Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Venue	Watkins Glen International
Location	Watkins Glen, New York, United States
Corporate sponsor	Cheez-It
First race	1957
Distance	220.5 miles (354.9 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), (2016-present) 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) Cheez-It 355 at the Glen (2013-2015)
Most wins (driver)	Tony Stewart (5)
Most wins (team)	Hendrick Motorsports Joe Gibbs Racing (6)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Chevrolet (17)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.454 mi (3.949 km)
Turns	8

The Cheez-It 355 at The Glen is a 90-lap, 220.5-mile (354.9 km) annual NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car race held at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, on the 2.45-mile (3.94 km) road course.^[1] It is one of two road course races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule, the other being the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

History

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]

ESPN at one time broadcast the race. NBC had the rights to broadcast the 2015 edition, which was aired on NBCSN.

In 2015, more than 95,000 people watched the race.^[3]

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race distance		Race time	Average speed (mph)	Report
					Laps	Miles (km)
1957	August 4	Buck Baker	Buck Baker	Chevrolet	44	101.2 (162.865)	1:13:06	83.064	Report
1958 – 1963	Not held
1964	July 19	Billy Wade	Bud Moore Engineering	Mercury	66	151.8 (244.298)	1:32:57	97.988	Report
1965	July 18	Marvin Panch	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	66	151.8 (244.298)	1:32:46	98.182	Report
1966 – 1985	Not held
1986	August 10	Tim Richmond	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	90	218.52 (351.673)	2:12:56	90.463	Report
1987	August 10*	Rusty Wallace	Blue Max Racing	Pontiac	90	218.52 (351.673)	2:24:36	90.682	Report
1988	August 14	Ricky Rudd	King Racing	Buick	90	218.52 (351.673)	2:56:58	74.096	Report
1989	August 13	Rusty Wallace	Blue Max Racing	Pontiac	90	218.52 (351.673)	2:26:55	87.242	Report
1990	August 12	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	90	218.52 (351.673)	2:21:49	92.452	Report
1991	August 11	Ernie Irvan	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	90	218.52 (351.673)	2:12:28	98.977	Report
1992	August 9	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	51*	125.154 (201.415)	1:27:21	88.980	Report
1993	August 8	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:36:04	84.771	Report
1994	August 14	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:21:07	93.752	Report
1995	August 13	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:11:54	103.030	Report
1996	August 11	Geoffrey Bodine	Geoff Bodine Racing	Ford	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:23:17	92.334	Report
1997	August 10	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:24:55	91.294	Report
1998	August 9	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:20:03	94.466	Report
1999	August 15	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:30:49	87.722	Report
2000	August 13	Steve Park	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:24:51	91.336	Report
2001	August 12	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:28:31	89.081	Report
2002	August 11	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Pontiac	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:40:56	82.208	Report
2003	August 10	Robby Gordon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:26:17	90.441	Report
2004	August 15	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:23:25	92.249	Report
2005	August 14	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	92*	225.4 (362.746)	2:35:48	86.804	Report
2006	August 13	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:52:27	76.718	Report
2007	August 12	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:50:38	77.535	Report
2008	August 10	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:16:11	97.148	Report
2009	August 10*	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:26:31	90.297	Report
2010	August 8	Juan Pablo Montoya*	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:23:52	91.960	Report
2011	August 15*	Marcos Ambrose*	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	92*	225.4 (362.746)	2:16:02	99.417	Report
2012	August 12	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:14:48	98.145	Report
2013	August 11	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:32:04	87.001	Report
2014	August 10	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:26:48	90.123	Report
2015	August 9	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	90	220.5 (354.86)	2:24:43	91.42	Report

• 1987, 2009, & 2011: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
• 1992: Race shortened due to rain.
• 2005 & 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: 90 laps (218.52 miles) of a 2.428-mile (3.907 km) course
• 1992–present: 90 laps (220.5 miles) of a 2.45-mile (3.94 km) course with the addition of the Inner Loop chicane

Multiple winners (drivers)

# of wins	Driver	Years won
5	Tony Stewart	2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009
4	Jeff Gordon	1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
3	Mark Martin	1993, 1994, 1995
2	Rusty Wallace	1987, 1989
	Ricky Rudd	1988, 1990
	Marcos Ambrose	2011, 2012
	Kyle Busch	2008, 2013

Multiple winners (teams)

# of wins	Team	Years won
6	Hendrick Motorsports	1986, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
	Joe Gibbs Racing	2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013
3	Roush Racing	1993, 1994, 1995
2	Blue Max Racing	1987, 1989
	Richard Childress Racing	2003, 2006
	Richard Petty Motorsports	2011, 2012

Manufacturer wins

# of wins	Manufacturer	Years won
17	Chevrolet	1957, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014
8	Ford	1965, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2011, 2012, 2015
4	Pontiac	1987, 1989, 1992, 2002
2	Toyota	2008, 2013
1	Mercury	1964
	Buick	1988

Race summaries

• 1986: The true inaugural running of this race, resulted in Geoff Bodine leading the most laps. Tim Richmond won the race after Bodine made too long of a pit stop with less than 10 laps to go.
• 1991: Ernie Irvan won the race but the race was overshadowed by the death of NASCAR pioneer J. D. McDuffie during a crash on lap 5.
• 1995: Wally Dallenbach Jr. appeared to have had the win wrapped up, but a caution with 9 laps to go resulted in him being passed by former teammate Mark Martin on a final restart.
• 1999: Jeff Gordon started on pole, led the most laps and held off Ron Fellows for the win.
• 2000: After Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart tangled early, Jeff Gordon's hopes to win a consecutive Watkins Glen race ended. Steve Park won his first Cup series race.
• 2001: Jeff Gordon got redemption from his 2000 heartbreak by winning the race. Road expert Robby Gordon led the most laps and had the winning car but a pit road fire ended his hopes for his first Cup series victory.
• 2002: A week after nearly being fired by his team for an incident in the Brickyard 400, Tony Stewart led the most laps alongside Robby Gordon and won the race. The race ended in controversy because it was discovered that Stewart had jumped the final restart.
• 2004: A very sick Tony Stewart gutted through a sinus infection, food poisoning and stomach pains, and held off Ron Fellows to win the race.
• 2007: Jeff Gordon led the most laps, but spun out with 2 laps to go, handing the win to Stewart.
• 2009: Tony Stewart won his record 5th Watkins Glen race.
• 2010: Juan Pablo Montoya ended a 113 race winless streak and won in dominating fashion, beating Marcos Ambrose for the win, thus making him the first foreign-born driver to win multiple NASCAR Sprint Cup races.
• 2011: Marcos Ambrose's first career Cup series victory.
• 2012: Oil dropped on the track by Bobby Labonte led to a dramatic finish after the caution was not called. Leader Kyle Busch lost control and spun off the bumper of Brad Keselowski in the Esses on the final lap, leaving Keselowski and Ambrose to battle both each other and the adverse track conditions, banging off of and passing each other several times during the lap. Ambrose won the race after Keselowski got loose in the oil off turn eleven and backed out of the throttle.
• 2014: A. J. Allmendinger won his first Sprint Cup victory, after a lengthy marathon that included two red flags for track repair caused by serious accidents: the first for a severe accident in which Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell crashed in the exit to turn 5, which saw McDowell's rear wheel housing break off and puncture a hole in the Armco barriers, and a second one caused by Denny Hamlin crashing into the gravel barrels at the entrance to pit road.
• 2015: An accordion wreck happened on the front stretch, fluid was on the track, which led to a nine-minute three second red flag to facilitate cleanup on the track, A.J. Allmendinger's car lost power, and came to a stop past turn 10. Joey Logano took advantage of fuel problems for Kevin Harvick and won his first Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen and second of the season.

Television broadcasters

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
1986	ESPN	Bob Jenkins	Rick Mears
1987			Larry Nuber
1988			Ned Jarrett
1989			Benny Parsons Ned Jarrett
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994			Benny Parsons Dorsey Schroeder Ned Jarrett
1995			Ned Jarrett Bill Weber Dorsey Schroeder
1996			Benny Parsons Ned Jarrett
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons Wally Dallenbach
2002
2003
2004	TNT
2005	NBC	Bill Weber
2006
2007	ESPN	Jerry Punch	Rusty Wallace Andy Petree
2008			Dale Jarrett Andy Petree
2009
2010		Marty Reid
2011		Allen Bestwick
2012
2013
2014
2015	NBCSN	Rick Allen	Jeff Burton Steve Letarte
2016	USA

• From 1990 to 1996 Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett were anywhere around the Watkins Glen track. Parsons was at turn 1 from 1990 to 1993 and 1996 before 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. Jarrett was at turn 5 from 1990 to 1994 and 1996 before being moved to the broadcasting booth in 1995, so Schroeder took over turn 5 in 1995. Also, in 1999, Parsons didn't go to the race track due to eye problems, but acted as a color commentator from his home in North Carolina via calling in by telephone.
• In order to limit conflicts with NBC due to their Olympic coverage, the 2016 Watkins Glen race was put on USA Network.

References

1. "Uncommonly calm race at The Glen could shape 16-driver Chase field". Fox Sports, Tom Jensen Aug 9, 2015
2. Stewart: We should run the long course, Racer Magazine, June 15, 2011.
3. "Record crowd flocked to Cheez-It 355 at The Glen". Star-Gazette, Ron Levanduski, August 11, 2015

External links

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