Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • Hendrick Adds Byron to his Portfolio

    Hendrick Adds Byron to his Portfolio

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Hendrick’s stock might go even higher after the news that starting next season, William Byron will be racing under the Hendrick umbrella.

    Hendrick Motorsports announced today that they signed the current driver of the No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to a multi-year agreement. The agreement has him racing for JR Motorsports in a full-time XFINITY Series ride starting in 2017.

    “William is a special person and a special talent,” said team owner Rick Hendrick. “It’s been impressive to watch him come up through the ranks and have success at every level. What he’s already accomplished this season has been remarkable. On top of all his ability, he’s a terrific young man from a great family, and we think he has a very bright future with our organization.”

    Byron says that it was always “a dream of mine to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. I have so much respect for the way Mr. Hendrick supports his people and encourages everyone to work together. This is the biggest announcement and biggest opportunity of my life, and I will do everything I can to make the most of it. I’m proud to be part of this team.”

    Byron is no stranger to the Hendrick umbrella as he drove for JRM’s late model program in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, he scored a victory and 11 top-10 finishes on his way to finishing second in points to teammate Josh Berry.

    “I owe so much to Dale Jr. and everyone at JRM for taking a chance on me in 2014,” Byron said. “Looking back, I know none of this would’ve happened without that opportunity.”

    He continued on with HScott Motorsports in K&N East Series competition where he won the championship.

    Last October, he was signed by Kyle Busch to drive full-time in the Camping World Truck Series for 2016. In 13 races, he’s set a NASCAR record for most wins by a rookie in the Truck Series with five wins, seven top-fives, eight top-10’s, 414 laps led and currently leads the points.

  • Descendant of NASCAR Royalty Wins in Thunder Valley

    Descendant of NASCAR Royalty Wins in Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Just four months after parting company with Red Horse Racing, Ben Kennedy, great-grandson of Bill France Sr., capitalized on a late race mistake by William Byron to score the Camping World Truck Series victory at Thunder Valley.

    It’s the first career Truck Series victory for the driver of the No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

    “I can’t put it into words,” said Kennedy. “Someone asked me earlier today what it’s like going to Bristol for your first time and to win here is just so cool. I’m speechless. The guys gave me an awesome truck. Everyone at GMS Racing, Jacob Companies, the fans in the stands, everybody watching on TV, gosh this is just the coolest day of my life.”

    With the victory, Kennedy has claimed a spot in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase.

    “We put this deal together (with GMS Racing) a couple months ago and I never imagined, I never would have imagined going into this race, that we would be here today,” he said. “I thought we were a top-15 truck or a top-10 truck, but to actually be here in Victory Lane means the world to me.”

    Brett Moffitt came home runner-up in his No. 11 RHR Toyota, a career-best finish.

    “We had a good truck, a strong truck all day. We ran top-five, top-10 most of it. He had just enough to get away from us on that last restart,” Moffitt explained. “After that, we got to him once but couldn’t get around.”

    Daniel Hemric rounded out the podium in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Byron led one lap and brought his No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota home to a fourth-place finish. Johnny Sauter rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 GMSR Chevrolet.

    Cole Custer finished sixth in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet after overcoming spinning out past the first quarter mark of the race. Christopher Bell, who led a race-high of 101 laps and spun out of the lead just prior to the three-quarter mark, rallied back to a seventh-place finish in his No. 4 KBM Toyota. John Hunter Nemechek finished eighth in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Brandon Jones finished ninth in his No. 71 Ranier Racing Chevrolet. John Wes Townley rounded out the top-10 in his No. 05 Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet.

    The race lasted one hour, 25 minutes and 59 seconds at an average speed of 74.387 mph. There were seven lead changes among five different drivers and nine cautions for 55 laps.

    Byron leaves Bristol with a 37-point lead over Hemric in the points standings.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Unofficial-Results-NCWTS-at-Bristol-8-17-16.pdf” title=”Unofficial Results NCWTS at Bristol 8-17-16″]

  • Reddick on Truck Pole at Bristol

    Reddick on Truck Pole at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tyler Reddick will lead the field to the green flag for tonight’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford scored the pole for the UNOH 200 after posting a new track record time of 14.884 and a speed of 128.917 mph. It’s his third career pole in 53 career Camping World Truck Series starts, first of 2016 and first at Bristol.

    Daniel Suarez will start second in his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota after posting a time of 14.963 and a speed of 128.236 mph. Cameron Hayley will start third in his No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota after posting a time of 15.018 and a speed of 127.767 mph. Ben Rhodes will start fourth in his No. 41 TSR Toyota after posting a time of 15.034 and a speed of 127.631 mph. Christopher Bell will round out the top-five starters in his No. 4 KBM Toyota after posting a time of 15.059 and a speed of 127.419 mph.

    William Byron will start sixth in his No. 9 KBM Toyota. Johnny Sauter will start seventh in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Brett Moffitt will start eighth in his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Cole Custer will start ninth in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Katz Grala will round out the top-10 starters in his No. 24 GMSR Chevrolet.

    Jesse Little and Daniel Hemric will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    Rico Abreu damaged his truck during qualifying and switched to his backup. As a result, he’ll start from the rear of the field.

    Thirty-five cars were entered. With 32 making the field, Jake Griffin, Clay Greenfield and Cody McMahan failed to make the race.

    Fifteen Chevrolet’s, five Ford’s and 12 Toyota’s will comprise the field for tonight’s race at Bristol.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/T1613_STARTROW.pdf”]

  • Suarez Fastest at Bristol in Final Truck Practice

    Suarez Fastest at Bristol in Final Truck Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Daniel Suarez topped the chart in final Camping World Truck Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 14.820 and a speed of 129.474 mph. Brett Moffitt was second in his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota with a time of 14.860 and a speed of 129.125 mph. William Byron was third in his No. 9 KBM Toyota with a time of 14.861 and a speed of 129.116 mph. Christopher Bell was fourth in his No. 4 KBM Toyota with a time of 14.894 and a speed of 128.830 mph. Cameron Hayley rounded out the top-five in his No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota with a time of 14.917 and a speed of 128.632 mph.

    Tyler Reddick was sixth in his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Austin Cindric was seventh in his No. 2 BKR Ford. Rico Abreu was eighth in his No. 98 TSR Toyota. Ben Rhodes was ninth in his No. 41 TSR Toyota. Matt Crafton rounded out the top-10 in his No. 88 TSR Toyota.

    Reddick posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 124.571 mph.

    The top-12 drivers in final practice posted a time faster than the current track record of 15.118 and a speed of 126.922 mph. It came in large part from the trucks running the bottom groove that they avoided running in the first practice session.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/T1613_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Bell fastest in first Truck practice

    Bell fastest in first Truck practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Christopher Bell topped the chart in first Camping World Truck Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 15.535 and a speed of 123.515 mph. Timothy Peters was second in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota with a time of 15.600 and a speed of 123.000 mph. Rico Abreu was third in his No. 98 ThorSport Racing Toyota with a time of 15.600 and a speed of 123.000 mph. Daniel Suarez was fourth in his No. 51 KBM Toyota with a time of 15.601 and a speed of 122.992 mph. Cole Custer rounded out the top-five in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 15.621 and a speed of 122.835 mph.

    Tyler Reddick was sixth in his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Ben Rhodes was seventh in his No. 41 TSR Toyota. Matt Crafton was eighth in his No. 88 TSR Toyota. John Hunter Nemechek was ninth in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Cameron Hayley rounded out the top-10 in his No. 13 TSR Toyota.

    Ben Kennedy, who was 20th in his No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 119.103 mph.

    The trucks ran the middle groove for most of the session rather than use the recently “polished” bottom groove.

    The trucks are back on track at 11:30 for final practice.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/T1613_PRAC1.pdf”]

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Bristol

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Bristol

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series all head to Bristol Motor Speedway this week. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Wednesday, Aug. 17:

    On Track:
    9:30-10:25 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series First Practice – FS1
    11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
    4:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS2
    8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 (200 laps, 106.6 miles) – FS1
    Radio: MRN and SiriusXM Radio

    Press Conference: (Watch Live)
    10 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Post-Race (time approx.)

    Thursday, Aug. 18:

    On Track:
    1-2:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series First Practice – NBC Sports App
    3:30-4:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

    Press Conference: (Watch Live)
    3 p.m.: Ty Dillon

    Friday, Aug. 19:

    On Track:
    10-11:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series First Practice – NBC Sports App
    12:30-1:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App and USA 
    3:15 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBC Sports App
    5:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – USA
    7:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Food City 300 (300 laps, 159.9 miles) – USA
    Radio: PRN and SiriusXM Radio

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    Noon: Sprint Cup Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    8:30 a.m.: Chris Buescher
    8:45 a.m.: Trevor Bayne
    9 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
    9:15 a.m.: Austin Dillon
    9:30 a.m.: Matt Tifft
    11:35 a.m.: Carl Edwards
    11:50 a.m.: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    4:15 p.m.: Charlotte Motor Speedway with Chase Elliott
    6:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Post-Qualifying (time approx.)
    9:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Post-Race (time approx.)

    Saturday, Aug 20: 

    On Track:
    8 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (500 laps, 266.5 miles) – NBCSN – POSTPONED until Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CNBC
    Radio: PRN and SiriusXM Radio

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    Sprint Cup Series Post-Race (following end of race)

     

     

    Complete NASCAR TV Schedule and Channel Finder

     

     

  • No Timing Zone Increase for Bristol

    No Timing Zone Increase for Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — The trend of increased timing zones won’t include this weekend’s events at Thunder Valley.

    As first reported by Dustin Long of NBC Sports, NASCAR will not increase the number of timing zones for this week’s events at Bristol Motor Speedway. The number will remain at 14 instead of 18. NASCAR decided not to increase them because it’s comfortable with the number of zones in place.

    NASCAR has experimented with increased timing zones since the Brickyard 400 race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The additional timing lines were also used at Pocono Raceway and Watkins Glen International for the Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Truck Series races.

    Speeding penalties in the last three races are up 375 percent compared to the previous three races of Daytona, Kentucky and New Hampshire.

    In spite of the decision to not increase the timing zones, Bristol is notorious for speeding penalties. The last four Sprint Cup races have averaged roughly 11 speeding penalties issued. The Food City 500 this past April had 17 speeding penalties issued, which remains the highest number of speeding penalties issued in one race this season.

  • Justin Marks Prevails In Wet And Wild Mid-Ohio Challenge

    Justin Marks Prevails In Wet And Wild Mid-Ohio Challenge

    Justin Marks conquered the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, driving the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet to a rain-soaked Victory Lane. The newest track on the XFINITY Series schedule, Mid-Ohio has only hosted four races in the last four seasons but Saturday’s race showed that the 2.258-mile road course may be the hardest track on the schedule.

    In 75 laps, there were eight cautions taking up 32 laps. Most of these cautions were due indirectly to rain on the racetrack. The fourth race in the history of NASCAR to be run in the rain, Saturday featured quite possibly the hardest rains ever seen during an active stock car race. Thus, many drivers ended up off the racetrack multiple times, whether by run-off due to a lack of grip or losing control of the car and spinning out.

    At the end of the day, Marks wheeled his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet through the carnage and took the checkered flag. Marks, who won eight Grand-Am races including the 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona, used his experience driving in heavy rain to lead 43 laps. It’s the California native’s first XFINITY series win in the 25th start for the part-time driver; Marks drives the No. 42 in races Kyle Larson does not compete in.

    Coming in second was Ohio native Sam Hornish Jr., who started on the pole and looked to be the favorite before the rain came in. Ryan Blaney ended up third while Ty Dillon followed up his third last year with a fourth this year. Justin Allgaier rounded out the top five.

    Andy Lally finished seventh in Mario Gosselin’s usual car after Gosselin hired the Grand-Am champion to race for him. Lally responded by running in the top five for much of the day before getting the team its first ever top 10.

    Alon Day was running eighth on the final lap before a spin knocked him back to 13th. Day, who recorded the best finish ever for MBM Motorsports, made history by becoming the very first NASCAR driver from Israel.

    Points leader Elliott Sadler finished ninth and increased his points lead to 25 points over Daniel Suarez. Suarez struggled to a 23rd finish after getting stuck in the sand pit off turn four on lap 28 and lost a lap.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Mid-Ohio-unofficial-results.pdf” title=”Mid-Ohio unofficial results”]

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Mid-Ohio

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Mid-Ohio

    The XFINITY Series heads to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend for some road course competition. The Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series are off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Aug. 12:

    On-Track:
    9-10:25 a.m.: XFINITY Series Opening Practice – NBC Sports App and Live Leaderboard
    11:35 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App and Live Leaderboard
    6:15 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – USA/NBC Sports App and Live Leaderboard

    Saturday, Aug. 13:

    On-Track:
    3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series’ Mid Ohio Challenge (75 laps, 169.35 miles) – USA/NBC Sports App and Live Leaderboard

    Post Race:
    6:15 p.m.: XFINITY Series Post Race coverage – USA

     

    Complete TV Schedule and Channel Finder

     

    XFINITY Series News and Notes via NASCAR:

    Mid-Ohio: The Second of Three Road Courses on the NXS Schedule

    This season, the NASCAR XFINITY Series is scheduled to compete on three road courses: Watkins Glen International, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America. While all three have distinct attributes, Mid-Ohio takes a little from both WGI and Road America and rolls it into one.

    Much like Watkins Glen with a track length of 2.45-miles, Mid-Ohio stretches 2.085-miles through the hills of Ohio.

    And similarly to Road America with its 14 turns, Mid-Ohio packs in 13 turns on its very competitive multi-elevational course.

    In three series races at Mid-Ohio, there have been three different winners and three different pole winners. Neither last season’s pole winner (Alex Tagliani) or race winner (Regan Smith) are entered this weekend.

    Fourth New Winner Guaranteed at Mid-Ohio

    In three NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Mid-Ohio there have been three different winners, and with none of the former winners entered this weekend, a fourth new winner is guaranteed.

    AJ Allmendinger won the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Mid-Ohio in 2013 driving for car owner Roger Penske. In 2014, Chris Buescher took home the victory at Mid-Ohio driving for car owner Jack Roush. And last season, Regan Smith took the lead on the final lap with an aggressive move on Alex Tagliani in the last turn to win the race driving for car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Road Aces: Piquet, Hornish and Habul Came To Win

    Three drivers who will be fun to watch on the curves of Mid-Ohio this weekend are Nelson Piquet Jr., Sam Hornish Jr., and Kenny Habul. All three are known road course ringers who have a good chance to win this weekend.

    Nelson Piquet Jr., from Brasilia, Brazil, will be driving the Biagi DenBeste Racing No. 98 Ford Mustang owned by Fred Biagi and guided by crew chief Jon Hanson. This will be Piquet’s first series start since 2013. In 37 career series starts, he has posted one win (Road America), one top five and seven top 10s. Since 2013, Piquet has spent his time mastering his road racing expertise by competing in Formula E; winning two races and claiming the title in his first season (2014).

    Sam Hornish Jr., a Defiance, Ohio native, has assumed the role of closing pitcher for NASCAR XFINITY Series teams who want to bring in an ace part-time with a solid chance to win. This season, he has made two starts, both at Iowa Speedway, winning the first and finishing in the top 10 in the second. His average finish this season is a 3.5. Now he rolls into Mid-Ohio with something to prove. In his last start on the Ohio road course back in 2014, he won the pole, but due to a miss-shift, blew the engine and finished 30th. He looks to redeem himself this weekend, driving the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro with veteran crew chief Gil Martin.

    For the second weekend in a row, Kenny Habul will be in the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro. Habul has been working with crew chief David Elenz and this past weekend at Watkins Glen the pair started 23rd and finished 17th. Habul has made three starts at Mid-Ohio, posting an average finish of 28.3.

    Win and You’re In: NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase Cutoff Is Looming

    Only six races are left in the NASCAR XFINITY Series regular season. With so few remaining until the Chase cutoff, each race becomes even more important to the drivers looking to secure their spots in this season’s playoffs. Currently, only Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Elliott Sadler have clinched a spot in the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase, having won races and accumulated enough points to lock themselves inside the top 30 in points. That leaves nine spots up for grabs in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase..

    Any of the top 12 drivers in the NASCAR XFINITY Series current standings could clinch a spot in the Chase with a win. Of the top 12 in points, only one has a NASCAR XFINITY Series road course win – Brendan Gaughan at Road America in 2014. Gaughan is currently sixth in points having posted two top fives and nine top 10s. He has completed 99.78% of the scheduled laps this season – tied for series-most with Elliott Sadler. Gaughan’s best series finish at Mid-Ohio was 12th last season.

    Ty Dillon (67 races since last win) and Justin Allgaier (64 races since last win) are both hungry for a victory this season. Dillon is third in points on the strength of six top fives and 12 top 10s this season. Dillon led five laps last weekend at WGI and finished 11th, he finished third at Mid-Ohio last season.
    Allgaier is driving for the No. 7 JR Motorsports team that Regan Smith won with at Mid-Ohio last season. He is coming off a seventh-place finish last weekend at WGI and in one career start at Mid-Ohio, finished eighth in 2013.

    Chase Bubble: Dancing Along The Cut Off Line

    Time is running out in the NASCAR XFINITY Series regular season and drivers hoping to make the Chase on points are facing that reality. With each finish that much more important, the pressure on the drivers teetering along the cutoff line has to be immense. Blake Koch currently holds the final Chase berth in 12th with Ross Chastain and Dakoda Armstrong looking to take his position this weekend.

    In the final NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase spot in 12th-position is Blake Koch, who is currently just two points ahead of 13th-place Ross Chastain. Koch’s season has been marred with DNFs (three), but this has been the best season of his career. He’s posted two top 10s and an average finish of 19.2. Koch has made three starts at Mid-Ohio, producing a best finish of 24th last season.

    With a slim deficit of two points, 13th-place Ross Chastain is waiting on any slip by Koch to capitalize. Chastain is in this position due to his consistency. In 20 starts, he has an average finish of 19.4 with just one DNF on the season. Chastain made his series debut at Mid-Ohio last season where he started 32nd and drove up to a 19th-place finish.

    Chastain is not the only driver within striking distance of making the Chase. Dakoda Armstrong is 14th in the standings, just nine points behind 12th-place Koch. Armstrong has run well this season, posting one top five and an average finish of 19.6. Armstrong has made two starts at Mid-Ohio, registering a top-10 finish and an average finish of 16.5.

    Points Get Tight At The Top – Both current standings leader Elliott Sadler and second-place Daniel Suarez are already locked into the Chase, but are locked in a tight battle for the top spot in the standings. This past weekend Suarez closed the 19-point gap between himself and Sadler to 11 points following a fourth-place finish at Watkins Glen International.

    Clauson Honored With Decal – To honor the life of Bryan Clauson, NASCAR XFINITY Series teams will run decals on the cars racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend. The BC decal will be placed on the A-Post of all cars in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

    Bryan Clauson decal to run on NXS cars at Mid Ohio

  • Denny Hamlin Wins in Wild Finish at The Glen

    Denny Hamlin Wins in Wild Finish at The Glen

    As hell broke loose behind, Denny Hamlin piloted along and scored the victory in the Empire State.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the lead with 10 laps to go and survived a myriad of late cautions to win the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.

    He said winning a road course race for the first time in his career “means a lot. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was we didn’t win the first one. I just tried the best I could and overshot the corner and I didn’t want to do it this time and so I probably under drove and let those guys be a little closer than I should’ve. But, hated to see the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) turned around down there. They’ve been great Toyota teammates of ours and thanks to all of our teammates who tested here and obviously gave us a good baseline setup and a fast car.”

    When asked how he was able to go 41 laps on fuel, he said “Cautions. I just felt like this has always tended to be a lot of cautions at the end and I felt confident that we were going to get the caution laps that we needed to make it on fuel and we did.”

    He also described the final laps and restarts as “Hectic. Really, I didn’t do anything special. It was just the front two cars, the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and the 18 (Kyle Busch) just overshot the corner in that one restart and gave us an opportunity. And, then it was just about hitting my marks and making sure that I didn’t give those guys a chance like I gave Tony (Stewart) a chance at Sonoma. You know, really proud of this effort. This is a great sign of things to come. I feel like we’ll be a good threat in the Chase.”

    It’s his 28th career win, the second of the season and first at Watkins Glen International.

    Rounding turn 11, Martin Truex Jr. got turned by Brad Keselowski. This allowed Joey Logano, who led eight laps and had to overcome a speeding penalty early in the race, to finish runner-up in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    He said in his post-race media availability that the finish, be it the final lap or the final 15 laps, were “crazy anyway you look at it. Typical Watkins Glen. I mean, it’s just awesome, crazy racing, full contact. Just insane out there. So a lot of fun from the driver’s seat and I’m sure the fans loved it as well in front of a sold‑out grandstand. It was pretty cool when I pulled over for the red flag in front of the grandstands and I could hear just fans screaming and yelling and loving it. I thought, Man, this is really cool to be in the driver’s seat right now. Having those moments, I thought it was neat.”

    Teammate Keselowski, who led a race-high of 28 laps, rounded out the podium in his No. 2 Penske Ford.

    “I got right up to the bumper of the 78 and couldn’t do anything there and he made a move to get by the 11 on the inside and the 11 blocked him,” Keselowski said. “I went high and the 78 went high and by then I was already deep in the corner and got into him and turned him. That was really unfortunate and the last thing I wanted to see. This track here, when you drive into the corner, you commit and sometimes you don’t know what will happen when you commit. The last thing I wanted to do was turn him.”

    AJ Allmendinger overcame a speeding penalty to finish fourth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. After overshooting the inner loop near the beginning of the race, Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

    He said that he felt good about what he brought to Watkins Glen and that he “got some breaks there at the end. But our Haas Automation Chevy was really good. And that’s the great thing about Mobil 1, it helps with fuel mileage for sure, and that’s what got us the track position in the end. It is so chaotic here. You get under 10 laps and get restarts; you know it’s going to be a crash-fest there. But we were able to survive and got through a couple of them and got a couple of spots there coming to the line. I’ll take a top 5 here in the last run.”

    Kyle Busch led four laps on his way to a sixth-place finish in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Truex, who led one lap, recovered from his spin on the frontstretch on the final lap to bring his car home to a seventh-place finish in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Jamie McMurray finished eighth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Trevor Bayne finished ninth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    “This is a good weekend,” Bayne said. “A fifth and a ninth. That is a good road course weekend for me considering I am not a road course ace. The thought was to try to get better and I think we did that this weekend. We made progress and that is really good. We are excited. Hopefully, we can keep getting better at these and contend for a win one day.”

    Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10 in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

    Kurt Busch, who led three laps, finished 11th. Carl Edwards, who led 25 laps, finished 15th. Danica Patrick, who led 11 laps, finished 21st.

    Coming to the finish, Allmendinger got onto the rumble strip on the inside of turn 11 that got his car loose, turned it into Kyle Larson’s car and sent the 42 car into the inside pit road wall.

    “I turned him,” Allmendinger said. “Not on purpose. The No. 78 started to spin and Kyle and I were racing for fifth there. He defended on the inside, which he should have. And I tried to cut under him off of the last corner and the No. 78 was coming back across the race track. I was under him. He turned. And I just clipped him. I’m just not very happy with myself on that. I don’t want to do that, especially for fourth place. And he did a great job. It’s on me. I never meant to do it. It’s not going to help the case. I know he’s going to be pissed off and he should be pissed off. I’d be.”

    Larson, as Allmendinger said, wasn’t happy.

    “We were running sixth coming to (Turn) 7; the No. 47 was behind me,” Larson said. “He is always aggressive. I figured he would be smart. Obviously, the No. 78 was spinning in front of us. That is a free spot for both of us and just dumped me. He had already ran me down to the front stretch wall once with about 15 to go or so. Pretty dumb move right there too, but I was the smarter one racing for points, lifted, could have wrecked him, but didn’t. I don’t know. I don’t know. He wrecked me earlier in the year at Vegas.  He has ran me hard, but we always race pretty well, but today was flat out stupid. I love his crew chief (Randall Burnett) to death; he was our engineer last year. It just sucks they are going to have to start building some more race cars because he has got a few coming.”

    The race lasted two hours, 27 minutes and 48 seconds at an average speed of 89.513 mph. There were nine lead changes among eight different drivers and eight cautions for 20 laps.

    Keselowski leaves Watkins Glen International the new points leader with a nine-point lead over Kevin Harvick.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/C1622_UNOFFRES.pdf”]