NASCAR Driver Joey Logano was the big victor this weekend, sweeping the races at Watkins Glen global on Saturday and Sunday. Logano got off pit road first after taking fuel only, while Busch was behind him with fuel and newer tires.
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It was Logano’s first Sprint Cup win on a road course and Team Penske’s first win at Watkins Glen.
For Logano it was a victory after leading just one lap and it was Team Penske’s first win at a track that they have dominated in other series. But one never came as the race went green for the final 30 laps.
At least one obstacle is gone: Ambrose, who won twice in Cup and four straight times in NASCAR’s second-tier series at Watkins Glen, returned to race in his native Australia after last season. Matt Kenseth took over the lead with Kevin Harvick in second. “That win means so much”, he said.
“He raced with us, shared his stories with us and became our friend”.
I had a chance.
“I’m just very happy that he’s back to his good form, so he can’t come out and say, “Oh, I haven’t been training” or all that rubbish that he’s been talking”, Le Clos said after his win. I felt like I was better than he was, but my crew chief (Adam Stevens) called in scared on the fuel situation from last week and I dont blame him. “We didn’t want to do the same thing”. It ended up backfiring a little bit, leaving Busch in second behind Logano while Harvick coasted to the finish in third. Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Sam Hornish and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10. He was nursing a broken right leg two years ago and sat out last years race after the sprint auto he was driving in a race at nearby Canandaigua struck and killed 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr. the night before Stewart was scheduled to race at Watkins Glen.
Stewart, a five-time victor at The Glen, was greeted warmly by fans during driver introductions but finished last after his vehicle broke a rear gear midway through the 90-lap race.
Jeff Gordon: Early problems with his brakes left Gordon four laps down before this race’s midpoint on a day when he seemed a contender to win and clinch a Chase spot. “Strategy plays a lot in this race”.
He had just landed a pretty plumb spot when Tony Stewart announced he was leaving JGR to help start his own racing organization, now known as Stewart-Haas Racing. Soon, a three-car lead pack formed, with Allmendinger, Truex and Harvick about three seconds ahead of Kyle Busch by Lap 15.
A caution would have allowed the top four to save up enough fuel to finish out the race. “That was something I’ve been looking forward to”. He finished 25th.
Busch had to pit from the lead with just over 30 laps left and dropped deep in the field. But then Harvick caught a huge break.
Jamie McMurray’s Chevrolet ran into the back of Logano’s Ford on that same restart, crushing the nose of the auto.
Average Speed of Race victor: 91.420 miles per hour.
TIME OF RACE: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 43 Secs. No. 911 Porsche North America teammates Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy claimed their second consecutive GT Le Mans class victory, and Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen won the GT Daytona class in the No. 33 Dodge Viper.
CAUTIONS: 5 for 16 laps.
LEAD CHANGES: 8 among 8 drivers.
Logano started to realize in the last lap that Harvick might be running out of gas. Busch quickly got by him for third, but he was a distant third behind Harvick and Logano.
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CHASE GRID: 1. Johnson-747 (points), 4 (wins); 2. K.Harvick, 823; 2. J.Logano, 781; 3.
