Michael Annett may not be as well known for his road course racing as his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose, but he’s also not one to be overlooked going into the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International this weekend.
Annett continues his efforts to improve on road courses. Earlier this year, he joined several other Ford drivers at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. Last month, he attended a road course school at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Annett has four starts at the 2.45-mile road course. His average finish is 17.2 and he earned his best finish of 11th at Watkins Glen last year. With 12 road course starts under his belt in the NNS, Annett has shown improvement in his last few road course races. While the finishing positions may not always match the effort, the team is optimistic heading into Watkins Glen.
Comments from the No. 43 Pilot Travel Centers Ford Mustang driver Michael Annett:
“We still have some work to do to master the road courses, but I feel like we have a good shot at a solid finish this weekend. We were running in the top-five at Road America earlier this year and finished 11th at Watkins Glen last year. I’ve also been able to get some practice at two different courses this year. Watkins Glen is a really fast track, a little different than Road America, but we’ve got some good notes to work off of from last year.”
Comments from Crew Chief Philippe Lopez on Watkins Glen:
“Watkins Glen is a really fast road course, and we’ll really have to make sure the car is stable and we don’t use up all of the brakes at the beginning of the race. Fuel Mileage will be a key player this weekend, and our Roush Yates Engines have been the best on the track when it comes to fuel mileage. If we can take care of the car the whole race and work the strategy right, we should get a solid finish this weekend.
“Even though Michael is not known for his road course racing, he has done pretty well on them the last couple of road course races we’ve had. We didn’t get the results at Road America this year because of getting caught up in a wreck on a green-white-checkered finish, but we were running in the top-five before the wreck. We finished 11th at Watkins Glen last year, so it should be a good weekend for our team.”
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