Start spreading the news. I’m leaving today. I want to be a part of it. New York, New York.” Like the familiar refrain made famous by Frank Sinatra, Jimmie Johnson would sure like to be a part of something in New York this weekend – victory lane. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits its second and final road course of the season at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International this weekend.
Johnson has never won at the 2.45-mile, 11-turn road course. It is one of five of the 23 tracks that the Sprint Cup Series visits where Johnson has yet to win. Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway and Kentucky Speedway in Sparta are the others.
He does have six-top 10 finishes in 11 starts at the track in the sport’s top series. He also has competed there in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, when he famously went off course in 2000, as well as with the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series for Bob Stallings Racing in 2010.
While his numbers are respectable at the facility – he even earned the pole position in 2009 – he’d certainly “like to wake in that city” to find he’s “king of the hill, top of the heap,” like the song says. To do that, however, he’ll need to be ahead of 42 other competitors Sunday coming off the final turn at the New York State track, where anything can happen and usually does.
TSC PR
- NASCAR Nation rolls into the Monster Mile’s campgrounds as Dover Motor Speedway prepares to host America’s best drivers for the April 26-28 tripleheader weekend - April 25, 2024
- Sheldon Creed / No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra Preview – BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway - April 25, 2024
- TEAM CHEVY NASCAR RACE ADVANCE: Dover Motor Speedway - April 25, 2024