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Tag: Brad Kesolowski

  • Ambrose wins a wild one at The Glen

    Ambrose wins a wild one at The Glen

    [media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]

    In one of the wildest laps ever seen, Marcos Ambrose held off Brad Keselowski for the win in the Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen Sunday. When the white flag flew the leader was Kyle Busch who took the lead in dramatic fashion on a late restart following Tony Stewart’s spin coming off turn 11, slamming the entrance to pit road with 18 laps left.

    With the race winding down, there were numerous reports of the No. 47 car of Bobby Labonte dropping large amounts of oil across all sections of the 2.45 mile road course. A slue of drivers conveyed reports of an oil trail all the way from turn one to the final right -hand turn eleven, and controversy surrounded the finish of the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. The finish shaped up to be an old fashion dogfight between the three best cars all day in race-winner Marcos Ambrose (led twice for 8 laps), second place finisher Brad Kesolowski (led three times for 37 laps), and seventh place finisher Kyle Busch (led three times and a race-high 43 laps).

    “It was absolutely chaos at the end.” said Ambrose “Shit, it was crazy!” said race-winning crew chief, Todd Parrott.

    The oil down on the track at the conclusion of the race on Sunday was the main story. Said Brad Keselowski about the situation: “Well the 18, (whom was leading the race at the start of the final lap) was oil. Look like he had something wrong there and had the whole track slick as hell. You couldn’t drive it; it was undriveable…Then it came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos. I got in the oil and we’d slip up. He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him. Just really good, hard racing; some beating and banging. I think its the way racing should be.”

    It was no clean road to Gatorade Victory Lane for Marcos Ambrose, as he had his quarrels with the oil-soaked racing surface, “I was the first one to slip in the oil and it was just getting worse and worse. You could tell the car was staying out there because the oil was moving around the race track and you just take your chances. You’ve got to commit at that point in the race and it was great racing with Kyle and Brad. They’re the two best guys to race. It’s just awesome fun and that’s the way racing should be, and we got the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion to Victory Lane.”

    The third driver involved with mixing of front-runners, Joe Gibbs racing’s Kyle Busch, declined to comment on the late-race mayhem that unfolded this afternoon.

    The win marks Ambrose’s second in 141 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, his first victory of the season and six top 10. It also adds to Ambrose’s impressive resume of five straight top-3 finishes at The Glen. Brad Kesolowski added to his Watkins Glen resume, finishing second for the second year in a row.

    With Dale Earnhardt Jr’s troubles on Sunday afternoon, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson took over the points lead, with Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jr., and Brad Keselowski making up the top-5.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen, Watkins Glen Int’l
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=22
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 5 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 47
    2 4 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 43
    3 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 41
    4 8 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 40
    5 17 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 0
    6 15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 38
    7 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 39
    8 24 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 36
    9 13 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 35
    10 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 34
    11 6 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 33
    12 22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 32
    13 20 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 31
    14 18 99 Carl Edwards Ford 31
    15 19 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 29
    16 30 13 Casey Mears Ford 28
    17 21 195 Scott Speed Ford 27
    18 29 43 Aric Almirola Ford 26
    19 7 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 25
    20 34 38 David Gilliland Ford 24
    21 12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 23
    22 32 34 David Ragan Ford 22
    23 35 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 21
    24 42 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 20
    25 25 32 Boris Said Ford 19
    26 39 33 Stephen Leicht * Chevrolet 18
    27 26 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 17
    28 16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 16
    29 36 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    30 28 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 14
    31 27 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 13
    32 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 12
    33 1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 12
    34 23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 10
    35 41 249 Jason Leffler Toyota 0
    36 31 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 8
    37 11 98 Michael McDowell Ford 7
    38 38 26 Josh Wise * Ford 6
    39 10 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 5
    40 37 10 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4
    41 40 119 Chris Cook Toyota 3
    42 43 30 Patrick Long Toyota 2
    43 33 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 1
  • Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 20 – Straight From The Glen Watkins Glen International – Pennsylvania 400 – August 12, 2012

    Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 20 – Straight From The Glen Watkins Glen International – Pennsylvania 400 – August 12, 2012

    This week we travel back to the place that was the start of my NASCAR days. It’s a track near and dear to my heart, and will no matter where life takes me, it will always have a special place in my heart as my ‘Hometown Track’. Watkins Glen International may not be the most famous stock car track in the world, but it produces some of the best beating and banging NASCAR has to offer.

    If you remember back to 2011’s ‘Monday in the mist’ at Watkins Glen International, the drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series put on one of the most exciting spectacles of the 2011 season. A late-race crash involving David Reutimann forced a revaluation of the safety measures around the 2.45-mile road course. Watkins Glen International has taken tremendous strides in improving driver safety, and the fan experience alike. The towering grandstands erected on the outside of Turn 1 here at Watkins Glen International caught my eye on my way in, and I am excited to check out the new setups around the track. The two road courses on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule often tend to be overlooked by most fans in terms of vacation destinations, but I encourage all race fans to visit a road course and see what these facilities have to offer.

    My first memories of WGI involve standing on a trash can on the inside of Turn 11 while my father tried to time a photo just right in order to capture a snapshot of The Intimidator and one of his biggest fans in the same frame. SpeedwayMedia.com Editor, Ed Coombs taught me the art of obtaining autographs outside the motor-coach lots as a young teenager. Ron Hornaday invited me inside the fences into his motor-coach for a quick autograph and meet and greet, and I learned very quickly during my first trip inside the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Garage that when a NASCAR Official blow their whistle, PAY ATTENTION! I’ve come leaps and bounds as a photo journalist, but still manage to get scolded every now and again in the Media Center for “not paying attention to what you’re doing”.Watkins Glen is truly a weekend I have circled on my calendar each year, and will always bring me back to my first memories as a young NASCAR fan.

    Adding to the excitement of my weekend here at Watkins Glen International is the camaraderie of attending a NASCAR race with thirty to forty of your closest racing friends and family. My family and I will be making our 18th consecutive trip to Watkins Glen International this year, and with a crew larger than ever before. I’m excited to announce my younger brothers, (yes both of them), will be receiving their Eagle Scout Award, the highest honor in Scouting, on Sunday in Gatorade Victory Lane here at Watkins Glen International. As a fellow Eagle Scout, and the second of four in my family, I am truly proud for both Christopher and Nicholas LaFlair in receiving such a great honor in such a great atmosphere. More to follow on this great honor, but I’d like to thank Track-President, Michael Printup, and Elizabeth Mayer, Public Relations Manager, for allowing such a special ceremony to take place amidst the jam-packed competition schedule this weekend here at WGI. You’ve really made a dream come true for my family, Troop 709, and the entire Scouting community.

    Pocono Recap

    First, I’d like to send along my thoughts and prayers to those affected by the tragic lightning strikes last week at Pocono Raceway. I am extremely saddened by this story and pass my condolences on to the families involved, and hope for a speedy recovery to those injured by the fierce storms that wreaked havoc on race fans exiting Pocono Raceway following the Pennsylvania 400.

    I’ll make the recap section short this week as yet again, there’s not much to talk about other than the poor luck I’ve had this season…

    My Winner Pick was Denny Hamlin last week, one of the most decorated drivers to come out of Pocono Raceway with four wins, eight top-fives, and nine top-tens, in just thirteen prior starts at the Tricky Triangle. Completing my picks before last Saturday’s qualifying session, I was excited that my Winner Pick would start the Pennsylvania 400 on the outside of the front row. My glory was short lived after the No. 11 FedEx Toyota quickly slipped through the field after gaining the top spot on just the second lap. Hamlin struggled with the handling of his car for the remainder of the day, and finally met his fate on the lap-91 wreck that brought an early end to the No. 11 team’s day. Hamlin collected points for finishing in the 29th position.

    My Dark Horse pick last week is a seasoned veteran to Pocono Raceway, but in now 52 starts at the Tricky Triangle, he is still winless. Mark Martin used a pit strategy different than the rest of the field to help him finish just outside the top ten in the twelfth position. He appeared in the top five for some of the 91 lap sprint, but the majority of Mark Martin’s day last week was spent in the middle of the pack. Another week of picks, and another week with nothing to show for my efforts.

    Watkins Glen Picks

    Well, it’s been raining here at Watkins Glen International pretty much all day so I have minimal practice speeds or insider info to pass along here from The Glen. With that, I will try and make some picks based off of historical statistics, the possibility of qualifying being rained out, a few speeds , and gut feeling.

    Winner Pick

    There are two guys that are ‘road course specialists’ and everyone will be looking at come Sunday afternoon, but it will not be either Juan Pablo Montoya not Marcos Ambrose that will visit Victory Lane following Sunday’s Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen. My winner pick this week finished in the runner-up spot in last year here at Watkins Glen International, and finished twelfth in this seasons’ other Road Course race at Sonoma. Brad Kesolowski has really come into his own this season as a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, and winning a Road Course would only add to his impressive racing resume. His car is shown third on the speed charts so far in this abbreviated practice session today, and he rides a streak of five consecutive top tens into the Finger Lakes dating back to his third win of the season at Kentucky. I love to watch this guy drive, and he’s certain to put on a show Sunday Afternoon.

    Dark Horse Pick

    My Dark Horse this week finds himself fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings, and is also coming into Central New York off a season-best finish last week in Pocono. Though he may not be the driver with a hometown closest to Watkins Glen International, Martin Truex Jr. still considers WGI one of his hometown tracks. “I’m just excited to be here. I really enjoy the road course racing, especially here at Watkins Glen.” Said Truex, earlier today here at The Glen. “This is a place that is pretty special to me coming up here as a kid watching my dad race and then running some Busch North races up here. It’s one of the tracks that is kind of special to me, like New Hampshire and Dover. So, I’m looking forward to the race this weekend.” He finished fourth here last year, and is another guy who has really shown he should be mentioned in talks with the series front-runners.

    That’s all for now from Watkins Glen, but be sure to stay tuned all weekend for more updates and live action from my weekend here in the Finger Lakes. For up to the minute action, be sure to follow me on Twitter @ML_B_Lo.