Gordon, Stewart set for battle; Montoya's statement

Tony Stewart was standing tall at Watkins Glen, thanks to a mistake by Jeff Gordon with two laps to go. Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

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Here are five things we learned on an eventful day of road course racing at Watkins Glen:

1. The championship is now a battle between three drivers.

Here's the quick recap of what transpired at the Glen: Jeff Gordon dominated the race but spun out late, opening the door for Tony Stewart to take his third checkered flag in the last four starts.

After nearly seven months of racing, Stewart and Gordon have now separated themselves from the rest of the field, and these two will likely battle for the championship all the way to Homestead. For race fans, this should be a memorable sprint to the title, because Gordon and Stewart are generally acknowledged to be the top-two talents of their generation and both wield as much star power as anyone in the garage not named Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The one driver who's capable of catching fire and making a run at these two is Jimmie Johnson, who finished third at the Glen. Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus returns from a six-race suspension next week, which will be one of the major storylines at Michigan. Knaus has rightfully earned a reputation for being the top crew chief in the garage, and his presence at the track should reinvigorate the entire No. 48 team, which has slumped in his absence.

2. Juan Pablo Montoya made a statement.

After watching Montoya make his third career start on a road course in a stock car, it's now safe to say that he's best road course racer in NASCAR today. After all, he won the Busch race in Mexico City earlier this year, he won the Cup race at Sonoma, and on Sunday he may well have taken the checkered flag at the Glen if he hadn't been wrecked by Martin Truex Jr. late in the race.

Moments after the accident, which also took out Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, Montoya crawled out of his car to inspect the damage. Harvick also got out and then angrily approached Montoya. Though the accident clearly wasn't Montoya's fault, Harvick didn't realize that at the time and blamed Montoya while putting his hands on him. Montoya, just as he is on the track, didn't back down and forcefully shoved the bigger Harvick away. This was vintage Montoya: aggressive, fiery, unrelenting.

A few weeks ago I was chatting with Donnie Wingo, who's Montoya's crew chief, when he mentioned why he enjoys having J.P. as his driver. "He's the kind of driver who can rally a team and make you really want to work hard for him," Wingo said. "He's been a real shot of adrenaline for all of us."

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in a world of trouble.

When Little E blew an engine on Lap 63 on Sunday, it blew up his hopes for making the Chase. Junior limped to a 42nd place finish at the Glen, and he now trails the surging Kurt Busch by 100 points for the 12th and final spot in the Chase with four races remaining before the start of the playoffs.

Can Little E make up this deficit? Well, he has a history of performing well on the next four stops on the circuit: Michigan, Bristol, California and Richmond. But even if he reels off five straight top-five runs, he won't qualify for the Chase unless Busch stumbles. This seems unlikely, given that Busch has been gaining speed all summer long and in his last five starts his average finish is 6.4.

What makes especially disappointing for Earnhardt and his sea of red-clad fans is that the No. 8 team has been performing well in recent weeks. Little E finished second at Pocono last Sunday -- his highest finish of the season -- and he was running in second place at the time of his engine failure.

One person, though, could benefit from Little E's struggles: Truex. With Junior's season slipping away, DEI will now pour more resources than ever into Truex's car to make sure that he advances to the Chase. Truex is currently 11th in the standings and he'll be one of the favorites to win on Sunday at Michigan, where he finished second earlier this season.

4. NASCAR needs more road course racing.

Sunday's event at the Glen was easily the most electric, exciting race of the season. There was plenty of daring passing, a near first-fight, several spin outs, a last lap mad charge by Carl Edwards that resulted in him flying off the track, and a classic duel between Stewart and Gordon. The moral of this story? NASCAR should hold more events road courses, where every twist and turn is capable of spawning riveting racing theatre.

5. The biggest surprise was seeing the drunk fan run onto the race track.

During a red-flag period late in the race, the cars were parked on the track when a shirtless man darted up to Matt Kenseth's Ford. This guy, who embodied every bad stereotype of the NASCAR fan, then ducked his head into Kenseth's car and asked for -- you guessed it -- an autograph. So what did Kenseth do? He told the shirtless man, "Uh, I'm a little busy right now."