The second and final road course race on the Winston Cup schedule, the 90 lap Sirius at the Glen, rolled to a start on the winding Watkins Glen track with the potential of becoming a NASCAR first. The weather forecast called for rain, and NASCAR was prepared, with rain tires stacked in the garages for what would have been the first competitive laps in Winston Cup history to run in the rain. The bad weather held off, though, until after the checkered flag fell, leaving NASCAR to wait for another season to try road course racing in bad weather.
Jeff Gordon's track record qualifying effort won him the pole position and the choice of whether to start on the left, as the pole sitter does on an oval track, or on the right in preparation for the track's first turn. Gordon started on the right, with rookie Greg Biffle joining him on the front row. Despite a poor history on road courses, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 6th. Points leader Matt Kenseth qualified just a split second slower, to start in the 7th spot.
Jeff Gordon's bad luck started early, when Greg Biffle bumped him going into turn 1 and sent him spinning off the track. He recovered, and retook the track just as Kyle Petty hit the barrier in the interloop, bringing out the first caution on lap 1. Gordon head down pit road for fresh tires, joined by Sterling Marlin, who pulled into the garage with engine troubles, and Kyle Petty, who headed into the garage to repair his battered car.
Greg Biffle led the field to the restart, pursued by a fast approaching Dale Earnhardt Jr. Green flag pit stops began on lap 20, but a fire in Kevin Harvick's pit brought out the caution and closed pit road on lap 22. Scott Pruett, a road course specialist, led the lap 25 restart, and opened up a lead of almost 2 seconds over 10 laps of green flag racing before Christian Fittipaldi spun, brining out another caution. Pruett, along with several other drivers, pitted under the caution, leaving Jeff Burton in the lead.
Jeff Burton led the field to the restart, but didn't hold the lead for long. Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed him to take the top spot on lap 43, as Tony Raines crashes behind the leaders to bring out another caution. Earnhardt continued to lead through the restart and to the next caution, for Rusty Wallace's spin off the track and into the mud. Under the caution, most of the field, including Earnhardt, made their final pit stops of the day. Several teams stayed out, knowing they were not within their fuel window to make it to the finish, and they took the top spots, led by Bobby Labonte.
The remaining teams began green flag stops on lap 60, when Labonte headed down pit road, leaving Ricky Rudd in the lead. Jamie McMurray too over the lead when Rudd made his stop, and when McMurray stopped for service, Robby Gordon inherited the lead. Gordon opened up a comfortable lead over his teammate Kevin Harvick before the caution brought the field together once more behind the pace car. On the restart, Gordon held off Harvick, Scott Pruett, and a charging Jeff Gordon, who had come from the back of the field after his early spin all the way to the 3rd spot with what appeared to be the strongest car on the track. His bad luck continued on the final lap, however, when he ran out of gas as the white flag waved, only to get hit from behind and spun out again by Kevin Harvick. With no fuel left, he couldn't get the car restarted to rejoin the race, and finished 33rd despite running 3rd with only 500 yards to the finish line. Robby Gordon held on to the lead to become only the second driver to sweep both road course races in a season. The first was Jeff Gordon, in the 1999 season.
Unofficial Results
- Robby Gordon
- Scott Pruett
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kevin Harvick
- Ward Burton
- Dale Jarrett
- Matt Kenseth
- Ryan Newman
- Mark Martin
Unofficial Standings
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -258
- Jeff Gordon -396
- Jimmie Johnson -478
- Kevin Harvick -516
- Michael Waltrip -517
- Bobby Labonte -526
- Kurt Busch -598
- Ryan Newman -658
- Robby Gordon -667
