Watkins Glen feels like home for Fellows
By Tony Bolick
Friday, August 10, 2007
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MARK SLUDER / NASCAR SCENE /
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When the green flag falls over the field for the Zippo 200 Busch Series race Saturday at Watkins Glen, there will be only one repeat winner in the field.
It's not a Busch regular or a full-time Cup driver pulling double-duty.
It's Ron Fellows, who will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc., just as he did last week in Montreal and has the past two years in Busch road races.
"We've had some pretty decent success there, and a lot of it is it's similar to a track that I learned how to race on," said Fellows, 47, a native of Toronto, referring to the 2.5-mile Mosport Speedway in nearby Bowmanville. "It was built in about the same era as Watkins Glen."
Fellows has five career wins at 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International, more than any other NASCAR driver. He has three Busch wins and two Craftsman Truck Series wins. He is winless in nine Cup races with second-place finishes in 1999 and 2004. Fellows is the only CTS driver to repeat at Watkins Glen, and only Terry Labonte (four) has more Busch Series wins. Gordon has four Cup wins.
Fellows has been all or nothing at Watkins Glen. He has nine top fives and a ninth, in last year's Busch Series race, in 20 NASCAR starts. In the other 10 races, his best finish is 25th. Eight of those are 32nd or worse.
"I think that's pretty much how it's done," Fellows said. "The top few places or something goes wrong."
Still, he is a favorite. And running back-to-back weekends on a road course can only help. He finished fourth last week on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
"I don't see why anything would be different from last weekend in Montreal," he said. "We were fastest in two or three of the practice sessions ... and I think at worst, we had second place covered at Montreal until, essentially, all hell broke loose (at the end)."
Fellow isn't the only road racing specialist entered in Saturday's race. Andy Pilgrim will drive the JR Motorsports No. 88, Jorge Goeters is in the Brewco No. 27 and Patrick Carpentier, who posted a thrilling runner-up finish in his hometown last week, is back in the Fitz Motorsports No. 22.
But for Fellows, this is a home game.
"It's a leisurely four-hour drive from the house. We've got some friends there," he said. "It's a hectic schedule, running both Busch and Cup, but I wouldn't want it any other way. I fully hope to be in contention for both wins."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Kevin Harvick
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