Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota) has yet to crack the win column this season, but statistics alone make him an overwhelming favorite for Sunday’s Centurion Boats at the Glen.
The two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion leads five important categories of pre-race Loop Data stats for the event — the annual road-course event at Watkins Glen International.
As the defending race champion, Stewart’s pursuing not only a second consecutive win at the upstate New York track, but his fourth in the last five series races there.
Lastly, he and four-time series champion Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) — NASCAR’s all-time leader with nine road-course wins — have combined to win 15 of the last 22 series events at road courses. That includes eight of the last 11 at Watkins Glen.
Stewart, who’s ninth in the series standings, has two top-five finishes in his last three races, the latest a runner-up finish last Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
As for pre-race Loop Data for Watkins Glen, he leads Driver Rating (137.9), Average Running Position (3.3), Fastest Laps Run (76), Laps in the Top 15 (264) and Average Green Flag Speed (119.360 mph). He has four wins, five top fives and seven top 10s in nine career starts there.
(NASCAR Media)
