Watkins Glen, or The Glen, is the host for the Cheez-It 355 on Sunday and it offers a speedier road course than the one at Sonoma Raceway. None of these hired drivers have won at Watkins Glen, and don’t count on that to change Sunday in the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.
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Edwards turned in a lap of 1 minute, 9.689 seconds (126.562 miles per hour) to lead the 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers who advanced to the second round of qualifying.
Five-time Watkins Glen victor Tony Stewart qualified third in the final road race of his career.
Stewart, who is in a farewell tour as a driver in the series having announced his retirement from driving, has won a track-record five Cup races at Watkins Glen.
Denny Hamlin, defending race victor Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, AJ Allmendinger and Jamie McMurray completed the first10 qualifiers.
Truex and Stenhouse took turns impeding one another’s progress on the track during the first round of qualifying, and that ended up taking two of the fastest cars in practice out of the running for the pole. Earnhardt, who visited Watkins Glen on Friday, is recovering from a concussion and will miss at least two more races.
Keselowski lost the lead on the restart when both he and Busch overdrove the first turn, a 90-degree downhill right-hander, and Hamlin sneaked past to take the lead before another caution flew.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., voted the most popular driver in the series among fans for the 13th consecutive season past year, is out of the Hendrick Motorsports vehicle for a fourth consecutive race because of concussion-like symptoms.
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“You know the track is a little unusual”, Edwards said. “‘It’s a bummer the way it worked out”. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has a great looking weather forecast for Sunday’sCHEEZ-IT™ 355 at The Glen on Sunday. A tire out of the pit box was costly for pole-sitter Carl Edwards. You’ve got to work a little bit in race trim, but we’re starting upfront. Jimmie Johnson slammed hard into Stenhouse, and Greg Biffle and Austin Dillon also were involved. Although attendance figures aren’t released, the crowd estimate was just under 100,000. I love road races. “It was pretty cool when I pulled over for the red flag in front of the grandstands and I could hear just fans screaming and yelling and loving it”. Logano is the defending champion.
