Robby likes his chances on Watkins Glen road course

The twisty track at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., has beenthe high point of a challenging season for Robby Gordon as hestruggles to develop a team, woo sponsors and work out the quirks inan engine new to NASCAR.

This weekend, Gordon -- one of a handful of Nextel Cup regularswho's as comfortable turning right as left -- heads to Upstate NewYork and Watkins Glen International, the only other road course onthe tour. He'll warm up in the Busch race Saturday.

"We could very easily win both races this weekend," he said."We've got some good cars, and we're definitely getting competitive.The driver definitely shows up more on road courses. The driver cancome into play and make the difference."

Watkins Glen is where he took his last checkered flag two yearsago, two months after a victory at Infineon.

But that was when he was driving for Richard Childress Racing.

Hovering around 40th in the standings with his own team, Gordonhas not been able to break into the top 35 in car-owner points,which would guarantee making the lineup at each race. Instead, hehas had to make every race on speed or go home and has failed toqualify for four events.

Problems with his new Menard engines -- one failed inspection andthe replacement lacked enough punch to qualify -- kept him out ofthe Daytona 500.

That was followed by three engine failures at California, LasVegas and Atlanta, then he failed to qualify at Bristol, Talladegaand Darlington.

So Gordon shook things up by bringing in a new crew chief andteam manager. He has finished every race since, including his 24th-place finish last weekend in Indianapolis in an ill-handling car. Itwas his best finish since he was 16th at Infineon in June.

"The team's a building process. The engine's a building process,the driver and crew chief and car chief -- we're all workingtogether," he said. "We're getting better every week."