2016 Cheez-It 355 at the Glen Race Weekend Discussion

[ShadowKnight508]

With the Camping World Truck Series off until their big race under the lights at Bristol in three weeks, the stars of the NASCAR Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series make the trip North to the twists and turns of the lightning-fast Watkins Glen International for what should be two action-packed races on the brand-new asphalt surface. Will one of the drivers with good road racing techniques dominate the day or will strategy once again play into the finish of a race? The following information is credit to Jayski, MRN, and NBC Sports:

Race Weekend Schedule & TV Listings (All Posted Times Local To Track):
Thursday, August 4th
9:30 AM NXS HAULERS ENTER
1:00 PM-2:25 PM 2016 Zippo 200 Opening Practice (No TV Coverage)
3:30 PM-4:55 PM 2016 Zippo 200 Second Practice (No TV Coverage)
6:30 PM NSCS HAULERS ENTER

Friday, August 5th
10:00 AM-10:55 AM 2016 Zippo 200 Happy Hour (NBCSN)
12:30 - 1:55 PM 2016 Cheez-It 355 Opening Practice (NBCSN)
3:00 - 4:25 PM 2016 Cheez-It 355 Happy Hour (NBCSN)
4:45 PM 2016 Zippo 200 Coors Light Pole Qualifying (NBCSN)

Saturday, August 6th
12:15 PM 2016 Cheez-It 355 Coors Light Pole Qualifying (CNBC)
1:30 PM 2016 Zippo 200 Driver Introductions
2:00 PM 2016 Zippo 200 at the Glen (200.9 Miles, 82 Laps) (CNBC/NBSCN Live Extra)

Sunday, August 7th
8:30 AM NSCS GARAGE OPENS
12:30 PM NSCS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING
2:00 PM 2016 Cheez-It 355 Driver Introductions
2:30 PM 2016 Cheez-It 355 at the Glen (220.5 Miles, 90 Laps) (USA Network)

Entry Lists
2016 Zippo 200 at the Glen (40 Drivers):
http://www.jayski.com/news/nxs/2015/story/_/page/20-Watkins-Glen-NXS-2016-Entry-List

2016 Cheez-It 355 at the Glen (40 Drivers):
http://www.jayski.com/news/stats/2016/story/_/page/22-Watkins-Glen-2016-Entry-List

Full Race Replays/Highlights
2015 Zippo 200 at the Glen

2015 Cheez-It 355 at the Glen

 

[nj9703]

Can it please rain again?

 

[sadlerfan21]

Can it please rain again?

This time it won't be delayed, they would race in it which would be awesome!

 

[KahneRacing945]

Time to play: "Which Cup Series driver wins at Watkins Glen this year in Xfinity"

 

[ShadowKnight508]

Time to play: "Which Cup Series driver wins at Watkins Glen this year in Xfinity"

I'll take Kyle Busch winning the #18 NXS team's 10th race of the year for $800, Alex...

 

[sadlerfan21]

Time to play: "Which Cup Series driver wins at Watkins Glen this year in Xfinity"

I would like to buy a Brad Keselowski.

 

[labontefanboy]

Watkins Glen is another track with a good chance of a surprise winner. A.J. Allmendinger's had this circle on his calendar since last August, and the CGR guys are typically solid road course racers and will be doing all they can to clinch a spot, especially with the bubble shrinking pending Buescher's top 30 entrance.

 

[ahspencer01]

They should have a road course ringer like Ambrose or someone fill in for Junior, just to mess with the fans lol

 

[Spike]

They should have a road course ringer like Ambrose or someone fill in for Junior, just to mess with the fans lol

haha I was thinking the same thing the other day. Ambrose would most likely win in the 88, look how good he was in subpar RPM equipment on the road courses.

 

[SUPEREEVEEMASTER]

I don't think it will rain looking at the forecast but that could change quickly and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing racing in the rain. Jeff Gordon will likely be behind the wheel of the 88 again. I don't think Rick Hendrick is going to take the risk of finding a road course specialist that might be lucky to get a top 15 finish.

 

[nj9703]

Jeff Gordon will likely be behind the wheel of the 88 again. I don't think Rick Hendrick is going to take the risk of finding a road course specialist that might be lucky to get a top 15 finish.

It's not that Rick doesn't want to find a road course specialist, it's that the sponsors want Jeff.

 

[KahneRacing945]

If Gordon races this weekend, hopefully this is his last week. He can stop racing after his 800th start.

 

[ShadowKnight508]

Dale Earnhardt Jr - Concussion symptoms stemmed from Michigan; ‘This is scary for me’ (Credit to NBC Sports):

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said his doctors believe his concussion-like symptoms started with his June 12 crash at Michigan International Speedway, though the effects unnervingly weren’t obvious for weeks.

“Obviously with my history of concussions, knowing the event I had in Michigan, that wreck right there is where they believe I picked up this issue,” Earnhardt said Monday night during an episode entitled “Concussion Discussion” on his weekly Dale Jr. Download podcast. “I didn’t feel anything that next week. The off week, I went to Germany (on vacation), went to Sonoma, ran good, felt awesome.

“It was strange these symptoms came out of nowhere. But we started doing a lot of digging, and they seem to feel confident this occurred in Michigan.”

Earnhardt underwent myriad tests to rule out other possible afflictions such as Lyme disease and an inner-ear problem.

He said his symptoms – vision and balance problems – and their gradual development make it impossible to put a timeline on his recovery.

“I’ve never had a concussion that came on weeks after the event,” said Earnhardt, who has missed the past three Sprint Cup races. “Most of them you feel it immediately, and then they get better over time, whether it’s 72 hours or a month. This has been the opposite.

“This is scary for me because of the way it’s been different. I’m having balance issues. I’ve never had balance issues before. The eye issues with the stability, I’ve never had that before.

“It started very slowly, gradually and continued to progress until it stopped and stayed where it is. I don’t know what that tells me about how long this process is going to be. I felt I had a good understanding of concussions in the past, but this is certainly a new one. They all have different symptoms and they all do react differently to treatment and they all have their own time and the length of the recovery is different for everyone.”

Hendrick Motorsports and Earnhardt haven’t announced if he will return this weekend at Watkins Glen International. An update from Hendrick is expected Tuesday or Wednesday.

Earnhardt said his vision problem, known as “gaze stability,” typically responds well to treatment, and he has been doing daily physical exercises at home.

“Those are the ones I like to do the most because I want my eyes to get better as soon as I can,” Earnhardt said. “That’s the part annoying me the most, so I work hard on the visual exercises.”

Earnhardt believes the gaze stability, which prevents him from fixing on a moving object at a distance while moving his head, is the main problem and is causing his issues with balance.

“I think as one cleans up and improves, so will the other,” he said.

Much of the prescription for healing has been more about environment than exercises.

Earnhardt said doctors have encouraged him to spend time in busy locations with noise and movement, forcing exposure to situations that cause the symptoms. It’s the antithesis of his treatment for the 2012 concussion that sidelined him for two races. Doctors then advised Earnhardt to rest at home and avoid stimulus, such as time on his computer and iPad.

During his recovery this time, Earnhardt has spent time at JR Motorsports, gone to the grocery store with his fiancée, Amy, and had lunch with his family in a crowded restaurant.

The goal is to increase anxiety, which has triggered Earnhardt’s symptoms.

“When I first got checked out and was walking into hospital lobbies and halls, that drives the symptoms pretty heavily,” he said. “After an hour or two, your brain calms down and regroups and gets a hold of the situation. Anywhere you go with a lobby and a lot of movement and chatter and things happening. You’re in motion, you’re observing a lot of different things. That really drives the symptoms up. So my doctor wants me to expose myself to that. … Don’t shy away from doing these things because you think it’s going to make you feel bad.

“Go there and if it makes you feel bad, that’s fine. Just don’t make yourself sick. Once you’ve had your fill of exposing yourself to heavy symptoms, get in a calm place you’re comfortable and get back to feeling great. Keep doing that. Expose yourself and recover, throughout the day. You’re basically re-acclimating yourself to things that are driving your brain crazy.”

Earnhardt said he has gotten impatient since the onset of the symptoms from the Michigan crash (video above), which also involved AJ Allmendinger and Chris Buescher (who won Monday at Pocono Raceway). The lack of improvement has been frustrating.

“You go to bed each night hoping each morning, you’re going to be able to tell a difference,” he said. “That drives you absolutely crazy.

“In the past you can feel this improvement and know you’re heading in the right direction.”

On difficult days, Earnhardt said he reaches out to his doctor to say, “tell me you can fix this. I need to hear that again today. He knows me well enough to know all I need is a little positive reinforcement.”

He said it was impatience that caused him to send a tweet Saturday that his symptoms had plateaued (instead of waiting to update fans on the Monday podcast).

“There’s days you feel positive,” he said. “There’s days you’re frustrated. That certainly comes and goes with the process.

“But I’m very impatient, and I want change now. I want improvement now. So I’m constantly texting my doctor, telling him everything I experience every day, going, ‘What can I do to get better tomorrow?’ He’s like, ‘Look, you’ve got to realize this might be a process.’ ”

The 13-time most popular driver said he has been transparent about his recovery because “it drives me crazy wondering what people are wondering,” and he has spent time at his No. 88 Chevrolet’s shop in part to reassure team members that he is “functional” and explain why he isn’t racing.

“It worries me that people don’t know what I’m dealing with and I want them to know why I can’t drive,” he said.

Earnhardt, 41, has a contract with Hendrick that runs through next season. He intends to race beyond that, but “I’ll worry about that when I’m well.

“I’ll talk to my doctors and say, ‘What do I have left as far as the racing?’ My doctors are confident they can make me stronger than I was before this event,” he said. “I want to race more.”

SOURCE: http://nascar.nbcsports.com/2016/08...s-stemmed-from-michigan-this-is-scary-for-me/

 

[nj9703]

I've been saying he'll retire after next season, but having read that article and knowing him, I can see him in the car until at least 2020.

 

[ShadowKnight508]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Out For Two More Races, Jeff Gordon Will Continue To Substitute In The #88 (Credit to Fox Sports):

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss two more NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races beginning this weekend, as once again Jeff Gordon will substitute for him behind the wheel of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Earnhardt is continuing to recover from concussion-like symptoms and Gordon will drive the No. 88 at Watkins Glen International in the Cheez-It 355 on Sunday, as well as the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The road race at the Glen will mark Gordon's 800th career NASCAR Premier Series start. This will be Gordon's third weekend in the No. 88. Alex Bowman replaced Earnhardt for the first race he missed at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last month.

There is no timetable for Earnhardt's return. NASCAR's most popular driver Tweeted over the weekend that his concussion symptoms had plateaued. In his weekly Dale Jr. Download podcast on Monday, Earnhardt talked about his health. "There's days when you're feeling positive and then there's days when you're frustrated and that certainly comes and goes with the process," Earnhardt said Monday. "There hasn't been a lot of change over the last couple of weeks. As I said in the Tweet, the symptoms have kind of plateaued. "There are days I feel like the balance is better and then there's certainly moments when it's not," said Earnhardt. "I'm sleeping a whole lot more, maybe a lot harder than I did before, which is to be expected. My doctors don't want me sleeping too much, which is commonly what you hear."

Earnhardt said balance and vision continue to be issues.

"The main issue that I have is called gaze stability," Earnhardt said. "That's the main problem. And that is what I believe is tied to the balance. The gaze issue and the problem with my eyes being able to fix on an object at a great distance and stay there with head movement, that's the problem. When I move my head, I sort of lose the object that I'm trying to target. That is hand-in-hand with the balance. As one cleans up and improves, so will the other."

SOURCE: http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/sto...kins-glen-bristol-hendrick-motorsports-080216

 

[KahneRacing945]

Dear Mr. Hendrick,

You have other people that can fill in.

Sincerely,
Me

 

[Matthew124]

Dear Mr. Hendrick,

You have other people that can fill in.

Sincerely,
Me

Dear Mr. Hendrick,

I'm not too busy.

Love,
Alex Bowman

 

[SUPEREEVEEMASTER]

Is it a missed opportunity to have Jeff Gordon continue filling-in for Dale Jr when you could put in a younger, up and coming driver. Yes. But I think that if Rick Hendrick and the sponsors (like some of people in this community have said) want Jeff Gordon and if the 4-time champion is willing to still race, than we are going to see Jeff Gordon until Dale Jr comes back.

 

[Thunder98]

Dear Mr. Hendrick,

You have other people that can fill in.

Sincerely,
Me

Dear Mr. Hendrick,

I'm not too busy.

Love,
Alex Bowman

Dear fans,

Sponsors want Gordon, I'll give them Gordon.

Best Wishes,
Rick Hendrick

 

[Matthew124]

Naw, I get why Jeff is in the #88. I just like Alex Bowman. LOL.