Logano, who will start seventh Sunday in the Cup race, has finished seventh or better in four of his last five starts at Watkins Glen, and in his last two starts at NASCAR’s other road course in Sonoma he was fifth a year ago and third in June in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
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Denny Hamlin (11) celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Watkins Glen International, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Kyle Busch (18) drives out of Turn 1 during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Watkins Glen International, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
For the full unofficial Sprint Cup points standings after Watkins Glen, see below.
It’s the first road course win of Hamlin’s career as he survived a race that had eight cautions for 24 laps and two red flags for 30 minutes. “This is a good time”, Hamlin said. “When you have multiple cars with speed like we do, when one makes a mistake, there’s another one there to pick up the pieces”.
What Else Happened: As has been the case in recent years, Sunday’s race was a wild affair, which has punctuated road course racing in the last several seasons. He will miss at least two more races. It’s hard racing, road course, going for the win at the end.
“We will need to continue to build on what we’ve built up to this point”, Stewart said.
“What make it feel extra special is when it was game time, when it was go time, we got it done”. He was in pain when he awoke.
“At the end of the day, I know he “mans up” when he needs to”, Wheeler continued.
Ryan Sieg precipitated the pileup, getting into Todd Bodine as the cars snaked uphill into the narrowest section of the track with virtually no visibility ahead. But a rash of late cautions shuffled Busch back.
By the midpoint of the race, Logano, Keselowski and Larson were running 1-2-3 and during a round of pit stops Larson pitted from the lead.
Keselowski spun Martin Truex Jr. with four laps remaining, but it was Joey Logano who took advantage to finish second behind Hamlin.
Hamlin tool the lead with nine laps to go thanks to a insane scene with leaders Kyle Busch and Keselowski.
“I just woke up with back spasms this morning”, he said. “It was my opportunity”.
“But I really think we’ve turned the corner with all of our Toyota teams”, he continued. “I’ve finally won at all of the (types of) race tracks, so it’s a great accomplishment for us”.
Jeff Gordon drove the No. 88 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports in relief of Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the third straight race and finished 14th in his 800th career start after an early accident.
Stewart, who has a record five wins at Watkins Glen, is one road victory behind Gordon. He also was involved in a nine-car crash that sent him to the garage.
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“You know, for us, kind of hoped we’d get a lot more than what we did”, Buescher said.
