Countdown to the Chase

The Race to the Chase is under way, continuing this weekend at Watkins Glen:

Date	Track	Time	TV
Aug. 10	Watkins Glen	1 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 17	Michigan	1 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 23	Bristol	7 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 31	Fontana	7 p.m.	ESPN
Sept. 6	Richmond	7 p.m.	ABC

All times ET

5 -- Drivers "on the bubble."

• Denny Hamlin -- 10th in points, 35 points ahead of 12th-place Clint Bowyer.

• Kevin Harvick -- 11th in points, eight points ahead of Bowyer.

• Bowyer -- 11 points ahead of outside-looking in Matt Kenseth.

• Kenseth -- 751 points in the past six races, seventh-best in the series despite a 38th-place finish at Indy.

• David Ragan -- Only 46 points behind Bowyer; finished 32nd last year at The Glen.

4 -- Laps J.J. has led at Watkins Glen.

Jimmie Johnson finished third at The Glen in 2007, which is par for the course. In odd-numbered years his finishes: fourth, fifth and third.

In even-numbered years, his finishes: 16th, 40th and 17th.

3 -- Most consecutive races won by a driver at Watkins Glen.

Mark Martin dominated The Glen from 1993-95, and Jeff Gordon held the reigns from 1997-99. Tony Stewart has won three of the past four -- and four of the past six -- races at Watkins Glen.

Stewart and Gordon share the record with four wins at the track.

2 -- Races at Watkins Glen won from the outside pole.

Oddly, both were Pontiacs: Rusty Wallace (1987) and Kyle Petty (1992).

Two others races at The Glen were won by Pontiac -- Wallace in 1989 and Tony Stewart in 2002 -- and GM is on a streak of 11 consecutive wins at the track.

1 -- Races at Watkins Glen that has averaged more than 100 mph.

Mark Martin's average speed in 1995 was 103.030 mph, tops among the 25 Cup Series races held at The Glen. Wally Dallenbach finished second, matching his career-best finish (also at Watkins Glen in 1993).

There were only three cautions for seven laps that day, tied for the fewest cautions (1992) at the track in the modern era.