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Tag: Watkins Glen International

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Busch: Busch started third and finished 11th at Watkins Glen, despite tangling with both William Byron and Bubba Wallace.

    “I hear Bubba went on a profanity-laced tirade about me,” Busch said. “He said the ‘A-word,’, the ‘S-word,’ and the ‘F-word.’ Oddly enough, though, no ‘W’s.’”

    2. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished second at Watkins Glen, chasing Chase Elliott over the course of the closing laps.

    “I’m not sure I could have even passed Elliott had I got close enough,” Truex said. “His car was too good, and he was too good. Let’s face it, the Chase was on.’”

    3. Joey Logano: Logano struggled from the start at Watkins Glen and finished 23rd.

    “My day sucked from the start,” Logano said. “So, with respect to the name of this race being called the ‘Go Bowling At The Glen,’ I will spare you the details. Plus, I’d like to strike this race from my memory. It’s really frustrating. But, of course, it could be worse. I could have three fingers and 16 pound balls.”

    4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished third in the Go Bowling At The Glen, one week after winning at Pocono.

    “I feel like I’m in form to make a solid run at the Monster Energy Cup championship,” Hamlin said. “I’m on a great team and I have a great car, so what’s stopping me from completing the deal? Certainly not my sponsor, because at least Fed Ex knows how to ‘deliver the goods.’”

    5. Chase Elliott: Elliott started on the pole and won the Go Bowling At The Glen, earning his second consecutive win at Watkins Glen.

    “I led all but 10 laps,” Elliott said, “and swept all three stages. It was great to get the win, but I have my sights set on the bigger prize. I could care less about a ‘bowl;’ my eyes are on the Cup.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick came home seventh at Watkins Glen, posting his 14th top 10 of the year.

    “My feet were the featured pair of the ‘Foot Cam’ at Watkins Glen,” Harvick said. “It’s the one time I’d rather not be known as ‘Mr. Clutch,’ because this ‘Foot Cam’ footage always seems to end up on some creepy internet foot fetish site.”

    7. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 10th in the Go Bowling At The Glen, one spot ahead of younger brother Kyle.

    “Kyle really pissed off some other drivers,” Busch said. “As you know, the Busch brothers love confrontation on the track, but not necessarily off the track. We’re talkers, not fighters. So, if someone dares us to meet them to settle a difference, we often go the opposite direction. It must be hereditary because it ‘runs’ in the family.”

    8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished ninth at Watkins Glen, earning his 12th top 10 of the year.

    “I got a great deal of satisfaction from seeing Bubba Wallace send Kyle Busch for a spin,” Keselowski said. “Everybody knows Kyle is an ‘ass.’ In fact, he is the king of asses. So, it makes perfect sense that Wallace retaliated, because Kyle was ‘ass-king’ for it.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished fifth at Watkins Glen, scoring his third consecutive top-10 finish.

    “I sent Jimmie Johnson into the tire barriers at the carousel turn,” Blaney said. “He’s none too happy about it and he’s vowed revenge. Jimmie has implied that I have a target on my back. Well, I replaced that sign with one that says ‘The Past.’ And I feel pretty safe, because Jimmie’s been chasing ‘the past’ for three years now, and still hasn’t caught it.”

    10. Aric Almirola: Almirola overcame an early shifter problem to post a 12th-place finish in the Go Bowling At The Glen.

    “I was nearly up ‘Shift Creek,’” Almirola said, “but my pit crew remedied the situation. Now, if I was a Formula 1 driver and my shifter broke, I would be ‘up Shift Creek without a paddle.’”

  • Chase Elliott dominates to win at The Glen

    Chase Elliott dominates to win at The Glen

    Started first, finished first is the name of the game for NASCAR’s most popular driver, as Chase Elliott completely dominated to win his fifth Cup Series career victory and his second consecutive win at The Glen.

    “The past month and a half has not been that fun at all, and this team has stuck together, just stayed the course,” Elliott said to MRN Radio. “That’s the most important thing when you’re struggling. So to be able to stay the course, come up here, sit on the pole Saturday, lead the most laps, win the race, I’ve never done that in my career. That’s the kind of team we can be. I feel really confident about that, so we just have to keep it rolling.”

    Stages were broken into 20/20/50 laps to make up the 90 lap race distance.

    Only Ryan Blaney had to go to the rear for making unapproved adjustments prior to the start of the race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20

    No cautions took place in the first stage, however, there were a couple of incidents. Kyle Busch spun underneath William Byron on Lap 2 in Turn 1. There would be no caution, but more on this later.

    Aric Almirola reported that his shifter was about to break off. There was a near-miss between Denny Hamlin and Byron and Daniel Suarez had grass on his grille.

    In the remaining laps, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Blaney, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Chris Buescher all pitted with three laps to go in hopes to have track position for the Stage 2 restart. Byron also had grass on his grille after going through the bus stop.

    It was all Chase Elliott who led every lap to take the Stage 1 win.

    A heated interaction occurred between Byron and Kyle Busch under the stage break, as Byron went to retaliate by running into the rear end of Busch in the esses. However, Byron got the worst of it with damage to his hood.

    Busch would also have more problems occur on his pit stop, as he would be caught being too fast exiting on section eight. Corey LaJoie was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes on exit. Ross Chastain was penalized for having a crew member over the wall too soon.

    Elliott, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Almirola rounded out the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.

    Stage 2: Lap 24 – Lap 40

    Larson assumed the lead as he would stay out under the stage break, but later pitted from the lead on Lap 29.

    On the other hand, Truex had a close call with Keselowski coming to the inner loop by going off the grass a little bit. Logano went through the inner loop grass as well and would have minor front end damage.

    Another driver who had issues with the inner loop was Parker Kligerman who went spinning around after contact with Suarez. Since Larson pitted from the lead, Elliott would assume the lead on Lap 29.

    A caution broke out on Lap 32 when the No. 77 of Reed Sorenson began leaking fluid in the inner loop. This prompted NASCAR to clean up the fluid. Under the caution, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch pitted along with Byron.

    A restart came with four to go in Stage 2. With that, a battle heated up for the lead between Elliott and Truex for the stage win. However, Wallace was sent spinning into the Turn 5 tire barrier to bring out the caution on Lap 39.

    With the incident, Stage 2 would end under yellow with Elliott once again picking up the stage win. Truex, Harvick, Bowyer, Hamlin, Keselowski, Bowman, Jones, Blaney and Johnson were the remaining top-10 finishers in the second stage on Lap 40.

    Stage 3: Lap 43 – Lap 90

    The final stage began just how it ended with Elliott and Truex contending for the lead. Ryan Newman pitted on Lap 50 for a right front flat and was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes on exit. Hemric also spun through the inner loop two laps later with no caution and the Richard Childress Racing driver suffered major damage to the rear end after contact with Ty Dillon. Due to the contact, Dillon went through the inner loop picking up grass on his grille.

    Green flag pit stops started to take place on Lap 57 with Harvick being the first to pit. Elliott pitted from the lead with 30 to go, while Truex stayed out one lap longer and came in the next lap. Elliott retook the lead right after Truex re-entered the track.

    Two incidents broke out on Lap 61. Johnson went sliding in Turn 5 toward the tire barrier after getting loose. Then, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace were bumping and banging on the frontstretch with Wallace turning Busch in Turn 1. A caution came out for the incident.

    The final restart of the race came with 25 to go. Elliott and Truex had a thrilling battle off the restart, banging doors with each other. So much so, that even with Elliott getting the lead, he was concerned with having a flat tire going down.

    But Elliott was able to fend off Truex for his second consecutive win at The Glen. Elliott led all but 10 laps to pick up his second win of the season.

    “Track position, obviously, having a clean air was the biggest thing,” Elliott added. “I thought he (Truex) was a little better there at the end. Just tried to hit my marks and stay mistake free. You know, just not hand it to him. I knew he was going to come up there and pass me, just didn’t want to beat myself and worked really hard at that. Glad we were able to seal the deal, it feels really good.”

    Elliott led three times for 80 laps and picked up 60 points, along with seven Playoff points.

    There were four cautions for 13 laps with four leaders among five lead changes.

    Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 22
    Race Results for the 34th Annual Go Bowling at The Glen – Sunday, August 4, 2019
    Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road
    Total Race Length – 90 Laps – 220.5 Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos S3Pos Pts Status
    1 1 9 Chase Elliott NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet 90 1 1 0 60 Running
    2 4 19 Martin Truex Jr Bass Pro Shops Toyota 90 3 2 0 52 Running
    3 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Cares Toyota 90 2 5 0 49 Running
    4 14 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 90 8 8 0 39 Running
    5 19 12 Ryan Blaney PPG Ford 90 0 9 0 34 Running
    6 20 95 Matt DiBenedetto Procore Toyota 90 0 0 0 31 Running
    7 15 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Ford 90 0 3 0 38 Running
    8 5 42 Kyle Larson McDonald’s Chevrolet 90 7 0 0 33 Running
    9 10 2 Brad Keselowski Autotrader Ford 90 0 6 0 33 Running
    10 7 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 90 9 0 0 29 Running
    11 3 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota 90 4 0 0 33 Running
    12 9 10 Aric Almirola Go Bowling Ford 90 10 0 0 26 Running
    13 16 37 Chris Buescher Cottonelle Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 24 Running
    14 17 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 90 0 7 0 27 Running
    15 12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Acronis Ford 90 0 0 0 22 Running
    16 11 34 Michael McDowell Long John Silver’s Ford 90 0 0 0 21 Running
    17 18 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 90 0 0 0 20 Running
    18 22 21 Paul Menard Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 90 0 0 0 19 Running
    19 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 90 6 10 0 24 Running
    20 13 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford 90 0 4 0 24 Running
    21 2 24 William Byron Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet 90 5 0 0 22 Running
    22 31 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 90 0 0 0 15 Running
    23 21 22 Joey Logano MoneyLion Ford 90 0 0 0 14 Running
    24 26 36 Matt Tifft # Maui Jim/Surface Sunscreen Ford 90 0 0 0 13 Running
    25 25 6 Ryan Newman Acronis Ford 90 0 0 0 12 Running
    26 24 96 * Parker Kligerman(i) TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota 90 0 0 0 0 Running
    27 32 15 Ross Chastain(i) Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 0 Running
    28 30 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 9 Running
    29 34 0 Landon Cassill(i) StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 0 Running
    30 27 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Military Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 7 Running
    31 28 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 6 Running
    32 36 52 Josh Bilicki(i) Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 0 Running
    33 35 51 Cody Ware(i) JACOB COMPANIES Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 0 Running
    34 33 32 Corey LaJoie Samaritan’s Feet Ford 85 0 0 0 3 Engine
    35 23 8 Daniel Hemric # Caterpillar Chevrolet 84 0 0 0 2 Running
    36 29 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 72 0 0 0 1 Rear Gear
    37 37 77 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 65 0 0 0 1 Steering

     

    Updated Playoff Points Standings

    1. Kyle Busch, 4 wins
    2. Martin Truex Jr, 4 wins
    3. Denny Hamlin, 3 wins
    4. Brad Keselowski, 3 wins
    5. Joey Logano, 2 wins
    6. Chase Elliott, 2 wins
    7. Kevin Harvick, 1 win
    8. Kurt Busch, 1 win
    9. Alex Bowman, 1 win
    10. Aric Almirola, +96
    11. Ryan Blaney, +89
    12. William Byron, +60
    13. Erik Jones, +54
    14. Kyle Larson, +46
    15. Clint Bowyer, +12
    16. Jimmie Johnson, tied with Ryan Newman

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 11.

  • Tyler Reddick rebounds to top-five finish

    Tyler Reddick rebounds to top-five finish

    In what was a whirlwind kind of day for Tyler Reddick and his No. 2 Anderson’s Maple Syrup crew, Reddick was able to rebound to a top-five finish at The Glen.

    It all started on the first lap of the Xfinity Series Zippo 200 when Reddick missed the turn in the inner loop and had to stop before getting back on track. He would eventually have to make a pit stop to clean the grass off his grille.

    Despite the Lap 1 incident and making a pit stop, the California native rebounded to a ninth-place stage finish in the first stage.

    For Stage 2, Reddick restarted in the fifth position and stayed consistent throughout the stage until trouble rose again. After a restart on Lap 37, he once again went off the track, but this time it was in Turn 6. This cost the Richard Childress Racing driver several positions with Reddick finishing 15th in Stage 2.

    Hoping to have a smooth third and final stage, it all went south again for Reddick on Lap 47, when he went through the inner loop once more. This sent the RCR driver all the way back to 20th.

    Even though Reddick had trouble throughout the race, he caught some lucky breaks by having multiple restarts near the end of the Zippo 200. On the final restart of the race on Lap 75, he restarted third, having a shot to win.

    Eventually, Reddick finally brought home the No. 2 Chevy in the fifth position.

    “It was just a crazy set of circumstances,” Reddick described to MRN Radio. “I mean, I never remember a race where I made so many mistakes and still finish sixth. Just crazy.”

    Due to AJ Allmendinger’s disqualification after the post-race inspection, Reddick was credited with a fifth-place finish. It was his 15th top-five finish of the season. Reddick is currently the championship points leader over Christopher Bell by 32 points.

  • Chase Elliott wins Pole at Watkins Glen, Hendrick sweeps top spots

    Chase Elliott wins Pole at Watkins Glen, Hendrick sweeps top spots

    Chase Elliott won the provisional pole at Watkins Glen Saturday evening with a lap speed of 127.297 mph. Hendrick Motorsports was able to continue their success in qualifying as teammate William Byron will join Elliott on the front row.

    “Our Napa Chevy was fast there, which is nice,” Elliott said to MRN Radio. “It cooled off a lot and picked up a lot of pace from what it had in practice. Just trying to find the limits of all that. It was a good effort, felt like there was a couple of areas where I could get a little bit more but you always want to get more. We’ll see.”

    Kyle Busch (126.976 mph), Martin Truex Jr. (126.861 mph) and Kyle Larson (126.779) rounded out the top five.

    “It was good,” Larson said concerning his qualifying effort. “I feel like I’ve been running as good as I could today. Just off on speed compared to the No. 9 (Chase Elliott) and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch). We got closer there in qualifying and felt like I ran a good lap. I just gave up time in the Carousel. I’ve got to work on that on my end. But, it was a good effort for our McDonald’s team.”

    There was one minor incident in qualifying with Erik Jones blowing a right front tire going into Turn 1. NASCAR allowed Jones to redo his qualifying lap.

    Final inspection will take place on Sunday morning before the race.

    Starting Line Up
    Watkins Glen International
    Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Saturday, 8/3/2019 @ 07:56 PM Eastern

    1 Chase Elliott
    2 William Byron
    3 Kyle Busch
    4 Martin Truex Jr
    5 Kyle Larson
    6 Denny Hamlin
    7 Kurt Busch
    8 Jimmie Johnson
    9 Aric Almirola
    10 Brad Keselowski
    11 Michael McDowell
    12 Ricky Stenhouse Jr
    13 Clint Bowyer
    14 Erik Jones
    15 Kevin Harvick
    16 Chris Buescher
    17 Alex Bowman
    18 Daniel Suarez
    19 Ryan Blaney
    20 Matt DiBenedetto
    21 Joey Logano
    22 Paul Menard
    23 Daniel Hemric #
    24 Parker Kligerman(i)
    25 Ryan Newman
    26 Matt Tifft #
    27 Ty Dillon
    28 Austin Dillon
    29 Ryan Preece #
    30 Bubba Wallace
    31 David Ragan
    32 Ross Chastain(i)
    33 Corey LaJoie
    34 Landon Cassill(i)
    35 Cody Ware(i)
    36 Josh Bilicki(i)
    37 Reed Sorenson

    The Go Bowling at The Glen is scheduled to get underway shortly after 3:00 p.m./ET on NBCSN and MRN Radio.

  • Cindric holds off Allmendinger in thriller for first career win

    Cindric holds off Allmendinger in thriller for first career win

    Austin Cindric earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen in a last-lap thriller. It was an intense battle after Cindric started on the outside pole for the Zippo 200 and made a gusty pit call with 10 laps to go. He also had to dodge a near wreck off a restart, going from seventh to second, then trading the lead back and forth with AJ Allmendinger, to get to victory lane.

    “That was nuts, I didn’t know how that was going to work out,” Cindric said to MRN Radio describing his near miss. “Sometimes you have to take advantage of it and we executed all day.”

    All-time Xfinity Series winner Kyle Busch was back in the field for his first race since Texas back in March. Busch sat on the pole, continuing his impressive streak of earning one pole every year in the Xfinity Series. It was his first pole since Bristol last August.

    Stages were broken up into 20/20/42 laps to make up the 82 laps distance.

    Several drivers had issues before the race started, however. Cole Custer went to a backup car after crashing in Friday’s practice session. Vinnie Miller, who spun in qualifying early Saturday morning, couldn’t get the car started and was pushed behind the wall. The 74 of Dan Corcoran was also pushed behind the wall, before returning to the race later.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20

    While Kyle Busch checked out, Tyler Reddick missed the inner loop on the first lap. Many other drivers like Chase Briscoe, Michael Annett, Alex Labbe, Brandon Jones and Ray Black Jr. also had issues with grass on their grille, forcing them to pit to clean it off. Josh Bilicki, in the No. 93, went spinning around in Turn 7, but the race remained green.

    Miller’s issues continued as he went out for the rest of the race on Lap 8 with an ignition problem. J.J. Yeley also went to the garage on the same lap.

    The first caution flew on Lap 10 for the No. 35 of Joey Gase who stalled in Turn 1. During the caution, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Custer, Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Briscoe, Reddick and Annett, along with others, pit.

    Allgaier’s name would come up again on Lap 14, as Ross Chastain made contact with him in Turn 3, which sent Allgaier toward the tire barrier to bring out the caution again. Allgaier would later retaliate by sending Chastain into the tire barrier, which would end Chastain’s day.

    No other incidents took place for rest of the stage, other than Cindric pitting with three to go.

    Busch went on to take the stage win after leading every lap. Christopher Bell, Jeremy Clements, Justin Haley, Blaney, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Ryan Sieg, Reddick, Gaulding rounded out the top-10 stage finishers.

    Tommy Joe Martins and Clements were penalized for a crew member over the wall too soon under the stage break.

    Stage 2: Lap 23 – Lap 40

    After staying out, Bell and Blaney would regain the front spots with Stage 1 winner Busch restarting 15th.

    Not much happened in the second stage, aside from Cindric and Custer going side-by-side with each other in the inner loop with Custer getting the worst of it by collecting grass on his grille, and a possible tire rub as well. Custer would end up pitting to clean the grass off his grille.

    Another major issue broke out for Busch when he went to make a pass on race leader Blaney in the inner loop. Busch could not stop and was going toward the wall in the carousel after what turned out to be a broken control arm. This sent Busch behind the wall for the rest of the race and he ended up with a disappointing 32nd place finish. This would bring out the caution on Lap 33.

    Allmendinger took the lead off the restart on Lap 37 and held on for the rest of the stage to take the stage win. Blaney, Preece, Cindric, Briscoe, Nemechek, Jones, Allgaier, Haley and Bell claimed the remaining top-10 spots for Stage 2. Briscoe and Nemechek would later pit under the stage break.

    Stage 3: Lap 43 – Lap 82

    Like Stage 1, Reddick once again went through the inner loop on Lap 47 and fell back to 20th. Sieg also went around in the inner loop as well after making contact with Nemechek.

    Green flag pit stops started to occur on Lap 48 with Blaney pitting from second. His teammate, Cindric would pit one lap later. This continued until 20 to go with race leader Allgaier being the final driver to pit. In what would be the battle for the lead, Allmendinger pitted from first on Lap 51 but had a slow stop with him coming out behind Cindric.

    After Allgaier pitted, Cindric would cycle out as the race leader. A thrilling battle took place with Allmendinger and Blaney a few laps before with Allmendinger getting the better of it.

    While it looked liked Cindric would run away with the race win, a caution came out on Lap 68 for Garrett Smithley’s tire carcass that was left in the inner loop and eventually picked up by the 99 of Cody Ware. Right before the yellow, Tommy Joe Martins went spinning around in Turn 1.

    In what seemed like a questionable strategy, Cindric pitted from the lead under the yellow for fresh tires. He would restart sixth with Allmendinger as the race leader.

    A wreck with Haley and Bilicki occurred on the restart in Turn 1 with contact from Briscoe, which brought out the caution again.

    A late-race restart took place with seven laps to go. Bell almost went spinning around after contact with Allgaier that caused a logjam in the esses. This also saw Cindric going from sixth to second after the incident.

    This later produced a thrilling battle for the win between Allmendinger and Cindric. Both would trade the lead with each other with less than three laps remaining, with Cindric at one point, almost going off course after a shot from Allmendinger. Both would be side-by-side at the finish on the white flag lap.

    Eventually, Cindric had the better car and pulled away from Allmendinger to earn his first Xfinity Series career win at Watkins Glen International.

    “This is awesome,” Cindric said. “I’ve got so many people to think. You fans are awesome, thank you for coming to Watkins Glen every single year. This is why you come. I’m so pumped.”

    Cindric led twice for eight laps to pick up his first career win. There were seven cautions for 16 laps with nine lead changes among six leaders.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series continues the road course season by heading to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, August 10.

    UPDATE: Allmendinger’s car failed post-race inspection after a rear-height violation and he will be credited with a 37th place finish. The Kaulig Racing team has until noon Monday to appeal the decision.

    Xfinity Series Race Number 20
    Race Results for the 25th Annual Zippo 200 at The Glen – Saturday, August 3, 2019
    Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road
    Total Race Length – 82 Laps – 200.9 Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos S3Pos Pts Status
    1 2 22 Austin Cindric MoneyLion Ford 82 0 3 0 48 Running
    2 4 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 82 2 9 0 46 Running
    3 9 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 82 0 7 0 38 Running
    4 3 12 Ryan Blaney(i) Pirtek Ford 82 5 1 0 0 Running
    5 5 2 Tyler Reddick Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 32 Running
    6 6 98 Chase Briscoe # Ford Performance Ford 82 0 4 0 38 Running
    7 13 0 Cole Custer GoBowling Ford 82 0 0 0 30 Running
    8 14 1 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 29 Running
    9 18 9 Noah Gragson # West Herr Auto Group Chevrolet 82 7 0 0 32 Running
    10 8 8 Ryan Preece(i) Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 82 6 2 0 0 Running
    11 11 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 82 3 0 0 34 Running
    12 20 23 John Hunter Nemechek # Digital Ally Chevrolet 82 10 5 0 32 Running
    13 23 5 Scott Heckert Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 24 Running
    14 12 11 Justin Haley # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 82 4 8 0 33 Running
    15 15 8 Gray Gaulding GPSPURE.com Chevrolet 82 9 0 0 24 Running
    16 21 90 Alex Labbe DGM Racing Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 21 Running
    17 10 19 Brandon Jones First Foundation Toyota 82 0 6 0 25 Running
    18 27 86 Brandon Brown # Vero Tru Social Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 19 Running
    19 30 36 Josh Williams Star Brite/Star Tron/Sleep Well Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 18 Running
    20 28 1 Stephen Leicht teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 17 Running
    21 26 99 Cody Ware Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 16 Running
    22 24 7 Ray Black II ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimneys/Scuba Life Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 15 Running
    23 31 42 Stanton Barrett(i) Horseheads Brewing Toyota 82 0 0 0 0 Running
    24 29 0 Garrett Smithley teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 80 0 0 0 13 Running
    25 34 74 Dan Corcoran(i) Woobie Shoes/Threatcon 5 Clothing Chevrolet 75 0 0 0 0 Running
    26 16 93 Josh Bilicki Lemons of Love Chevrolet 72 0 0 0 11 Accident
    27 33 15 BJ McLeod teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 67 0 0 0 10 DVP
    28 22 66 Tommy Joe Martins Gusset.com Toyota 65 0 0 0 9 Accident
    29 32 52 David Starr Chevrolet 57 0 0 0 8 Fuel Pump
    30 17 39 Ryan Sieg Midstate Chevrolet 47 8 10 0 11 Accident
    31 1 18 Kyle Busch(i) iK9 Toyota 35 1 0 0 0 Suspension
    32 35 13 Chad Finchum MBM Motorsports Toyota 30 0 0 0 5 Brakes
    33 19 4 Ross Chastain(i) Buckle Up New York Chevrolet 19 0 0 0 0 Accident
    34 36 35 Joey Gase MBM Motorsports Toyota 9 0 0 0 3 Transmission
    35 25 38 JJ Yeley(i) RSS Racing Chevrolet 6 0 0 0 0 Overheating
    36 37 78 Vinnie Miller Pit Viper Sunglasses Chevrolet 0 0 0 0 1 Ignition
    37 7 10 AJ Allmendinger Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 1 Running
  • FedEx Racing Express Facts – Watkins Glen

    FedEx Racing Express Facts – Watkins Glen

    Denny Hamlin
    #11 FedEx Cares Toyota
    Joe Gibbs Racing

    Race Info:
    Race: GoBowling at The Glen
    Date/Time: August 4/3:00 p.m. ET
    Distance: 90 laps/220.5 miles
    Track Length: 2.45 miles
    Track Shape: 11-Turn Road Course
    2018 Winner: Chase Elliott

    Express Notes:

    Pocono Recap: Denny Hamlin notched his third win of the 2019 season Sunday in a nail-biting, overtime finish at Pocono Raceway. The #11 FedEx Ground Toyota was low on fuel in the closing laps but had enough juice to get Hamlin across the finish line and into Victory Lane – with two teammates behind him for a 1-2-3 Joe Gibbs Racing finish. The FedEx Ground Camry was fast all weekend, and crew chief Chris Gabehart called a race strategy that allowed the team to pick up points at each stage end and be out front when the final laps ticked down. After running in the top five for most of the race, Hamlin took over the lead at the start of the third and final stage. He led for 12 laps before coming to pit road under a caution to take right-sides tires and fuel. He later passed two teammates – Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones – to regain the lead with 16 scheduled laps remaining. Despite being low on fuel, he held onto the lead for the remaining regulation laps, plus three overtime laps. Jones and Truex Jr. followed Hamlin across the finish for a 1-2-3 team sweep. This victory has now placed Hamlin as fourth in the championship standings and fourth in playoff points.

    Watkins Glen Paint Scheme Reveal: On Friday, July 26, Denny Hamlin unveiled a special FedEx Cares paint scheme in conjunction with FedEx announcing its FedEx Cares 50 by 50 initiative, which has the goal of positively impacting 50 million people by the company’s 50th anniversary in 2023. The new FedEx Cares paint scheme will showcase the successful and longstanding relationship between FedEx and Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit organization working to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries. Denny and Safe Kids will conduct a special event on Sunday, August 4, with kids from the Watkins Glen Kids Club to speak about the importance of pedestrian safety as kids get set to return to school in the coming weeks. Safe Kids Worldwide will also be featured as the “Along for the Ride” organization on the #11 car’s B-posts.

    Watkins Glen Preview: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will head next to Watkins Glen International for another weekend of road course racing, with the event scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 4. With one win to his name at The Glen, Hamlin and team will be looking for another strong showing as they seek the team’s fourth win of the 2019 Cup Series season.

    Hamlin Watkins Glen Statistics:
    Track: Watkins Glen International
    Races: 13
    Wins: 1 (2016)
    Poles: 1 (2018)
    Top-5: 3
    Top-10: 6
    Laps Led: 12
    Avg. Start: 13.2
    Avg. Finish 17.3

    Hamlin Conversation:

    Your team has been displaying some great performances these past few weeks. What has been the difference maker?

    “We did everything right to win the race in Pocono. We made the right calls, had good restarts when we needed them and overall had a really smooth race. I was doing everything I could to save fuel at the end, and we had a fast FedEx Toyota. We displayed that when we are connecting on all levels, we are a very competitive team.”

    Are you excited about going back to road course racing at Watkins Glen?

    “Road course racing is a different challenge, and our team is preparing hard to put us in the best position to win. With a strong effort at Sonoma, we are confident in our abilities and are looking forward to the challenge that awaits us at The Glen.”

  • Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Watkins Glen

    Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Watkins Glen

    WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL (2.45-MILE ROAD COURSE)
    LOCATION: WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK
    EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 22 OF 36)
    TUNE IN: 3 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, AUG. 4 (NBCSN/MRN/SIRIUSXM)

    Chase Elliott
    No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
    Driver Chase Elliott   Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
    Age 23                       Resides Dawsonville, Georgia

    2019 Season
    8th in standings
    21 starts
    1 win
    2 pole positions
    6 top-five finishes
    7 top-10 finishes
    409 laps led

    Career
    134 starts
    4 wins
    6 pole positions
    39 top-five finishes
    66 top-10 finishes
    1,652 laps led

    Track Career
    3 starts
    1 win
    0 pole positions
    1 top-five finish
    1 top-10 finish
    61 laps led

    Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media on Saturday, Aug. 3, at 12:15 p.m. local time in the media center at Watkins Glen International.

    2018 ROAD COURSE SUCCESS: Chase Elliott proved his road course prowess in 2018 after collecting his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Watkins Glen International. The win made Elliott the ninth-youngest first-time winner in the Cup Series (22 years, eight months, eight days) and the youngest road-course winner of all time. In 2018, he was one of only three drivers to finish inside the top 10 in all three road course races (Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Charlotte “roval”) and he also garnered the second-most laps led on road courses (52) behind only Martin Truex Jr. (71) last season. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native held the best average finish on road courses last season (3.67) and his 141 points collected on those tracks were 20 more than any other driver. He is also tied with teammate Jimmie Johnson for the most top-10 finishes in Stage 1 and Stage 2 on road courses since 2018 with six.

    ROAD COURSE STATS: The No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver is set to make his ninth Cup Series start on a road course this weekend. In his previous eight starts on a road course, he has collected one win, two top-five finishes, four top-10s and a total of 64 laps led. He has started inside the top five in each of the last five road course races.

    WATKINS GLEN STATS: On Sunday, Elliott will make his fourth Cup Series start at Watkins Glen International. In the Dawsonville, Georgia, native’s previous three starts at The Glen, he averages a finishing position of 9.0 – the third-best average of active drivers. Last season at the 2.45-mile road course, Elliott qualified third and led a total of 52 laps en route to a dramatic finish as he held off Truex down the stretch to bring home his first career Cup Series win.

    NAPA AT THE GLEN: For the first time in his Cup Series career, Elliott will pilot the blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet at Watkins Glen. The Atlanta-based company will serve as majority sponsor for the driver and the No. 9 team for a total of 26 NASCAR Cup Series races this year.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will celebrate his 44th birthday on Monday, Aug. 5. Last season, the crew chief celebrated his birthday in Victory Lane. He grew up just down the road from historic Daytona International Speedway, where he got his start in racing turning wrenches on the go-karts of a childhood friend, Casey Yunick. Yunick is the grandson of legendary car builder and mechanic Smokey Yunick.

    DALE JR DOWNLOAD: This week, Elliott was the special guest on the “Dale Jr. Download.” He talked Dawsonville living, flying, world travel and more. Dirty Mo Media released the podcast on Monday evening and a condensed version was shown on NBCSN Tuesday evening.

    HOOTERS SPIRITS: On Monday, Hooters announced that Elliott would pilot the No. 9 Hooters Spirits Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. The scheme comes ahead of the Fall 2019 launch of Hooters’ premium line of spirits that will be available at Hooters restaurants and select retailers.

    HEADING TO NASHVILLE: Wednesday, Elliott headed to Nashville to promote the upcoming Bristol night race. He joined the Tennessee National Guard in a Blackhawk and met with members of the military before heading to Fairgrounds Speedway to give them and media members a ride around the track in the Bristol Motor Speedway pace car.

    William Byron
    No. 24 Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
    Driver William Byron   Hometown Charlotte, North Carolina
    Age 21                         Resides Charlotte, North Carolina

    2019 Season
    12th in standings
    21 starts
    0 wins
    3 pole positions
    2 top-five finishes
    7 top-10 finishes
    180 laps led

    Career
    57 starts
    0 wins
    3 pole positions
    2 top-five finishes
    11 top-10 finishes
    241 laps led

    Track Career
    1 start
    0 wins
    0 pole positions
    0 top-five finishes
    1 top-10 finish
    0 laps led

    William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media on Saturday, Aug. 3, at noon local time in the media center at Watkins Glen International.

    HEATING UP IN THE SUMMER: Collecting his second NASCAR Cup Series career top-five finish this past weekend at Pocono Raceway, William Byron’s success in the summer months hasn’t slowed down. In the last five races, the sophomore driver has the second-best average finish in the Cup field, 8.8, which includes two top-five finishes, three top-10s and four top-15s. In those five races, he has continued to put ground between himself and the playoff bubble spot, now holding a 62-point gap in 12th in the point standings with only five races remaining before the playoffs begin.

    HENDRICK AUTOGUARD RETURNS: Returning for the fourth time on board the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the 2019 season, the Hendrick Autoguard colors will adorn Byron’s ride for this weekend’s road course race at Watkins Glen International. Available at Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships, Hendrick Autoguard includes additional individualized maintenance products like tire and wheel protection, paintless dent repair, an oil change program, a mechanical repair service contract, flexible maintenance and others. The program affords customers numerous options to get the maximum value from their vehicle with the highest level of service in the industry. All Autoguard vehicle protection programs are available as single products or value-packaged for additional savings. For more, visit the Hendrick Autoguard website.

    WATKINS GLEN WHIZ: This weekend’s race will mark Byron’s second NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen and his fourth NASCAR national series start at the road course. In his three previous national starts at the 2.45-mile track, Byron has never finished outside the top-10 running order. Last year, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native had one of the best races of his Cup rookie season, qualifying 16th and racing to a solid eighth-place finish at Watkins Glen. Previous to his Cup start, he made his Watkins Glen debut in the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race, starting second and finishing seventh. He raced at the venue in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2017, qualifying 17th and crossing the line 10th.

    KNAUS WANTS WATKINS GLEN WIN: This weekend’s race marks the third track of four this season where No. 24 team crew chief Chad Knaus has yet to claim a victory, with only the Charlotte Motor Speedway “roval” remaining this year. Calling the shots for 17 races at the 2.45-mile road course, third with Jimmie Johnson in 2012 is the closest Knaus has come to taking home a checkered flag. In those 17 starts, the veteran crew chief has two poles (2004 and 2009), three top-five finishes and seven top-10s. As an extra incentive, if Knaus is able to secure his first victory at The Glen this upcoming weekend, it will come the day before he celebrates his 48th birthday.

    RUNNER-UP RESULT: Byron is one of four Cup Series drivers who have finished second in a race in 2019 but have yet to capture the checkered flag. He is also ranked third among the Cup field for most laps led (180) without a win.

    HOME SWEET HOME: One member of the No. 24 team is excited to make the trip to Upstate New York this weekend – primary hauler driver Mark Ellis. Hailing from Utica, New York, which is less 150 miles from Watkins Glen International, Ellis graduated from Proctor High School before pursuing his racing career. Other than NASCAR, Ellis has also spent time working in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), where he was an engine builder on Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel team, ultimately winning a world championship before heading back to the NASCAR circuit.

    POCONO PLAYBACK: Despite starting from the 31st position due to issues in pre-race technical inspection, Byron began his march through the field last weekend at Pocono Raceway early on until the handling of his Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 swung to the extremely tight side and hindered his progress through traffic. Finding himself back within the top-10 running order at the start of the final stage, Knaus made the call for two right-side tires when the caution came out with fewer than 45 laps remaining. Told to save fuel aggressively to make it to the end of the race, Byron maintained his position within the top 10 until a caution with six laps to go changed the complexion of the race. Despite being close on fuel but restarting from the sixth position, Knaus gave Byron the green light to “go all out” for the final laps. Byron was able to move within the top five and crossed the finish line with a track-best fourth-place finish, running out of fuel as he crossed the finish line.

    Jimmie Johnson
    No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
    Driver Jimmie Johnson   Hometown El Cajon, California
    Age 43                             Resides Charlotte, North Carolina

    2019 Season
    17th in standings
    21 starts
    0 wins
    1 pole position
    3 top-five finishes
    8 top-10 finishes
    81 laps led

    Career
    636 starts
    83 wins
    36 pole positions
    227 top-five finishes
    360 top-10 finishes
    18,784 laps led

    Track Career
    17 starts
    0 wins
    1 pole position
    4 top-five finishes
    8 top-10 finishes
    18 laps led

    DANIELS ON THE BOX: On Monday, Hendrick Motorsports named Cliff Daniels as the new crew chief for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. Daniels, 31, won the 2016 Cup Series championship as Johnson’s race engineer. The Smithfield, Virginia, native joined the No. 48 team in December 2014, moved into Hendrick Motorsports’ competition systems group following the 2018 season and rejoined the No. 48 team as race engineer last month at Sonoma Raceway.

    MORE CLIFF: Daniels started competing in Bandolero cars as a 9-year-old. As a child, he worked on cars out of the family garage in Smithfield, following his father Charlie Daniels, a Late Model driver at Langley Speedway in the 1980s and ’90s, into racing. The younger Daniels was winning Legends races at Langley in his teens before pursuing a mechanical engineering degree at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. After graduating, he joined RAB Racing in 2011 and then moved to Stewart-Haas Racing, where he served as the race engineer of the No. 14 Chevrolet driven by Tony Stewart from 2013 to 2014 before coming to Hendrick Motorsports.

    NO STRANGER TO THE PIT BOX: Daniels has been sitting on top of the No. 48 pit box for quite some time. Beginning in the 2015 season, Daniels served as the race engineer of the No. 48 Chevrolet and worked closely under the guidance of champion crew chief Chad Knaus. During that timeframe, the No. 48 team had much success, accumulating 13 wins, 31 top-five finishes, 60 top-10s, two pole positions, 1,552 laps led and most notably a record-tying seventh NASCAR Cup Series Championship in 2016 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    ROAD COURSE STAGE POINTS: Since 2018, Johnson has six top-10 stage finishes on road courses, which is tied for the most in the Cup Series during that span. Last year at Watkins Glen, he finished second and 11th in the first two stages and was on target for a great finish when a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes relegated him to a 30th-place result.

    PUSHY TEAMMATE: Johnson is always willing to lend a helping hand to a teammate in need, as he did for Chase Elliott at the end of the Watkins Glen event last year. Elliott had just scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win before running out of gas during his celebratory burnout. Johnson came to the aid of his young teammate and pushed him back to the start-finish line, where he could collect his checkered flag, and then got out to congratulate the first-time winner on his accomplishment.

    PLAYOFF PICTURE: With five races remaining until the playoffs, Johnson is currently 12 points behind the cutoff 16th position. In his career, he owns a top-10 starting position at Watkins Glen (7.9) and has earned eight top-10 finishes at the New York road course, including four top-five results. Johnson’s best finish at The Glen is third, as it remains one of the four tracks where he has yet to score a win along with Chicagoland Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    HOMESTATE GUY: No. 48 team underneath mechanic Thomas Heslink, 28, hails from Clymer, New York and considers Watkins Glen his hometown track. Heslink graduated from Clymer Central High School and the University of Northwestern Ohio before joining the team late in the 2018 season.

    JOHNSON AND HELMET OF HOPE WINNERS: The Jimmie Johnson Foundation announced the five recipients of this year’s $25,000 Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope grants this week. The final five were selected via a week-long public vote and more than 215,000 votes were cast for the 10 semi-finalists during the voting period. The five recipients are: Art with a Heart in Indianapolis; High Mountain Youth Project in Ruidoso, New Mexico; Immigrant Family Services Institute in Roslindale, Massachusetts; Lakeshore Elementary School PTA in San Francisco; and Pilot Light in Chicago. For more information, go to www.JimmieJohnsonFoundation.org.

    HELMET SWAP STORIES: Johnson has been documenting his history in the sport via a video series titled “The Archives,” which lives on his social media feeds. This week’s release was a story about the late Nicky Hayden, and his helmet swap with the Kentucky Kid. Fans can view the video on Johnson’s Twitter feed.

    Alex Bowman
    No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
    Driver Alex Bowman   Hometown Tucson, Arizona
    Age 26                         Resides Charlotte, North Carolina

    2019 Season
    11th in standings
    21 starts
    1 win
    0 pole positions
    4 top-five finishes
    6 top-10 finishes
    182 laps led

    Career
    138 starts
    1 win
    2 pole positions
    7 top-five finishes
    20 top-10 finishes
    456 laps led

    Track Career
    3 starts
    0 wins
    0 pole positions
    0 top-five finishes
    0 top-10 finishes
    0 laps led

    Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media on Saturday, Aug. 3, at 9 a.m. local time in the media center at Watkins Glen International.

    AXALTA ON BOARD: This weekend marks the ninth of 12 events in which the Axalta colors will adorn Alex Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings will be on board this weekend in Watkins Glen International and then again at Michigan International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and ISM Raceway later this season. Axalta unveiled a new Axalta Racing website last year that includes plenty of behind-the-scenes content, photos, and videos. Check out Bowman’s page here.

    ACCELERATE THE CURE WINNING DESIGN: Axalta has partnered with CARSTAR, North America’s premier network of independently owned collision repair facilities, for this weekend’s event at Watkins Glen. The CARSTAR logo will be placed on the roof and television panel of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Through the “Accelerate the Cure” contest with cystic fibrosis (CF) chapters across North America, individuals affected by CF had the chance to design Bowman’s helmet for this weekend. On Saturday, Aug. 3, at 9 a.m. local time, the winning helmet design will be unveiled in the WGI media center.

    WATKINS GLEN PERFORMANCE: Bowman has three previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen. His best finish at the track came in August 2018 when he finished 14th with the No. 88 team. In 2013, he made one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the 2.45-mile road course and finished 13th after qualifying 19th.

    ROAD COURSE CAREER: Since 2018, the driver has averaged a finish of 10.25 on road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series. This number ranks sixth on the list of average finishes for drivers on a road course since last season. The 26-year-old hasn’t finished outside the top 14 in a road course event since June of last year. Bowman’s best road-course finish of fourth came at the Charlotte Motor Speedway “roval” in September 2018. The driver of the No. 88 Chevy has captured five top-10 stage finishes in road course events since last season, which ranks him second behind three drivers tied for first with six top-10 stage finishes in that span.

    STATS AT THE GLEN: No. 88 team crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots for the fifth time at the New York-based road course this weekend. The Bark River, Michigan, native’s resumé includes three top-15 finishes. Ives’ best result at the track came back in 2015 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 11th after starting seventh in the 90-lap event. Last year at Watkins Glen, Ives led Bowman to a 14th-place finish. The crew chief has two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the track, capturing one top-five finish and two top-10s. Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 team from 2006-2012 and captured one pole (2009), two third-place finishes and four top 10s at Watkins Glen.

    HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CAREER NUMBERS: Since Bowman’s first start with Hendrick Motorsports at New Hampshire in 2016, the driver has made 67 starts and has two pole wins (Phoenix in 2016, Daytona 500 in 2018). The Tucson, Arizona, native claimed his first Cup Series victory at Chicagoland Speedway back in June. The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet has claimed seven top-five finishes, 20 top-10s and 453 laps led with Hendrick Motorsports in that span.

    BACK HOME IN NEW YORK: Andrew Seamans, the interior specialist on the No. 88  team, is going back to his home state of New York this weekend. Seamans grew up in Liverpool, New York, which is approximately 80 miles from Watkins Glen International. The 32-year-old attended college at SUNY Oswego in Oswego, New York, and has a degree in informational science. Prior to joining Hendrick Motorsports, Seamans worked with Kasey Kahne Racing and Kyle Larson Racing in the World of Outlaws Series.

    Hendrick Motorsports

    HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT WATKINS GLEN: In 33 races at Watkins Glen, Hendrick Motorsports has seven wins, six pole positions, 19 top-five finishes and 37 top-10s. Chase Elliott earned the organization’s most recent victory at the road course when he won the event last season to capture his first career NASCAR Cup Series trip to Victory Lane.

    ON THIS DATE: The last time a Cup race fell on Aug. 4 was in 2013, when Kasey Kahne won at Pocono Raceway. Following him to the finish line was Jeff Gordon in second, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in fifth and Jimmie Johnson in 13th. During that race, the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers led 118 of the 160-lap race (74 percent).

    ROCKING THE ROAD COURSES: Hendrick Motorsports owns the all-time record for the most wins (16), poles (17), top-five finishes (58), top-10s (104) and laps led (1,512) on road courses.

    PLAYOFF POSITIONING: Three Hendrick Motorsports drivers are currently in position to make the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at the end of the regular season. Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman have essentially locked in their spots by finding Victory Lane and rank eighth and 11th, respectively, in the standings. William Byron is currently 12th, with Jimmie Johnson 17th, just 12 points behind the cutoff line.

    ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 254 race victories, 221 pole positions, 1,060 top-five finishes and 1,815 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led more than 68,500 laps since 1984.

    QUOTABLE /
    Chase Elliott on going back to Watkins Glen after his 2018 win:
    “Any time you run good somewhere, whether you win it or not, it’s always nice to go back. It makes you feel a little more confident. It will be a special weekend going back. That was a big moment for us last year and hopefully we can do that well again.”

    Elliott on his first win:
    “Last year’s win at Watkins Glen was just such a relief. It was so good to finally get the first one for not only me but my guys, too. We had been working on three years and I hadn’t won one, we gave ourselves a good opportunity that day and I was able to get it done.”

    William Byron on Watkins Glen versus Sonoma:
    “Sonoma was a good race for us, but Watkins Glen is really fast and narrow compared to that track. I think with this package, the track is going to be a lot faster. I’m excited to see what that’s all about. We can translate some stuff from our setup in Sonoma and I think it will really be strong for Watkins Glen. I’m excited about that, for sure.”

    Byron on what he learned at Spring Mountain:
    “Before Sonoma we got the chance to drive the Chevy cars out at Spring Mountain. It was helpful for me to work on hitting my marks and being consistent every lap, but it really helped us with overall communication. (No. 24 team crew chief) Chad (Knaus) could really understand better what I was talking about with the car and what I needed, and I think it paid off in Sonoma. We wanted to put a lot of importance into the road course races this year because it’s really like every other race. You can win the race and lock yourself into the playoffs just like the others. I don’t think a lot of guys really prepare completely for them since there’s so few road courses on the schedule, but I think that’s starting to change with the Charlotte ‘roval’ being added into the playoffs. There’s now more of an importance on road courses and we want to make sure we’re as ready as we can be.”

    Jimmie Johnson on the rest of the regular season:
    “Our focus and No. 1 priority right now is to make the playoffs. Our road course game has been pretty good the past few outings, and with stage racing it adds a huge element of strategy, so we will be looking at this weekend from a lot of different angles. Every point, every lap counts from now until the end of the regular season. We are looking at everything. I have a lot of faith in (crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) and in the No. 48 team, so I know we can do this, we just need to execute.”

    No. 48 team crew chief Cliff Daniels on his new role:
    “I know this is the first weekend I will be calling a race as a crew chief but I am confident in myself and the team. The cool part about it is that Hendrick Motorsports has a very good recent history of success at The Glen. (No. 9 team crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) and Chase (Elliott) and the No. 9 team winning last year, they had a fast car last year and did a great job with strategy. I was a part of the No. 48 team with Jimmie as he was two turns away from winning at Charlotte on the ‘roval’ last season but that just didn’t work out for us. Jimmie has so much experience of driving cars and trucks on different types of tracks, so he is super adaptable on road courses. I have a lot of notes to rely on and many resources to pull from, so I will be studying up heading into the weekend and have a good plan going into it.”

    Alex Bowman on Watkins Glen versus Sonoma:
    “Even though the tracks are pretty different, I think Watkins Glen is probably a little easier than Sonoma from a driver’s standpoint. I am excited to get there and unload a fast car that (No. 88 team crew chief) Greg (Ives) and the guys have put together. I know our road course stuff is really strong, so it should be fun.”

    Bowman on wearing a special helmet:
    “This weekend I will be wearing a special helmet that was designed by an individual with cystic fibrosis. This individual won the ‘Accelerate the Cure’ contest that was promoted through CARSTAR and cystic fibrosis chapters across North America. I can’t wait to unveil the winning helmet design on Saturday morning at Watkins Glen.”

  • Team Chevy at The Glen: Team Chevy Advance

    Team Chevy at The Glen: Team Chevy Advance

    TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
    GO BOWLING AT THE GLEN
    WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
    WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK
    AUGUST 4, 2019

    BOWTIE BULLETS:
    CHEVROLET LEADS THE WAY:
    Chevrolet has 18 wins in 36 Monster Energy NASCR Cup Series races on the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course – more than any other manufacturer. Chevrolet drivers have been successful on the two road courses currently on the MENCS schedule with a combined 29 wins at Watkins Glen International and Sonoma Raceway.

    DRIVE THROUGH HISTORY:
    Chevrolet earned the victory at the inaugural NASCAR Grand National Series-sanctioned race at Watkins Glen International when Buck Baker drove his ’57 Chevy – nicknamed the “Black Widow” — to Victory Lane from the pole in the 100-miler on August 4, 1957. Baker went on to win the championship with 10 wins and six poles in 40 races. His season race earnings totaled $30,763.

    REMEMBERING BIG WIN A YEAR AGO:
    Chase Elliott notched his first career MENCS win on August 5, 2018, at The Glen after starting third. “It’s something I’ll never forget,” said Elliott, who delivered the 250th win for Hendrick Motorsports. It was a long time coming for Elliott, who won in his 99th start after recording eight runner-up finishes. At 22 years, 8 months, 8 days old, Elliott is the youngest MENCS winner at the track. His father, Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, also earned his first Cup win on a road course (Riverside in 1983).

    NEARING ANOTHER MILESTONE:
    This weekend, Chevrolet is aiming to surpass 4,000 top-five finishes dating to 1949. The Bowtie brand has 3,997 top fives heading to Watkins Glen. It added two to the total at Pocono Raceway.

    TUNE-IN:
    NBCSN will telecast the 90-lap/221-mile Go Bowling at The Glen live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, August 4. The NBCSports Gold app will stream the race and live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

    BY THE NUMBERS:
    * Victories by current Chevrolet drivers at Pocono Raceway:
    Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1, won in August 2018.
    * A Team Chevy driver has sat on the pole at Watkins Glen 14 times.
    * Chevrolet drivers have recorded 62 top-five and 125 top-10 finishes at the track.
    * Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1, maintains a streak of 32 consecutive races running at the finish.
    * Like Elliott, AJ Allmendinger picked up his first MENCS win in 2014 at the track, driving a Chevrolet.
    * Career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with 2,075 laps completed and 262 laps led at Watkins Glen.
    * Chevrolet has won 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships.

    QUOTABLE QUOTES:
    KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 – 7th IN STANDINGS:
    “Looking forward to Watkins Glen; it’s a historical track that with Formula 1, INDYCAR, Sports Cars and NASCAR, it’s one of those cool iconic tracks that I have in my top-five to try and get a win. I’ve got a second-place finish, some Xfinity wins and it’s a good place to get back on track, so to speak for, the No. 1 car. We haven’t followed-up our win at Kentucky in the fashion that we needed to, so we are just looking to execute and have a solid run. With all the teamwork and things we learned from Sonoma, we’ve got to apply it here and prep for the Roval race that will be part of the Playoffs later in the year. Its an important weekend and a good tune-up to be on top of everything that we need.”

    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – 8th IN STANDINGS:
    “Any time you run good somewhere, whether you win it or not, it’s always nice to go back. It makes you feel a little more confident. It will be a special weekend going back. That was a big moment for us last year and hopefully we can do that well again.”

    ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – 11th IN STANDINGS:
    BOWMAN ON SONOMA VS WATKINS GLEN:
    “Even though the tracks are pretty different, I think Watkins Glen is probably a little easier than Sonoma from a driver’s standpoint. I am excited to get there and unload a fast car that Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the guys have put together. I know our road course stuff is really strong, so it should be fun.”

    BOWMAN ON WEARING A SPECIAL HELMET:
    “This weekend I will be wearing a special helmet that was designed by an individual with cystic fibrosis. This individual won the ‘Accelerate the Cure’ contest that was promoted through CARSTAR and cystic fibrosis chapters across North America. I can’t wait to unveil the winning helmet design on Saturday morning at Watkins Glen.”

    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICK AUTOGUARD CAMARO ZL1 – 12th IN STANDINGS:
    “Sonoma was a good race for us, but Watkins Glen is really fast and narrow compared to that track. I think with this package though; the track is going to be a lot faster. I’m excited to see what that’s all about. We can translate some stuff from our setup in Sonoma and I think it will really be strong for Watkins Glen. I’m excited about that for sure.”

    Earlier this year you took Chad Knaus out at the Spring Mountain road course to prepare for the road course races. What did you both learn from that?
    “Before Sonoma we got the chance to drive the Chevy cars out at Spring Mountain. It was helpful for me to work on hitting my marks and being consistent every lap, but it really helped us with overall communication. Chad (Knaus) could really understand better what I was talking about with the car and what I needed, and I think it paid off in Sonoma. We wanted to put a lot of importance into the road course races this year because it’s really like every other race. You can win the race and lock yourself into the playoffs just like the others. I don’t think a lot of guys really prepare completely for them since there’s so few road courses on the schedule, but I think that’s starting to change with the Charlotte Roval being added into the playoffs. There’s now more of an importance on road courses and we want to make sure we’re as ready as we can be.”

    CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 – 21st IN STANDINGS:
    “Watkins Glen International is a track that I really enjoy racing at. I have a lot of fun road racing, and the speeds with the turns at Watkins Glen make it a really fun and challenging racetrack. I am not a road course driver by nature, but I’ve been able to learn a lot from some really good road course drivers throughout my career to give us a competitive edge. It’s a big weekend for our friends at Kimberly Clark Corporation and Cottonelle on the car along with Kroger, and I’m looking forward to putting on a great show for them and our fans this weekend.”

    TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CAMARO ZL1 – 23rd IN STANDINGS:
    “I feel like I’m a great road racer. Our team has struggled in the past couple of years, but I feel like a top-20 or a top-18 finish there would be a great improvement for our GEICO Military team. Watkins Glen is such a different animal than Sonoma and The Roval. So, you can’t really build off of any them to prepare for the next one. Hopefully we can continue to better ourselves from last year’s notes and our time in the simulator.”

    RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 – 26th IN STANDINGS:
    “This weekend will be busy for sure, but I’m very grateful for the extra seat time on Saturday to prepare me for my first Watkins Glen Cup race on Sunday. Watkins Glen can be vastly different from Sonoma Raceway, with less turns and higher speeds. I enjoy road racing and how it breaks up our schedule. While the finish at Pocono Raceway wasn’t what we were hoping for, I felt we had a solid weekend leading up to that and we’re starting to hit on a couple of things. JTG Daugherty Racing has a great track record on road courses, and with Chris’s (Buescher) guidance, I’m looking forward to a great race on Sunday in the Kroger Camaro ZL1.”

    BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 – 28th IN STANDINGS:
    “I love going to Watkins Glen International. I remember racing ‘The Glen’ when I first started racing on video games. It was always a blast!

    “With the repave it’s super-fast. I’m excited to get there. Our Richard Petty Motorsports team had a 180-degree change from Sonoma Raceway last year, and I had a lot of fun. We were still slow and off the pace, but I picked-up some time. Every lap we made I got faster. So, it was a good weekend. I’m carrying that same kind of positive energy with our No. 43 Victory Junction Camaro ZL1 to Watkins Glen.”

    Chevrolet Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

    Manufacturers Championships:
    Total (1949-2018): 39
    First title for Chevrolet: 1958
    Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

    Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

    Drivers Championships:
    Total (1949-2018): 31
    First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
    Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

    Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016

    Event Victories:
    Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

    2019 STATISTICS:
    Wins: 4
    Poles: 10
    Laps Led: 1,248
    Top-five finishes: 28
    Top-10 finishes: 64

    CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
    Total Chevrolet race wins: 783 (1949 to date)
    Poles won to date: 709
    Laps led to date: 233,503
    Top-five finishes to date: 3,997
    Top-10 finishes to date: 8,236

    Total NASCAR Cup wins by corporation, 1949 to date

    GM: 1,117
    Chevrolet: 783
    Pontiac: 155
    Oldsmobile: 115
    Buick: 65

    Ford: 782
    Ford: 682
    Mercury: 96
    Lincoln: 4

    Chrysler: 466
    Dodge: 217
    Plymouth: 190
    Chrysler: 59

    Toyota: 132

    Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

    About Chevrolet
    Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

  • Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Watkins Glen

    Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Watkins Glen

    Empire State of Mind

    Roush Fenway Racing heads north to the Empire State and the concrete jungle where dreams are made of as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) tackles the 2.45-mile road course at Watkins Glen International. RFR has six wins all-time at The Glen, including three in the Cup series – all by Mark Martin.

    Watkins Glen International

    Sunday, August 4 | 3 p.m. ET

    NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

    ·         Ryan Newman, No. 6 Acronis Ford Mustang

    ·         Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Acronis Ford Mustang

    There’s Nothing You Can’t Do, Now You’re  in New York
    In 103 MENCS starts at WGI, Roush Fenway has three wins, 23 top-five and 41 top-10 finishes along with four poles. All three of RFR’s victories came with former driver and NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin (1993, 1994, 1995).

    Top of the List, King of the Hill

    Martin secured three-straight wins for Roush Fenway at the famed New York road course from 1993-95. He started on the pole for each of the three races and led a combined 183 laps during the three-year streak.

    Tale of the Tape – Road Courses

    In 210 road course starts all-time in the MENCS, Jack Roush’s Fords have won five races and tallied 37 top-five and 76 top-10 finishes, along with six poles. In those 210 starts, an RFR Ford has led 577 laps for an average finish of 17.5.

    New York, New Sponsor

    The global leader in Cyber Protection, Acronis, makes its debut with Roush Fenway Racing aboard both Ryan Newman’s No. 6 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No. 17. This is the first of three races for Acronis as the primary partner on the No. 6 with the other two coming at Bristol (8/17) and Dover (10/6).

    Where They Rank

    ·         Newman remains in the playoff top-16 following Pocono, 12 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson in 17th. Newman and Clint Bowyer are both 25 points back from Kyle Larson in 14th with five races remaining until the playoffs begin.

    ·         Teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr., sits 20th in points, 20 back of 19th and 88 back of 16th.

    Roush Fenway Watkins Glen Wins

    1993       Martin                  Cup

    1994       Martin                  Cup

    1995       Martin                  Cup

    1998       Ruttman             Truck

    2000       Biffle                     Truck

    2012       Edwards               NXS

    By the Numbers at Watkins Glen

    Race      Win       T5           T10         Pole       Laps       Led        AvSt      AvFn     Miles

    103         3              23           41           4              8982       301         18.3        16.4        22041.8

    40           1              8              17           0              3069       47           16.1        15.7        7531.3

    9              2              5              6              1              503         46           7.6          10.9        1234.3

    152         6              36           64           5              12554    394         17.1        15.9        30807.4

  • Samaritan’s Feet – Watkins Glen – Race Advance

    Samaritan’s Feet – Watkins Glen – Race Advance

    Event: Go Bowling at The Glen (Race 22 of 36)

    Venue: Watkins Glen (Watkins Glen, NY)

    Format: Three Stages – Stages End: Lap 20, 40, 90 = 220.5 Miles

    Date/Broadcast: Sunday, August 4 at 3:00 PM ET on NBCSN and MRN

    More than 1.5 billion people, or 24% of the world’s population, are infected with soil-transmitted helminth infections worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

    Corey LaJoie is headed to Watkins Glen with a special cause on-board his No. 32 Ford Mustang that has reached major strides in an effort to reduce that heart-tugging statistic.

    LaJoie and his wife Kelly have teamed up with Samaritan’s Feet, an organization founded in 2003 to provide shoes to children and individuals in need to inspire hope and encouragement.

    “There is absolutely no better fit being that my longtime racing nickname is “SuperShoe.” Now being a “SuperShoe” is being a part of something bigger than myself to bring the gift of a new pair of shoes,” LaJoie said gracefully.

    People without shoes face dangers such as laceration, fungus, and insect bites that can lead to infection, disease, and even death.

    Since its founding in 2003, Samaritan’s Feet and its partners have distributed over 7 million pairs of shoes in 108 countries and more than 389 U.S. cities.

    LaJoie hopes to spread the mission and raise awareness of this enormous undertaking throughout the weekend at The Glen, the second of three road courses on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

    In his lone Cup start at the 2.45-mile road course, the Charlotte, NC native finished 33rd.

    On Sunday, August 4 at 3pm ET, tune in to catch the No. 32 making left and right turns at the famed Watkins Glen International and consider how you can get involved in the effort to provide shoes by visiting samaritansfeet.org.

    LaJoie on the upcoming weekend at Watkins Glen:
    “I certainly wouldn’t call road racing one of my strong suits, but hopefully I can apply what I learned my first trip there and some simulator work to have a solid weekend. I can’t wait to get kick off the alliance with Samaritan’s Feet this week by having them on the racecar as well as being a Hope Giver for their campaign from August to November. I genuinely care enough about their mission to feel called to personally commit financially to give Samaritan’s Feet the platform they deserve.

    LaJoie MENCS career highlights at Watkins Glen:
    Starts: 1
    Start: 36th
    Finish: 33rd

    In the Rearview Mirror: Gander RV 400
    Corey LaJoie and the No. 32 Adirondack Tree Surgeons team rallied to a 26th-place finish in the Gander RV 400 on Sunday afternoon. LaJoie qualified 30th for the 160-lap race but rolled off 36th after pre-race tech inspection issues. Despite being relegated to the rear, LaJoie showed no lack of speed as he made his way up to 29th by lap six. Around lap 28 the third-generation driver reported that he may have a tire going down, resulting in crew chief Randy Cox calling LaJoie to pit road early to assess the situation and to prevent any trouble. Good until the Stage break, LaJoie would finish Stage One 31st, before another visit to pit road. As Stage Two got underway, the Charlotte, NC native would be racing the Ty Dillon and Matt Tifft for the free-pass position. The No. 32 would run in the 30th position until a caution came out for the No. 9. The caution allowed the Adirondack Tree Surgeons team to pit for service, just before another caution for a brief rain shower. When Stage Two came to a close, the No. 32 Ford was scored 29th. Set for the final Stage, LaJoie would hold the free pass position when another yellow was thrown for a stopped car, allowing LaJoie to only be two laps down instead of three. An intense restart brought out another caution, giving LaJoie another lap back, now just one lap down. LaJoie concluded the day 26th in a G-W-C finish.
    ————————————————————–
    About Our Team

    About Samaritan’s Feet
    Samaritan’s Feet serves and inspires hope in children by providing shoes as the foundation to a spiritual and healthy life resulting in the advancement of education and economic opportunities. Since their founding in 2003, Samaritan’s Feet and its partners have distributed over 7 million pairs of shoes in 108 countries and 395 U.S. cities. For more information, visit samaritansfeet.org.

    Get Corey LaJoie Updates:
    To get live updates during the race weekends follow @coreylajoie on Instagram and Twitter. Make sure to give Corey a “like” on Facebook – “@CoreyLaJoieRacing”. For a detailed bio and updated in-season statistics, please visit www.coreylajoieracing.com .

    About Go Fas Racing:
    Go Fas Racing (GFR) currently fields Ford Mustangs in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for driver Corey LaJoie. Located in Mooresville, North Carolina, GFR has competed in the NASCAR’s premier series since 2014; fielding cars for some of NASCAR’s top drivers, including past champions. To find out more information about our team please visit www.GoFasRacing.com.