers	All-Time
  Win:	Terry Labonte, Michael Waltrip (22 races)
  Top 5:	Joe Nemechek (17)	Sterling Marlin (19)
  Top 10:	Dave Blaney (10)	Derrike Cope (12)
  Pole:	Michael Waltrip (22)
  Lap led:	Elliott Sadler (12)	Brett Bodine (14)
  Lead-lap finish:	Brian Simo (2)	J.D. McDuffie (6)

  
  
  
• Top career marks at Watkins Glen:

	Active Drivers	All-Time
Races:	T. Labonte, M. Martin, M. Waltrip (22)
Wins:	Tony Stewart (5)
Top 5s:	Mark Martin (12)
Top 10s:	Mark Martin (16)
Poles:	Mark Martin (3)	Dale Earnhardt (3)
Laps:	Mark Martin (1,941)
Laps led:	Jeff Gordon (233)
Lead-lap finishes:	Mark Martin (21)




• Best average finish among active drivers at Watkins Glen (3 or more starts):

  1. Marcos Ambrose (2.2)
  2. Tony Stewart (7.1)
  3. Carl Edwards (8.7)
  4. A.J. Allmendinger (9.0)
  5. Mark Martin (9.0)
  6. Kyle Busch (9.3)
  7. Juan Pablo Montoya (11.4)
  8. Kevin Harvick (12.9)
  9. Robby Gordon (14.2)
  10. Jimmie Johnson (14.2)

  
  

• Worst average finish among active drivers at Watkins Glen (3 or more starts):

  1. Michael McDowell (36.0)
  2. Travis Kvapil (35.3)
  3. Scott Speed (34.7)
  4. David Gilliland (33.2)
  5. Dave Blaney (32.2)
  6. Regan Smith (31.3)
  7. J.J. Yeley (31.0)
  8. David Ragan (27.8)
  9. Scott Riggs (27.8)
  10. David Reutimann (27.5)

  
  

  Current top-10 drivers at Watkins Glen:

  Driver	Races	Win	T5	T10	Pole	Laps	Led	AvSt	AvFn	Rating
  Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	12	0	2	3	0	991	46	17.6	22.2	73.6
  Matt Kenseth	12	0	0	3	0	1083	1	19.0	15.6	75.5
  Greg Biffle	9	0	1	2	0	771	23	14.8	25.8	73.7
  Jimmie Johnson	10	0	3	5	1	837	11	6.5	14.2	100.7
  Martin Truex, Jr.	6	0	2	3	0	542	0	20.3	14.3	87.1
  Tony Stewart	13	5	7	10	0	1174	225	6.2	7.1	124.8
  Brad Keselowski	2	0	1	1	0	182	2	22.0	11.0	88.1
  Denny Hamlin	6	0	1	4	0	495	0	13.5	17.2	93.5
  Kevin Harvick	11	1	2	6	0	966	29	12.7	12.9	89.2
  Clint Bowyer	6	0	0	1	0	541	1	21.3	17.5	77.1

  Driver Rating is based on a formula developed by NASCAR which combines "loop data" elements such as average running position, average speed under green, number of fastest laps, etc. There is a maximum of 150 points that a driver can earn for each race. Driver Rating is not available for races prior to 2005.

  Other notable Driver Ratings at Watkins Glen: Marcos Ambrose (118.0), Juan Pablo Montoya (112.6), Kyle Busch (106.8), Carl Edwards (93.5), A.J. Allmendinger (92.4), Jeff Gordon (90.1), Jamie McMurray (82.7).