Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

Venue	Watkins Glen International
Sponsor	Kellogg's
First race	1957
Distance	220.5 miles (354.86 km)
Laps	90
Previous names	The Glen 101.2 (1957) The Glen 151.8 (1964–1965) The Budweiser At The Glen (1986–1989) Budweiser At The Glen (1990–1993) The Bud At The Glen (1994–1998) Frontier @ the Glen (1999) Global Crossing @ The Glen (2000–2001) Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen (2002–2005) AMD at the Glen (2006) Centurion Boats at the Glen (2007–2008) Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen (2009–2011) Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen (2012)

The Cheez-It 355 at The Glen^[1] is a 90-lap, 220.5-mile (354.9 km) long NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car race held at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. It is one of two road course races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule, the other being the Toyota/Save Mart 350. NBC has the rights to obtain the final 20 races from the season (6 of 20) from Coke Zero 400 to the Ford EcoBoost 400, this event will be held on NBCSN, ESPN used to carry this event before the departure for TNT and ESPN.

When NASCAR returned in 1986, they utilized the 1971 Six Hours course. In the 1991 race, J. D. McDuffie was killed in a crash in the Outer Loop, at the end of the backstretch. Following that crash, and another serious crash by IMSA driver, Tommy Kendall, the Inner Loop bus stop chicane was added just before the Outer Loop. NASCAR has since utilized this 2.45-mile (3.94 km) "short course," and has never utilized the "Boot" as the Indy Racing League has. Drivers, however, have been pushing for the use of the full course. During a 2011 Mobil Oil "Car Swap" at Watkins Glen using the course, Tony Stewart pushed for using the Grand Prix course after driving demonstration laps in both his Chevrolet Impala and the majority of his laps in a McLaren MP4-23 as part of the event with Lewis Hamilton.^[2]

Past winners

The short course at Watkins Glen International.

• 1987, 2009 & 2011: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
• 1992: Race shortened due to rain.
• 2005 and 2011: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.
• 2010: Montoya's second career win made him the first foreign-born driver to have multiple wins in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.
• 2011: Ambrose's first career win made him the first Australian driver to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Race length notes

• 1957: 44 laps (101.2 miles) of a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) course
• 1964–1965: 66 laps (151.8 miles) of a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) course
• 1986–1991: were run on the 2.428-mile 1971 Six Hours course (90 laps/218.52 miles)
• 1992–Present: the addition of the Inner Loop chicane lengthened the track to 2.45 miles (90 laps/220.5 miles)

Multiple winners (drivers)

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

Television broadcasters

• From 1990 to 1996 Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett were anywhere around the Watkins Glen track Benny was at turn 1 from 1990-1993 and 1996 befour being moved to the broadcasting booth in 1994 and missed the 1995 race due to illness so Dorsey Schroeder took over turn 1 in 1994 and Bill Weber took over turn 1 in 1995. Ned was at turn 5 from 1990-1994 and 1996 befour being moved to the broadcasting booth in 1995 so Dorsey Schroeder took over turn 5 in 1995.

References

1. ↑
2. ↑ Stewart: We should run the long course, Racer Magazine, June 15, 2011.

External links

• NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks
• Ratings/Viewership For Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen Dating Back to 2000