Fingers Crossed at the Glen

The cars are on the track for Happy Hour at Watkins Glen...and there's some good news!

The good news is, it isn't raining. Watkins Glen, more than some other tracks, absolutely is miserable in the rain.

Martin Truex Jr. is leading the way, and the favorite, Tony Stewart, spun earlier in the morning session. That's not good news for Smoke Nation.

If you've never seen the way these guys try to get the cars to behave on the almost-all-right-turn layout, you've got to stand in the Esses and watch. Take a look at the photo that accompanies this blog. You'll see the left front wheel OFF THE GROUND!

That's right, off the ground. Of course, it's Harvick, and that is sort of how he rolls...I digress.

That tells you how hard they have to twist these things to get them to go where they're pointed. They do it at other places on the track too, but the Esses are where it happens almost every lap.

Open-wheel drivers who have raced non-winged cars know this kind of three-wheeling thing pretty well. If you've ever seen a midget racing indoors, you're familiar with it too. That's due to the power being on and the car trying to rotate through not two axes but three. It's physics, which makes my eyes glaze over, but it's cool nonetheless.

Just checked the practice leaderboard and, lo and behold, last week's winner is in the top five. Brad Keselowski, driving with a still fractured ankle, is on the wheel. Shaking my head...

Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook this weekend for more coverage, Have a good one, and pray the rain holds off in the Southern Tier!