NASCAR Sprint Cup at Watkins Glen: Juan Pablo Montoya and 10 Contenders To Win

It's that time of year again—the time when half the fans cuss the race schedule and the other half cheer that we are at the second road course of the year.

While road courses challenge even the best drivers, there are 11 drivers that stick out in our minds to win the race. Sure, we have ringers entered, but who are the top 11 that I think have a chance to win the race? Let's take a look.

No. 11: Greg Biffle

Greg Biffle has had mixed results at Watkins Glen, with a fifth in 2009 and a 24th in 2010, but he also has a seventh at Infineon, which is why I've included him here.

While I was looking at other guys for this last spot, I kept coming back to Biffle, who has seven Top 10 finishes this season. A win probably won't put him in a Top 10 chase spot (he's 44 points out), but it does give him a good shot at the Wild Card if he can get ahead of Denny Hamlin, who is the highest driver with a win outside of the Top 10 (11th).

I have a feeling that Roush will have good equipment under Biffle for this race. And with an eventful race last weekend, Biffle's crew should be fired up to make this a good one.

No. 10: A.J. Allmendinger

A.J. Allmendinger seems to like the road course set up in NASCAR; he has two Top Sevens (including a fourth at the Glen) and hasn't finished worse than 13th on any Cup road course since 2009.

Allmendinger is definitely an underdog, but like Marcos Ambrose, I think his Cup win may come at Watkins Glen this year. He is definitely consistent on road courses, he just has to hope that translates to success this weekend.

No. 9: Kasey Kahne

Kasey Kahne is better at Infineon than Watkins Glen, but like Johnson, I felt I had to include him. Even though Kahne won Infineon in 2009, he only has a pair of 17th-place finishes at the Glen since 2009.

You may be wondering why I put him on here and I can't really give you a concrete answer other than that I feel he is a sleeper in this race. He's worked well at Infineon and I am thinking that he can successfully translate that form over to Watkins Glen this weekend.

No. 8: Jimmie Johnson

This is one of the very few tracks Jimmie Johnson has not won at, although he did get an Infineon win in 2010.

But while Johnson hasn't pulled off a win here, he did finish 12th here in 2009. He also has a fourth and a seventh at Infineon since 2009 (and obviously his win).

In an extremely rare move for him, Johnson is also running the Nationwide race here for JR Motorsports. Johnson wants to knock this track off his list of no wins. And with more experience on the track this weekend, it's kind of scary to think what he might do.

No. 7: Carl Edwards

Surprisingly, just like his rival Jimmie Johnson, our current points leader hasn't won at this track yet (he finished fifth in the picture).

But unlike Johnson, Carl Edwards has a nice little resume here. In 2010 he finished fifth and in 2009 he finished third. He also scored a third-place finish at Infineon this year.

Edwards is tied for wins with Johnson and probably wants to put a bit more of a buffer between him and the reigning champion, so he'd be killing two birds with one stone if he won here this weekend.

No. 6: Jeff Gordon

A four-time winner at this track (granted, the last one came in 2001), Jeff Gordon definitely knows how to get around it.

While Gordon hasn't won at this track in 10 years (he did win at Infineon where he was a five-time winner in 2006), he has consistently been in the Top 10 at road course tracks over the last few years.

He has two wins so far this season and he may just tie two other drivers in the Top 10 with three wins this weekend.

No. 5: Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch won Infineon in June, but like others on this list, he has never won a race at the Glen.

However, he has three Top 10s at the road courses since 2009, including his win last time. He'll be pulling double duty in the Nationwide race here as well, so expect him to be even more of a contender with more laps logged on the track.

No. 4: Kyle Busch

While Kyle Busch doesn't have the stellar record of some of the others on here, he has won at both road courses. Little Busch has finished in the Top 10 two times on the courses since 2009 (five races in all) and also has an 11th under his belt.

He's moving up in points—and he may be moving up in wins after Sunday.

No. 3: Tony Stewart

While the final two in this show are exceptional road racers, Tony Stewart has dominated Watkins Glen over the last few years. The driver has five wins here since 2002 and two wins at Infineon since 2001.

When he's not winning, he's still in the Top 10 (and even the Top Five), with his only lower finish following his wreck at Infineon this year.

Don't be surprised to see the No. 14 at the front of the pack and even in Victory Lane this weekend.

No. 2: Marcos Ambrose

Marcos Ambrose made a huge mistake at Sonoma last year, shutting off his engine going uphill during a caution while having the lead. When he wasn't able to fire it right up, he could not maintain his position and lost the race—and his chance at his first Cup win.

Like our No. 1 guy, Ambrose is probably one of the best road racers on the circuit right now and has had a pretty decent season on the ovals as well with six Top 10 finishes. In addition, he hasn't finished worse than sixth on the Cup courses since 2009; his only sixth-place finish came in the incident above.

If Ambrose is going to win a Cup race this year and get revenge for his mistake, it will probably be this weekend.

No. 1: Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya was last year's winner of this race after starting the race in third. While that was the only win for him at the track, he also won at Infineon in 2007 (after starting 32nd).

Montoya is one of NASCAR's best road racers and has only finished out of the Top 10 at a road course once since 2009. We know Montoya will drive rough, so there's no doubt that if he has the car to get to the front, he'll get there any way he can.