WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson's first hope is he and teammate Jeff Gordon make it cleanly through the first turn today at Watkins Glen International.
It did not work out that way last year in the Sirius at the Glen, when Gordon was spun out by Greg Biffle at the start of the race.
"We may joke with each other about it," Johnson said, referring to Gordon. "With the respect we have for one another and our desire to finish the race, I don't think there will be an issue."
They start on the front row as a result of the cancellation of qualifying because of rain. The field was set on the basis of car-owner points.
Johnson holds a 97-point lead over Gordon in the Nextel Cup standings, so both have something to protect in the second of NASCAR's two annual road-course races. Johnson is seeking his first career victory on a serpentine layout while Gordon will try to extend to five his record for wins on this 2.45-mile track and his overall mark of nine on road courses.
It is difficult to downplay the importance of safely negotiating the first turn, a sharp right-hander at the end of a long, downhill straightaway. A miscalculation in position or braking can put a driver in the runoff trap.
"We'll try to leave each other a little room especially in the opening laps," Johnson said. "I definitely need to make it past the first corner before I race too hard."
Gordon expects no problems with Johnson and said the inside does not have to be the preferred line through the turn.
Despite the front-row starting positions, both must be aware of attempts by second-row starters Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 2002 Glen winner Tony Stewart to maintain their straightaway speeds longer, dive to the inside, brake later and steal the lead on the turn.
Stewart also wants a clean start, but said drivers cannot afford to wait long here.
"You really have to get the majority of your work done in the first two laps before everybody's brakes get hot and you get brake fade," Stewart said.
After Biffle spun out Gordon last year, the four-time series champion fell to the rear of the field. He spent the race working his way back to contention but ran out of gas on the final lap, was hit first by Earnhardt, then clobbered by Kevin Harvick and wound up facing the wrong way against the fence just 200 feet from the finish.
All this helped make a winner of Robby Gordon, who probably would have started near the front today had qualifying been conducted. Robby was the fastest driver in practice Saturday, getting around the 11-turn circuit at 123.095 mph. Jeff was second at 122.643.
TRUCKS: Bobby Hamilton used a high pass to get around David Starr with eight laps left and claimed his fourth race of the season at Nashville Superspeedway. Hamilton, the series point leader, won the Toyota Tundra 200 by 0.795 seconds, about 3 truck lengths. He ran a conservative pace in his Dodge much of the 150-lap, 200-mile event and averaged 124.068 mph.
Hamilton, who started 15th, was fifth or higher from Lap 40. He had Starr's Chevrolet in his sights when the race restarted after the fifth caution and pulled outside Starr entering the first turn. After the pair ran side by side down the backstretch, Hamilton was able to brake later than Starr entering the third turn, then pulled away. Ted Musgrave, pole-sitter Bobby Hamilton Jr., the winner's son, and Steve Park completed the top five, all driving Dodges.
CHAMP CAR: After setting a track record in the opening qualifying round, Sebastien Bourdais set his sights on another mark for the second: the one-minute mark. Mission accomplished.
Bourdais broke the track record three times, securing the pole for today's Grand Prix of Denver in 59.942 seconds (99.516 mph) on the 1.65-mile course. On Friday there were seven track records, the final coming on Bourdais's last lap of 1 minute, 0.413 seconds.
Bourdais quickly got things rolling Saturday after Gaston Mazzacane's crash into a wall caused a delay, breaking the record with a 1:00.35 lap on his sixth go-round. He didn't take long to lower it, dropping .049 his next lap. To make sure he got his fifth pole of the season, Bourdais eclipsed the record again two laps later, becoming the first driver in the three-year history of the Denver race to finish with a subminute lap.
IRL: Buddy Rice won his fifth pole of the season at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, moving within one of the series record. Rice's qualifying speed of 216.016 mph left the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion one short of Billy Boat's six poles, set in 1998. Greg Ray (2000) and Scott Dixon (2003) have five poles in a season, but Rice has five races left to tie or break the record. Rice is tied for the IRL lead in victories at three with Tony Kanaan, who joins Rice on the front row for today's Belterra Casino Indy 300.
FORMULA ONE: Michael Schumacher won the pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest with teammate Rubens Barrichello beside him, the fourth time this season Ferrari will start from both front-row spots. Schumacher captured his seventh pole of the year and is going for his 12th victory in 13 races. If he wins today, the German becomes the first F1 driver with 12 victories in a season.
