I've always been one to say I didn't care for the road courses, but with the season we've had, I actually can't wait for Watkins Glen.

Both the Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series race at the Glen this weekend, the Nationwide cars in the Zippo 200 at the Glen while the Cup cars race in the... wait for it... Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen.

Watkins Glen raceway has seen more changes than almost any other track, in layout, distance and series that race there.  NASCAR hasn't always had the Glen on the schedule, and the races here haven't always been celebratory.  Most unfortunately was the death of J,D. McDuffie here in 1991.  That same year the then Busch series raced at the track for the first time with "Texas" Terry Labonte the victor.

With the return of NASCAR to the track in 2005, The Glen has gone all out making the race a family affair.  There are a tremendous number of additional features added, a family friendly grandstand with no smoking and alcohol allowed, camping, big screen TV's to view the whole race, and kids zones. 

But what about the racing?

Well, it's mostly right turns and there are 12 of them altogether.  Kyle Bush, Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Gordon are the current drivers who all hold records here, in Nationwide and Cup.  That doesn't guarantee one of them will win the race, with Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya in the field. Tony Stewart is smokin' hot right now, and JPM has figured out these stock cars, and is fast becoming a favorite pick, rather than a dark horse.

Of course, the guys just out of the Chase trying to get in might be the ones to watch, as they do anything and everything in their power to get the points needed to get them in the Chase.  The ones to watch will be Kyle Busch, David Reutimann and Denny Hamlin, among others.

Whoever wins here, it is bound to be a good race, and tempers will likely be a factor.  We'll have a live thread for the Cup race, courtesy of Kramer.

So don't forget to enter the polls, but give us your predictions and dark horse picks here and talk a little trash.  My pick? Same as it's been for the last three weeks, Smoke and JPM.  Either one will be a factor I predict, but keep an eye open for Kasey Kahne as well.  My dark horse is Marcos.  After the disaster last week, he is going to be a factor, I'm sure.