Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Watkins Glen International

  • Truex stretches fuel to win at The Glen

    Truex stretches fuel to win at The Glen

    Martin Truex Jr. played the fuel game correctly in the closing laps of the I Love New York 355 at The Glen to win at Watkins Glen International.

    When caution flew for the final time on Lap 51, Truex opted to pit under the caution, while Brad Keselowski, who had last pitted on Lap 43, stayed out and inherited the lead.

    Truex reeled him in and applied pressure for a few laps, before Keselowski pulled aside and let Truex pass him going into Turn 11 on Lap 64.

    Truex and others who pitted under the Lap 51 caution were told they were two to three laps short of making the finish, while Keselowski was told he’d be short six laps.

    While Truex was saving fuel, Keselowski ran him down and powered by his outside on the approach to the inner-loop with 14 laps to go to retake the lead. Unfortunately for Keselowski, he didn’t conserve enough and pitted with three to go, handing the lead to Ryan Blaney for a brief period, before he ran out on the backstretch and was passed by Truex.

    He botched his entry of the inner-loop on the final lap and locked up going into Turn 10, costing him some of his lead to Matt Kenseth. But all that, and running dry coming to the line, wasn’t enough to stop Truex from crossing the line to claim his 11th career victory in his 427th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

    “I can’t believe that,” Truex said. “Man, that’s so stressful, to just let guys go by for the lead. I’ve never had to do that before. But I guess I was trusting Cole (Pearn). He was telling me what to do. He knew, based on our lap times, how fast we were going and what we needed to do. So hats off to him (and) this whole team.

    “I’ve wanted to win here a long, long time. This is a special place. I think, back in the 90’s, watching my dad run here. Coming here as a kid and spending time in the garage, just walking around and wishing someday, I’ll race here, let alone win.

    “This is a big one for our team. This is a big one for Cole. He had a tough week. He lost his best friend. We’re really think about his family. Just proud of Cole and his perseverance and everything he does for this team. Barney (Visser) and everybody at home, thank you guys so much for letting me drive this thing.”

    Kenseth finished second and Daniel Suarez rounded out the podium.

    Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five.

    “Yeah, that’s that hard thing. When you have them there at arm’s reach you want to go for it. That’s the win that will put you into the Chase right there in front of you. But if you run out of gas that’s the dagger that will knock you out for good,” Bowyer said on the difficulty of saving fuel. “It’s the right thing. We just have to keep knocking on the door. Another top-five with our Five Star Urgent Care car. It’s a new sponsor on the car. Hopefully we can get them on board for another shot.”

    Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, A.J. Allmendinger and Erik Jones rounded out the top-10.

    “I stumbled down the back coming to two to go, so we wouldn’t have made it,” Blaney said. “It stinks. I wish I would have saved earlier like the 78 did. I pushed hard and thought we were better to go on gas than they were. They did a good job saving. I could have done better. If I would have started saving sooner I think we would have made it. you never know. I am pretty proud of the effort. We got up front at the beginning of the day and stayed there pretty much all day. I thought our strategy was right and we had a good race car. Things just didn’t work out for us. That is just the way it goes sometimes.”

    “Of course you always want more when you come here, at least I do. We had a tough weekend, and we fought hard,” Allmendinger said. “The car wasn’t very good on the first run, and we made some better changes. Got it better. Got it pretty competitive there. I just really struggled in traffic. I got behind Jimmie, and tore up the tires. Once I got by him it was actually not too bad. From there it was just fuel saving. Don’t really know how much you have. I tried to save, I felt like I saved a lot. Maybe a little too much. Overall it was a solid day for the Kroger Clicklist Chevy. Always want more here, but it was a tough weekend and we got everything we could.”

    RACE SUMMARY

    Even before the race started, Trevor Payne didn’t take the start after pitting twice during the pace laps. He joined the race 10 laps down.

    Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag at 3:21 p.m. He led all 20 laps of the first stage on his way to winning it. Chase Elliott, who was among a number of drivers who short-pitted the stage with three laps remaining in the stage, took over the race lead when Busch pitted. Busch came back down pit road for a lug nut that was stuck between the caliber and wheel.

    Elliott pitted from the lead on Lap 32. This handed the lead to Suarez, who drove on to win the second stage.

    Truex took the lead from Suarez exiting Turn 1 on the Lap 45 restart. On the same lap, Busch and Keselowski made contact in the inner-loop and went spinning, though the race stayed green.

    A tire carcass that came from Landon Cassill’s car brought out the third caution and set up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, seven minutes and three seconds, at an average speed of 104.132 mph. There were nine lead changes among six different drivers and three cautions for eight laps.

    Truex leaves with a 116-point lead over Busch.

    Elliott, McMurray and Kenseth leave as the bubble drivers who are above the playoff cutline.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C1722_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Winning at all active tracks easier said than done

    Winning at all active tracks easier said than done

    A grand total of 2,519 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races have been run since June 19, 1949, and only 189 individual drivers can say they’ve won a race. Not one of those drivers, however, can say he’s won at every active race track on the NASCAR schedule.

    Every driver, even the winningest one’s, has a track or more missing from his résumé that would complete the “cycle.” Richard Petty, the winningest driver in the history of NASCAR, failed to win at 30 of the 80 tracks he raced at in his career. “The Silver Fox” David Pearson, second with 105 wins, didn’t record a victory at 26 of 63 race tracks he ran.

    In the cases of Petty and Pearson, the goose eggs came at tracks they both ran few times in their respective careers. But in the case of Bobby Allison, who sits fourth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list at 84, he went his entire racing career, 44 starts, without ever winning a single race at Martinsville Speedway. Rusty Wallace went his entire career without winning at Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

    The amount of drivers lacking wins at certain tracks in the early days of the sport isn’t surprising, given how fluid the Cup Series schedule was for years. When the new millennium arrived, the schedule became less fluid. And, thus, should increase the chances of a driver pulling off a career “cycle” of winning at every active track, right?

    In theory, yes. In practice, no.

    Even with three new track arrivals and one departure, and the addition of five-year sanctioning agreements that keep tracks on the schedule for at least a five-year period, only five drivers are within five or fewer tracks needed to complete a career “cycle.” Kevin Harvick is missing wins at Kentucky Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth needs wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Martinsville, Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International, Kyle Busch just lacks a win at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Jimmie Johnson needs victories at Chicagoland Speedway, Kentucky and Watkins Glen. The other two are the retired drivers of Tony Stewart, who ended his career without wins at Kentucky and Darlington, and Jeff Gordon, failing only to win at Kentucky.

    Busch could accomplish this feat by this season if he wins the October 8 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte. Even Johnson says it’s “safe to say that Kyle is going to be the first” to do so, given his performance at Charlotte.

    “I’m so out of touch with stats that I felt like Jeff and Tony (Stewart) were the only guys kind of in that conversation and then last weekend I learned that Kyle is now down to one,” Johnson said. “And I’m like ‘Well, dang, there’s somebody else in the party here (laughter). And Kyle will get it.’ I can’t believe he hasn’t won at Charlotte already in a Cup car. It’s safe to say that Kyle is going to be the first one to close out all the tracks, I think, with the way he runs and how good he runs at that track. I still have here, Kentucky has been a disaster for me, Chicago I should have closed a long time ago. I think Kyle, if you’re a betting man, I’d put Kyle as closing out all the tracks first.”

  • Keselowski fastest in final practice

    Keselowski fastest in final practice

    Brad Keselowski topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Watkins Glen International.

    The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 1:10.067 and a speed of 125.880 mph. Kurt Busch was second in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 1″10.077 and a speed of 125.862 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 1:10.224 and a speed of 125.598 mph. Clint Bowyer was fourth in his No. 14 SHR Ford with a time of 1:10.342 and a speed of 125.387 mph. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 1:10.402 and a speed of 125.281 mph.

    Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10.

    Hamlin posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 123.825 mph.

    Boris Said damaged his car when he drove his car through the grass in the interloop and the splitter dug into the ground.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C1722_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Kyle Busch fastest in first practice

    Kyle Busch fastest in first practice

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Watkins Glen International.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 1:10.270 and a speed of 125.516 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 1:10.675 and a speed of 124.797 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 1:10.817 and a speed of 124.546 mph. Jamie McMurray was fourth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 1:10.829 and a speed of 124.525 mph. Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in his No. 77 Furniture Row Toyota with a time of 1:10.862 and a speed of 124.467 mph.

    Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Michael McDowell rounded out the top-10.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick spun out during the session. Kurt Busch and Corey LaJoie both did so and sustained damage to their cars.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C1722_PRAC1.pdf”]

  • 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”]

  • Edwards Grabs the Sprint Cup Pole at The Glen

    Edwards Grabs the Sprint Cup Pole at The Glen

    Carl Edwards will lead the field to the green flag for tomorrow’s race at The Glen.

    The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International after posting a time of 1:09.689 and a speed of 126.562 mph. It’s his 20th career pole in 431 career Sprint Cup Series starts, fourth of 2016 and second at Watkins Glen International.

    Kyle Larson will start second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 1:09.871 and a speed of 126.233 mph. Tony Stewart will start third in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 1:09.902 and a speed of 126.177 mph. Matt Kenseth will start fourth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 1:09.942 and a speed of 126.104 mph. Kyle Busch will round out the top-five in his No. 18 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 1:09.945 and a speed of 126.099 mph.

    Denny Hamlin will start sixth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota. Joey Logano will start seventh in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Ryan Newman will start eighth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger will start ninth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Jamie McMurray will round out the top-10 in his No. 42 CGR Chevrolet.

    Michael McDowell will start 11th in his No. 95 Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski will round out the top-10 in his No. 2 Penske Ford.

    Landon Cassill didn’t post a time due to fuel pump issues and will start 40th.

    With 40 cars entered, no one was sent home.

    Twenty-one Chevrolet’s, 11 Ford’s and eight Toyota’s will comprise the 40-car field for tomorrow’s race.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/C1622_STARTROW.pdf”]

  • Buescher: ‘It is always big to be able to pull off a win’

    Buescher: ‘It is always big to be able to pull off a win’

    Asked what winning does for his confidence, Chris Buescher said it’s “always big to be able to pull off a win.”

    Speaking before the NASCAR media corp during his media availability, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford – coming off his first career Sprint Cup Series victory just four days earlier in the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway – talked about what winning the race does for him and his team.

    “I remember on the XFINITY side winning at Mid-Ohio. I am not a road course racer by trade, that isn’t how I grew up, but it brought in a new confidence for every racetrack we went to going forward,” Buescher said. “We still had a lot to learn on the ovals then and we actually didn’t get our first oval win in 2014, we had to wait until the next year. It is just a matter of getting the team jacked up and everybody on the same idea going forward that this is for real, a big moment.”

    He discussed how much more of an impact winning a race in a series with a Chase format has versus winning a race in a series with a season-long points format as he did last season in the XFINITY Series when he won the series title.

    “This win with the Chase being the way it is and the point system different from last year in XFINITY, a win basically turns our whole season around,” he said. “It changes everything. It is no longer one win and you move up a spot or two in points. It is one win and you potentially have a spot in the playoffs of our sport. We are not there yet because we have to get into that top-30 but with that win, it gets everybody excited to get to that point.”

    The victory will clinch a spot in the Chase for Buescher provided he’s 30th or higher in points by the time the checkered flag flies at Richmond on September 10.

    Buscher currently resides 31st in points, six points behind 30th place driver David Ragan. With both having a 27.8 average finish, he will have to finish each of the next five races at least one or two spots better than Ragan to out-point him. Both are evenly matched as they’ve both finished eight times in a position above their season to date finishing average. Ragan, however, has completed more laps than Buescher and had one less DNF.

    “We really shouldn’t have been out of it,” Buescher said. “It has just been some circumstances that have gotten us a little off track and from my standpoint, I was trying to add it up and my stock car racing career starting at 16 when I started racing ARCA, I have had three cars that we have had to throw away or at least front clip. That is a rather small number and we have gone through four this year alone. In that circumstance, we have just had really bad luck on superspeedways this season.”

  • Allmendinger Fastest in Final Cup Practice

    Allmendinger Fastest in Final Cup Practice

    AJ Allmendinger topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Watkins Glen International.

    The driver of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 1:09.149 and a speed of 127.551 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 1:09.187 and a speed of 127.481 mph. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with a time of 1:09.222 and a speed of 127.416 mph. Kyle Busch was fourth in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 1:09.241 and a speed of 127.381 mph. Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five in his No. 20 JGR Toyota with a time of 1:09.296 and a speed of 127.280 mph.

    Brad Keselowski was sixth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Michael McDowell was seventh in his No. 95 Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet. Chase Elliott was eighth in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Jeff Gordon was ninth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-10 in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 124.854 mph. Hamlin was second at an average speed of 124.353 mph followed by Keselowski was third at an average speed of 124.348 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/C1622_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Truex Fastest at Watkins Glen in First Sprint Cup Practice

    Truex Fastest at Watkins Glen in First Sprint Cup Practice

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Watkins Glen International.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 1:09.513 and a speed of 126.883 mph. Denny Hamlin was second in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 1:09.810 and a speed of 126.343 mph. Casey Mears was third in his No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet with a time of 1:10.058 and a speed of 125.896 mph. Carl Edwards was fourth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 1:10.193 and a speed of 125.654 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 1:10.199 and a speed of 125.643 mph.

    Joey Logano was sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Brad Keselowski was seventh in his No. 2 Penske Ford. AJ Allmendinger was eighth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Kurt Busch was ninth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Kyle Larson rounded out the top-10 in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

    Keselowski posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 124.223 mph. Edwards was second at an average speed of 124.194 mph. Ryan Blaney, whose fastest single lap was 25th fastest, was third at an average speed of 123.401 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/C1622_PRAC1.pdf”]

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Watkins Glen

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Watkins Glen

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series travel to Watkins Glen this weekend while the Camping World Truck Series is off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, Aug. 4:

    On-Track:
    1-2:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series First Practice  
    3:30-4:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Second Practice  

    Friday, Aug. 5:

    On-Track:
    10-10:55 a.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    12:30-1:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN
    3-4:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    4:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    9:30 a.m.: XFINITY Series
    Noon: Sprint Cup Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    10:45 a.m.: Chris Buescher
    11:15 a.m.: Chase Elliott
    Noon: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    2:05 p.m.: Carl Edwards
    6 p.m..: Post-XFINITY Series Qualifying (time approx.)

    Saturday , Aug. 6: 

    On Track:
    12:15 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – CNBC
    2 p.m.: XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen (82 laps, 200.9 miles) – CNBC
    Radio: MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Press Conferences:
    1:30 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Qualifying (time approx.)
    4:30 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Race (time approx.)

    Sunday, Aug. 7: 

    On-Track:
    2:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It 355 at The Glen (90 laps, 220.5 miles) – USA
    Radio: MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Press Conferences:
    5:30 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Race (time approx.)

     

    Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

     

    Sprint Cup Race Notes via NASCAR:

    Mr. Versatility – Logano Readies To Display Road-Course Prowess Once Again

    Joey Logano showed he can race on any type of track last year when he swept the Watkins Glen International NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series contests. In addition to his Sprint Cup Series road-course win last year, he also visited Victory Lane at a short track (Bristol), two restrictor-plate tracks (Daytona and Talladega) and two 1.5-mile ovals.

    He returns to Watkins Glen – which features a new racing surface this season – with his sights set on two more victories.

    Logano has finished seventh or better in four of his last five starts at Watkins Glen: fifth in 2011, 32nd in 2012, seventh in 2013, sixth in 2014 and first in 2015.

    In his last two starts at NASCAR’s other road course – Sonoma Raceway – Logano has finished fifth (2015) and third (2016).

    The Middletown, Connecticut native has exhibited good form lately with seven top 10s in his last nine starts, including five top fives. On the season, Logano has one win, eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 21 starts.

     Chase Crasher – Allmendinger All-In At The Glen

    AJ Allmendinger knows he has to follow Rule number 76 this weekend – “No excuses. Play like a champion.”

    Allmendinger crashed the Chase with a win at Watkins Glen International in 2014 and will try to do it again in 2016 with a visit to Victory Lane in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. The road-course ace realizes he won’t have a better opportunity to take a checkered flag the rest of the season.

    In seven career starts at Watkins Glen International, Allmendinger owns one win, two top fives, four top 10s and an average finish of 10.1.

    Beast At The Glen – Track Record-Holder Stewart Goes For Sixth Win At Watkins Glen International

    Tony Stewart owns the track wins record at Watkins Glen International with five victories. He hasn’t crossed the finish line first there since 2009, but will attempt to add his sixth track win in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.

    In addition to his five wins, Stewart boasts seven top-two, and 10 top-10 finishes at the Central New York road course. From 2002-09, he finished worse than second at Watkins Glen International only once (11th in 2003).

    The rejuvenated Stewart has more top fives and one less top 10 through 13 starts this year than in his last two seasons combined. He has four top-five finishes in his last six races.

    Gordon Prepares For 800th Start, Fifth Win At The Glen

    Jeff Gordon will make his 800th career start – and his third consecutive race in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr. – in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.

    Gordon will be the ninth driver to make his 800th start, joining: Richard Petty (1,185), Ricky Rudd (906), Terry Labonte (890), Dave Marcis (883), Mark Martin (882), Kyle Petty (829), Bill Elliott (828) and Darrell Waltrip (809).

    A win on Sunday would tie Gordon with Tony Stewart for the Watkins Glen track record for victories with five. In 23 starts at the Central New York road course, he claims four wins, six top fives and nine top 10s. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is NASCAR’s all-time leader in road-course wins with nine.

    Following Watkins Glen, Gordon will make at least one more start for Earnhardt, at Bristol. Gordon has placed 13th at Indianapolis and 27th at Pocono as a sub for Earnhardt the last two races.

    Kenseth Set To Make 600th Start

    Matt Kenseth will make his 600th career start in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.

    For his career, Kenseth boasts 38 wins (tied for 19th in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history), 167 top fives, 299 top 10s, 17 poles and 10,851 laps led.

    At Watkins Glen, Kenseth has one top five and six top 10s in 16 starts. He did finish fourth at Watkins Glen last year and ninth in 2014, but has only led three laps there.

    This season, Kenseth is one of five drivers with multiple wins (Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson). He has two wins, four top fives, nine top 10s and a 14.1 average finish.

    Five More Clinch Chase Spot

    Though their spots were all but assured as is because of a race win, five drivers clinched spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Pocono. They are Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin  Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

    Boardwalk Empire’s Jack Huston To Serve As Official Pace Car Driver

    Jack Huston, star of the upcoming action adventure “Ben-Hur” from Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures will drive the 2016 Toyota Camry Pace Car to kick off Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. Mark Burnett and Roma Downey – who are working with NASCAR on a scripted television series – are executive producers of “Ben-Hur”. Huston previously starred for four seasons on Boardwalk Empire and played mobster Pete Musane in “American Hustle.”