Five drivers get first look at repaved Watkins Glen – Nascar

RELATED: See The Glen before and after the repave

Five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers and their teams will be the first to roll out onto Watkins Glen International following the track’s off-season repaving project this week when they participate in a Goodyear tire test scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
 
2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports), Trevor Bayne (Roush Fenway Racing), Carl Edwards (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Joey Logano (Team Penske) are scheduled to take part in the test.
 
WGI is one of only two road courses hosting Sprint Cup Series events. Sonoma Raceway will host the Toyota/Save Mart 350 June 24-26 while the WGI event, the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, is scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 5-7.
 
The entire 3.4-mile layout at WGI has been repaved, although NASCAR events are contested on the shorter 2.45-mile portion of the track, avoiding the area of the layout known as “the boot.”
 
It is the first complete repave of the facility since 1989 and cost approximately $12 million.
 
In addition to the resurfacing of the race track, workers also poured new concrete on pit road, completed electrical work, installed concrete rumble strips in the turns and finished grading and grassing along the track’s perimeter.
 
According to weather reports for the Watkins Glen area, temperatures are expected to be in the high 60s to low 70s Tuesday and Wednesday with a zero percent chance of precipitation.
 
Logano is the defending race winner for the Cheez-It 355.

WGI is also scheduled to host an organization test for Sprint Cup Series teams July 26-27. Under NASCAR’s Unified Testing policy, only one team per organization is allowed to participate in those tests.

Other organizational tests are scheduled this year for Kentucky Speedway (June 13-14), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 12-13), Chicagoland Speedway (Aug. 23-24) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 18-19).