Will he immediately be cleared to race? He has quietly turned in another strong season this year, and he looks to add to his success at Watkins Glen. He only lost one lap – until he cut another tire and hit the wall.
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Teams used different strategies, with Truex among several drivers waiting for the track to gain grip on the newly paved Watkins Glen surface after an overnight rain. Luckily he was able to nurse his Chevrolet around the 2.45-mile NY road course without doing damage to the power plant.
Now, Edwards, a 27-race victor at NASCAR’s highest level has won on the Sonoma Raceway road course, has five top-fives and eight top-10s at Watkins Glen, and on Saturday won the pole to sweep the top starting spots at both venues this season.
Edwards turned a lap around the upstate NY road course with a speed of 126.562 miles per hour to earn his fourth pole of the season. So concentrate much more on your start-finish differential and finishing position this week.
Brad Keselowski’s crash during a test at the NY track traced to an improperly installed brake line was a reminder that vehicle prep is crucial as always. Handling is important, but certain drivers just excel more at the road courses than others. The point right now is just to get healthy. But check back after qualifying for my final picks and fades.
The 23-year-old Buescher is the first Cup rookie to win a race since Joey Logano at New Hampshire in 2009, and his first NASCAR victory came on a road course – at Mid-Ohio in 2014 in the second-tier Xfinity Series.
Earnhardt has not raced since the Quaker State 400 on July 9 at Kentucky Speedway. In a way, they kept getting faster – where you can cool down, go back out and go faster.
Carl Edwards is the embodiment of the new-era road-course ringer. It would be a great accomplishment, but a title – or a lack of one – won’t define Earnhardt’s career. He has been as high as fourth in the past, and he really seems to shine most on road courses. He owns five wins there – the most of any driver – seven top-two finishes, 10 top-10s, and has led 225 laps in his 15 career Sprint Cup starts at The Glen.
Earnhardt is now 56 points behind the presumed Chase cutoff, so the only passport for him to be eligible for the championship is to come back and win a race before the Chase. “Until then, we are just taking it one evaluation at a time”.
Tony Stewart has raced under just about every condition there is in racing. “It speaks to him as a human being and sets a good example to young drivers”. It’s also the fifth straight pole for Penske at Watkins Glen and marks the second straight year the teammates will start on the front row. The year before that, he won here. He has two Daytona 500s and an All-Star Race to his name.
For drivers without a win chasing a championship berth, Watkins Glen could be a game-changer. He seems to know all of the intricacies of the track, and usually qualifies well, posting the best Average Starting Position of any driver at 6.1.
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“You have so many cars that finish on the lead lap that all it takes is just a slight mistake, or just running over something or getting off course a little bit at the end of the race and the next thing you know you’ve taken a pretty decent day and as far as points buildups go, losing all of that”, Jarrett said.
