Just as the two leaders entered the final lap, Logano got loose in the first turn, went wide, and almost lost control of his auto.
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Five-time Glen victor Tony Stewart had an even worse day, with his No. 14 Chevrolet expiring on lap 56 and recording a last-place finish. “Every driver wants to add a road-course race to their resume”. But, we’ll see. It’s a tough race. Our team executed perfectly today.
“I made it longer this week than last”, Kahne laughed balefully as his vehicle sat in the garage under fix. While it might seem the young man was on a construction crew earning overtime on the weekend, he had actually done his job well before that.
“We were in a position to have a win, two corners away, but that’s just been the way the middle of this season has gone”, Harvick said.
Stewart was greeted warmly by fans during driver introductions, but after starting third his day on the road course he once dominnated ended badly. “I am still just trying to catch my breath”.
“Being able to lead the field in Turn One is really nice”, Allmendinger said. It makes up for last week (at Pocono).
“We have a lot of concrete patches now throughout the course that we’ve installed throughout the last couple years, and that’s kinda become something that Watkins Glen has been known for”, Banker said. “Once the 22 got there, I had to pick up the pace”.
“Nothing we can learn from these tracks really applies to the Chase“. After being 28th in final practice on Friday, that was a huge relief for the defending race victor. It was Logano’s first victory since the season-opening Daytona 500. We run out and come home 21st last week. It’s his fourth pole in Sprint Cup. Logano trails only Kevin Harvick in the Sprint Cup points standings.
He said that the string of three late race cautions likely cost him a chance to challenge Logano on the final lap.
Oh, I don’t know, maybe a Pocono trophy?
And he’s right. Gordon, who was 42nd two weeks ago at Indianapolis, has just one top-five finish since May.
Hornish acknowledged that when it comes to The Glen, Ambrose’s shoes are pretty big ones to try to fill.
Logano wasn’t the only victor at Watkins Glen on Sunday, however. The finish helped Busch move into the top 30 in the standings and a shot at the Chase after missing half the year with an injury. Gordon remains supportive of his Hendrick Motorsports team and their effort – he lauded where they are performance-wise, and in fairness, he does have four top-10s in the last six races – but they can’t have any slips the next month.
Xfinity Series: Joey Logano won the NASCAR Xfinity race at Watkins Glen global on Saturday, outdueling Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski.
“We’re completely ripping it up”, Printup said.
By the final lap, Harvick was still in the lead with Logano on his bumper and Busch a distant third. So many people can be so much more aggressive on their pit calls because they’re locked in. “We have clearly received one thing clicking”. It wasn’t meant to be what we needed today.
Logano, who started from pole, overcame a stop-and-go penalty early, drove back to the front and kept Keselowski at bay after a restart with four of 82 laps left. In the end Allmendinger fought his way back up to a 24th place finish.
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Sunday was the second straight week where fuel strategy played a pivotal role in the outcome.
