It was easy to find Hamlin on Sunday at Watkins Glen. And he did a great job. “We’ve been off to a rough start this year”.
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The race marked Preece’s debut at the twisting road course.
Time to hit the road again as NASCAR takes on one of two road courses on the Sprint Cup Series schedule, the Watkins Glen global. Hamlin, who was third, grabbed the lead for good when both ran wide in the first turn.
Kyle Busch (No. 18) finished in sixth, Jamie McMurray (No. 1) in eighth, Trevor Bayne (No. 6) in ninth and Matt Kenseth (No. 20) rounds up the top ten finishing in tenth. Kyle Busch reassumed the lead when she pitted on Lap 44.
Running second, Busch had to pit during the race’s first caution for repairs to his splitter, which was damaged running over the track’s new curbing, and dropped far back in the field.
THE CRASH: There were two more crashes coming out of the sweeping Carousel turn coming to the backstretch.
“This is really unfortunate”, crew chief Chris Gayle said. “It’s just a pain right now”.
“At the end of the day, I know he “mans up” when he needs to”, Wheeler continued. I really hit the vehicle hard.
INFRACTIONS, INFRACTIONS: NASCAR increased the number of timing lines on pit road at Watkins Glen from six to 14 this year, and it ended up costing a lot of drivers a lot of time. “I just drove the best I could”. Sometimes, you’ve got to give. “I think for our trip this time, it’s all about getting adjusted to the new asphalt, the new grip level and the new tire combination”. Gordon accidentally bumped into Dillon spinning him out and Gordon with damage on the left side of his auto. Bodine, Drissi, and Koch were treated at the infield care center and released.
“At the end, we just executed on our restarts”, Hamlin said. “Hopefully, we can shake it off”.
“I remember in (2007) here where we ran top three with Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon and thought we had a shot. Just not our day”.
Brad Keselowski (2) leads a group through the esses during a NASCAR Sprint Cup. He showed his displeasure with Keselowski on the cool-down lap, though the two were cordial after they exited their cars on pit road. The Front Row Racing driver won a fog-shortened race at Pocono Raceway last week to check one box for Chase for the Sprint Cup qualification, but began the race six points out of 30th place and the minimum position for a berth.
“We will need to continue to build on what we’ve built up to this point”, Stewart said.
Keselowski spun Martin Truex Jr. with four laps remaining, but it was Joey Logano who took advantage to finish second behind Hamlin. It was a futile effort for the No. 22 Ford, which finished 24th.
“I don’t know why it did it today”. We’re trying to battle each other.
Kyle Busch (A): I always want an A-List driver that has a high ceiling and a high floor, and Busch offers both at Watkins Glen. “It’s hard to say I’m not really sure what to expect”. I knew what the issue was. “I’m glad I had enough of a cushion”.
It was Logano’s 26th victory in the series and the first Xfinity triumph for Penske since November, a span of 21 races.
Ryan Blaney drives off track in the inner-loop during a NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Watkins Glen International, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
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The Xfinity Series moves on to Mid-Ohio for an August 13 race, the second of three road-course events this year. I have a feeling the winningest road course driver in NASCAR history can at least crack the top 15 and flirt with 40 fantasy points.
