 |
| Chase Elliott salutes the fans after his second consecutive Watkins Glen win |
Elliott Scores Back-to-Back Watkins Glen Wins
The NASCAR world was turned on its ear last season when, after three seasons of trying, fan favorite Chase Elliott finally scored the first win of his Monster Energy Cup Series career at Watkins Glen International. As the cup campaign returned to the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York this past weekend, the 2014 Xfinity Series champion looked like the driver to beat once again by winning opening practice, as well as the pole.
 |
| Chase Elliott goes out to turn some practice laps at the Glen |
Stage Two saw a bit more action, with Kyle Busch and William Byron trading shots under caution at stage end. Busch felt the sophomore driver raced him a bit too hard early in the event, which prompted him to send Byron for a trip through the inner loop. This didn't sit too well with Byron, so under caution he went to express his displeasure with the driver of the No. 18 Camry. However, a Busch brake-check resulted in Byron destroying the nose of his No. 24 Camaro.
This wouldn't be the last incident that the 2015 series champion experienced in this race, as he got into Bubba Wallace entering the Carousel, sending the No. 43 car into the guardrail. After Elliott collected the victory in the second stage, Bubba caught back up with Busch and the two banged doors down the length of the frontstrech. When they got to turn one, Wallace turned Busch into the runoff area on lap 63 as the crowd erupted in a chorus of cheers.
As the race wound down, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Blaney also had a run-in that resulted in both drivers having a heated discussion on pit road after the race. Seven-time series champion Johnson felt that Blaney ran into the rear of his No. 48, sending him into the Armco Barrier in turn five. Despite being tied for the most championships in series history, Johnson hasn't visited victory lane in over two years, and Watkins Glen was the first race with new crew chief Cliff Daniels, his second crew chief of the season and just the third in his career. So, it's a bit understandable that the typically level-headed Johnson would have a shorter fuse than normal.
Meanwhile, at the front of the field, Truex attempted to run down Elliott for the win. The 2017 series champion got within a few car lengths of the leader, but he couldn't quite get past him. After the race, Truex told reporters that, while he could get a run on the No. 9 car, his car was stalled by a bubble of air between the two cars, preventing him from making a pass for the win.
 |
| Martin Truex Jr (19) got close to Chase Elliott (9), but couldn't quite pass him for the victory |
"Really, it was all about restarts and track position," he added. "If I could have just got by him on that last one, we could have set sail.''
So, for the second year in a row, Elliott was the victor at Watkins Glen, while the 2017 race winner was relegated to second place.
"I think it's huge,'' Elliott said of his fifth career win. "We've had fast cars at times, but one thing or another ended up for a bad weekend. The way we did it was the biggest thing. That's the kind of effort you have to put on often to compete with the guys in the field.''
Last week's winner Denny Hamlin came home in third place, while JGR teammate Erik Jones finished fourth and Blaney finished fifth. Matt DiBenedetto finished an impressive sixth place, Kevin Harvick finished seventh, Kyle Larson got eighth, Brad Keselowski finished ninth, and Kurt Busch came home in tenth.
Cindric Grabs First Xfinity Win
In a year that has been dominated by Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, and Tyler Reddick, Team Penske's Austin Cindric was able to flip the script at Watkins Glen and outduel A.J. Allmendinger for the win the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen. The 20-year old also became the youngest driver to win on a NASCAR road course.
Kyle Busch set sail from the pole, as he has done in many an Xfinity race over the past decade or so, but the race win was up for grabs sooner than anyone was expecting. As Busch raced through the "Bus Stop" early in the event, his car suddenly went straight through the Carousel as everyone else's turned right for the corner. It turned out that the No. 18 would suffer a broken right front suspension, ending their bid for the victory, As expected, the crowed erupted into celebration as the Las Vegas driver made the hard right turn into the garage area.
This was the time when road course aces like Allmendinger, who won the 2014 Cup Series race at the Glen, and Cindric, who's only Truck Series win came at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, to show what they could do.
On lap 69, crew chief Brian Wilson brought Cindric down pit road for four tires, dropping the No. 22 to ninth place. But, a caution for a pileup in turn one on lap 76 left Cindric in sixth, and on the subsequent restart, a scuffle at the front of the field between Justin Allgaier and Bell allowed Cindric to slip into second place. Over the final five laps, Cindric methodically ran down Allmendinger, eventually giving him a bump into the first corner that allowed the MoneyLion Mustang to slip by and into the lead on the penultimate lap of the race. Allmendiger returned the favor later on that same circuit, but entered turn seven wide, allowing Cindric to slip by for good as they took the white flag.
“Congrats to Austin," said Allmendinger after the race. "He went in there and nudged me, and that was fair. I nudged him—you race how you get raced—but that’s what racing’s all about. He deserved it. He was on it the whole race."
"That was nuts," Cindric said of the lap 76 restart melee that enabled him to grab second. "I didn't know how that was going to work out, but sometimes the path clears and you've got to take advantage of it and we executed all day today."
After post race inspection, Allmendiger's No. 10 Chevy failed to meet rear height requirements, so he forfeited his runner-up finish and was relegated to last on the field. Second was instead awarded to Bell, followed by Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Reddick in third, fourth, and fifth. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Custer finished sixth and seventh respectively, with Jr Motorsports trio Michael Annett, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece rounding out the top ten.
 |
| Austin Cindric celebrates his first Xfinity Series win (Google Images) |
This was the time when road course aces like Allmendinger, who won the 2014 Cup Series race at the Glen, and Cindric, who's only Truck Series win came at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, to show what they could do.
On lap 69, crew chief Brian Wilson brought Cindric down pit road for four tires, dropping the No. 22 to ninth place. But, a caution for a pileup in turn one on lap 76 left Cindric in sixth, and on the subsequent restart, a scuffle at the front of the field between Justin Allgaier and Bell allowed Cindric to slip into second place. Over the final five laps, Cindric methodically ran down Allmendinger, eventually giving him a bump into the first corner that allowed the MoneyLion Mustang to slip by and into the lead on the penultimate lap of the race. Allmendiger returned the favor later on that same circuit, but entered turn seven wide, allowing Cindric to slip by for good as they took the white flag.
“Congrats to Austin," said Allmendinger after the race. "He went in there and nudged me, and that was fair. I nudged him—you race how you get raced—but that’s what racing’s all about. He deserved it. He was on it the whole race."
"That was nuts," Cindric said of the lap 76 restart melee that enabled him to grab second. "I didn't know how that was going to work out, but sometimes the path clears and you've got to take advantage of it and we executed all day today."
After post race inspection, Allmendiger's No. 10 Chevy failed to meet rear height requirements, so he forfeited his runner-up finish and was relegated to last on the field. Second was instead awarded to Bell, followed by Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Reddick in third, fourth, and fifth. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Custer finished sixth and seventh respectively, with Jr Motorsports trio Michael Annett, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece rounding out the top ten.
Dirt Track Ace Friesen Scores First Truck Win
After what seemed like an endless string of second place finishes; of coming close but not getting close enough, Canadian driver Stewart Friesen was able to score his first victory in a race that has become appointment television for NASCAR fans: the Eldora Dirt Derby.
 |
| Stewart Friesen celebrates his first Truck Series win after six second place finishes (Google Images) |
This event has become known for short tempers and close racing, and the 2019 edition was no exception. Friesen, who grew up racing dirt at his family's Ransomville Speeway in Upstate New York, has raced big block modifieds all across the Northeastern United States. So, naturally, many pointed to him as the driver to beat at the Rossburg, Ohio half-mile.
While it took a bit for him to take the top spot, Friesen was able to grab the lead on lap 95. Needing a victory to get off the bubble and lock himself into the playoffs, the driver of the No. 52 Halmar International Silverado needed to make something happen to beat fellow dirt racer and defending race winner Chase Briscoe, who had won the race's first two stages. So, at the end of Stage Two, Friesen overrode crew chief Trip Bruce and elected not to pit.
Even though they had track position, Friesen would have to survive a number of restarts, as well as a two-lap shootout for the checkered flag to score the victory. That final battle saw Briscoe restart right behind Friesen, in third place. But, despite a valiant effort by the Indiana native to score his second Eldora win in a row, Friesen was able to hold off the field and, after six career second place finishes, score his inaugural Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory.
“These guys have been down and out, down and out,” Friesen said of his team. “They keep busting their butts for me and working on stuff and fixing stuff by putting in so much long hours. I can’t thank everyone enough.”
Friesen led 57 laps on the night, with Sheldon Creed finishing right behind him. Grant Enfinger finished third, Mike Marlar came home fourth, and Todd Gilliland finished fifth. Christian Eckes ran sixth, Briscoe, who led the race's other 93 laps, dropped to seventh after the final restart, Tyler Dippel finished eighth, Tyler Ankrum came home ninth, and Matt Crafton finished in tenth.
No comments:
Post a Comment