SHOW #371 – Guest: Double Watkins Glen Winner Joey Logano – We recap the Watkins Glen road course weekend, Jeff Gordon lends voice to cartoon, Tony Stewart in hot water, Jimmie “Triathlon” Johnson making us look bad, a full Michigan preview is packed in there as well…did we mention last weeks winner Joey Logano is on? Why aren’t you listening already? Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie
Average Speed: 91.420 MPH
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 43 Secs. Margin of Victory: 5.273 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 for 16 laps: Laps: 26-28 (Debris Turns 6 and 7 [26]); 33-35 (Debris Esses [16]); 47-49 (#3 Accident Backstretch [43]); 51-54 (Fluid On The Track [Red Flag 9:03] [3]); 58-60 (#14 Stopped On Track [47]).
Lead Changes: 8 among 8 drivers
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger 1-20; M. Truex Jr. 21-25; A. Allmendinger 26; C. Whitt 27-28; B. Keselowski 29-55; Kyle Busch 56-58; M. Kenseth 59-60; K. Harvick 61-89; J. Logano 90;
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Harvick, 1 time for 29 laps; B. Keselowski, 1 times for 27 laps; A. Allmendinger, 2 times for 21 laps; M. Truex Jr., 1 time for 5 laps; K. Busch, 1 time for 3 laps; M. Kenseth, 1 time for 2 laps; Cole Whitt, 1 time for 2 laps; J. Logano, 1 time for 1 lap.
Chase Grid Outlook: 1.J. Johnson 747 (4 wins);2.Kyle Busch (4); 3.K. Harvick 823 (2);4.J. Logano 781 (2);5.D. Earnhardt Jr. 750 (2);6.M. Kenseth 703 (2);7.Kurt Busch 659 (2);8.B. Keselowski 719 (1);9.M. Truex Jr. 714 (1);10.D. Hamlin 631 (1);11.C. Edwards 589 (1);12.J. Mcmurray 635 (0);13.P. Menard 622 (0);14.J. Gordon 620 (0);15.R. Newman 613 (0);16.C. Bowyer 612 (0).
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – A week after running out of fuel while leading with three laps left at Pocono, Joey Logano finished off an unprecedented weekend sweep at Watkins Glen International with his first road course victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Pressuring race leader Kevin Harvick over a 30-lap green-flag run to the finish of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Logano made the winning pass through the final two corners at the 2.45-mile road course as Harvick ran out of fuel in Turn 6.
Picking up his second victory of the season and the 10th of his career, Logano crossed the finish line 5.273 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch, who grabbed second place as Harvick coasted over the stripe to secure third.
Matt Kenseth came home fourth, and Kurt Busch recovered from a pit road penalty (crewmen over the wall too soon) to finish fifth, as Logano became the first driver ever to win both the XFINITY and Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International in the same weekend.
“I’m still just trying to catch my breath,” Logano said after climbing from his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. “I was really excited after that one. I was running down Harvick there for a little bit, and once I got close to him, he started to pick up his pace a little bit, which was good, because I needed him to run out of gas.
“I started to catch him a little bit, and I drove into (Turn) 1 too hard (on the final lap) and started to wheel hop. I just about lost it, and at that point you just hope he runs out of gas, which he did in the last corner. It makes up for last week. We lost the race last week the same way, so it makes up for it to get it this week.”
Logano led only one lap — the last one.
With Logano’s victory, every driver who has won a race this season — with the exception of Kyle Busch — has clinched a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, assuming each starts the remaining races of the regular season. Busch cracked the top 30 in the standings for the first time after returning from an 11-race injury absence.
With four victories, Busch must simply finish the 26-race regular season four races hence in the top 30, and that was the primary reason he didn’t make a harder push to catch Logano in the closing laps.
“I think that was some of (crew chief) Adam (Stevens’) worry, too,” said Busch, who like Logano, had pitted for fuel under caution on Lap 58 of 90 and who, like Logano, had run out of gas in the closing laps at Pocono. “We couldn’t afford running out of gas like we did last week and taking home an even worse finish this week, because of how many cars finish on the lead lap typically at a road course.
“We’d be back in the 30s somewhere. I’m sure that was weighing on Adam’s mind on being able to save it and make it to the end and just playing it a little bit more cautious, which is fine. I’m with Adam 100 percent of the way all the time.”
The race dealt potentially devastating blows to several drivers hopeful of qualifying for the Chase on points.
Jeff Gordon had brake problems almost from the outset and finished 41st, dropping two spots to 12th in the standings. Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet was the victim of a hard wreck when the field accordioned behind Sam Hornish on a restart on Lap 49; he fell two positions in the points to 17th, outside the window for making the Chase.
Jamie McMurray’s Chevrolet ran into the back of Logano’s Ford on that same restart, crushing the nose of the car. McMurray came home 40th and dropped one position to ninth in the standings.
If there are no more first-time winners in the next four weeks, and if Kyle Busch remains in the top 30, there will be five Chase spots available on points. Currently, the top five drivers in the standings without a victory are McMurray, Paul Menard, Gordon, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.
Notes: Polesitter and defending race winner AJ Allmendinger led the first 21 laps, but an alternator problem relegated him to a 24th-place finish… Tony Stewart started third but retired in 43rd place after 56 laps because of a rear gear failure… Harvick led a race-high 29 laps, two more than Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, who pitted with Busch and Logano under caution on Lap 58 and worked his way up to seventh at the finish.
LONG POND, Pa. – Matt Kenseth, the unexpected winner of Sunday’s Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway, had to do a double take.
So did second and third-place finishers Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon.
Kenseth got a gift on the final lap of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch ran out of fuel halfway through the final lap at the 2.5-mile triangular track.
Seeking his fourth straight victory in the series, Busch didn’t save quite enough fuel on the last green-flag run to complete the 160-lap event, but he still gained 10 points toward his goal of reaching the top 30 in the series standings.
Busch, who finished 21st after getting a push toward the finish line from Reed Sorenson, is now 13 points behind 30th-place David Gilliland. Busch has five races to crack the top 30 to become eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Because Busch was pushed by another car, he did not get credit for completing the final lap, but that did not affect his finishing position.
Collectively, the top three finishers led seven laps. Joey Logano, who handed the lead to Busch when the No. 22 Team Penske Ford ran out of fuel with fewer than three laps left, led 97.
But Kenseth wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially after the driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota did what others failed to do—save enough gas to get to the finish. Kenseth’s second victory of the season locked him into the Chase.
“There’s nothing like wins,” said Kenseth, who collected his first victory at Pocono and the 33rd of his career. “We had a lot of wins in 2013 and were pretty spoiled and last year we had a big dry spell, and this year we were able to win Bristol.
“We’ve been up front a lot, so just really, really thankful to be with these guys and to get the win. I never thought I’d ever win at Pocono, and I never ever thought I’d win a fuel mileage race, so we did both today.”
Despite coming tantalizingly close to a fourth straight win, Busch was philosophical about the near miss.
“Man, that’s a bummer,” said Busch, who ran out of fuel on the Long Pond straightaway approaching the Tunnel Turn, less than a mile-and-a-half from the finish line. “I wish I would’ve saved a little more there that last run.
“I wish I would’ve known that the 22 (Logano) was that far away from making it. He was way far away from making it. Man, that was just a shame that we weren’t able to get it done there.”
Busch took a moment to reflect on what might have been. The empty fuel tank also cost him entry into the top 30.
“We would be celebrating a win and a Chase berth,” he said ruefully. “We got greedy. I don’t know how greedy, but that’s the position we’re in.
“If it came down to other things that we haven’t had the success that we’ve had here lately, we would’ve had to have pitted and just made the opportunity of it and made the best finish that we could. But, we went for broke today and come up a little bit short, so can’t fault the team.”
Keselowski, who ran out of fuel as he approached the finish line, recovered from an early penalty for sliding through his pit, knocking his jack man off his feet and knocking a tire out of his front carrier’s hands.
The No. 2 Ford lost a lap, regained it and came home second, 9.012 seconds behind Kenseth, as lack of fuel took its toll on the frontrunners. The outcome left Keselowski with mixed feelings.
“Unfortunately, just another race where I kind of feel like it didn’t all come together for us, and this one certainly on my end with having problems on pit road and kind of sliding through the box,” said the 2012 series champion. “That dug a hole, got us a lap down with the penalty and so forth.
“I think the last restart with, had to be somewhere around 60 or 70 to go (actually 63), we restarted 12th and we were able to drive up to sixth and looked like we were going to be able to get to fifth, and then the fuel play came in there at the end. We were able to take care of it to bring home second, which is a very respectable day. Certainly probably not where we were going to finish without the fuel, but I guess that’s sometimes how it works.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran fourth and Greg Biffle fifth, as none of the top five finishers were threats to finish that high before the varying fuel strategies scrambled the final order.
“There at the end we were one of the last ones to pit which allowed us to run hard all the way to the finish not having to conserve or save fuel,” said Gordon, smiling at the stroke of good fortune. “I thought we were trying to get maybe 10th or 12th and all of a sudden they said you’re third, and I think I was probably the most shocked person out there on the race track when I found that out.
“I knew cars were peeling off, but I just didn’t realize that many were either running out or coming to pit road.”
Note: Both Martin Truex Jr. and Logano, who along with Busch had the strongest cars all afternoon, were cited for speeding on pit road after running out of fuel and were dropped to 19th and 20th, respectively, in the finishing order, the last two cars on the lead lap.
SHOW #371 – Guest: Double Watkins Glen Winner Joey Logano – We recap the Watkins Glen road course weekend, Jeff Gordon lends voice to cartoon, Tony Stewart in hot water, Jimmie “Triathlon” Johnson making us look bad, a full Michigan preview is packed in there as well…did we mention last weeks winner Joey Logano is on? Why aren’t you listening already? Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie
The Final Lap Weekly 