Posted on by Reid Spencer

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Joey Logano reaffirmed his mastery of the road course at Watkins Glen International, but it took a three-wide restart late in Saturday’s Zippo 200 for the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford to get the job done.

After winning his fourth straight NASCAR Xfinity Series pole at the 2.45-mile track, Logano took teammate Brad Keselowski and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ryan Preece three-wide into Turn 1 after a restart on lap 75 of 82.

RELATED: Results | Standings | Stage 1 results | Stage 2 results

Logano’s move forced Keselowski wide and Logano cleared his teammate before the entry to Turn 2. But Keselowski wasn’t finished. He hounded Logano relentlessly until spinning in Turn 1 with two laps left.

That gave Logano a comfortable margin, and he cruised to the finish line 3.362 seconds ahead of charging AJ Allmendinger, as Keselowski fell to 10th at the end. Allmendinger passed third-place finisher Justin Allgaier in the final corner to secure the runner-up spot.

“That was all I had,” said Logano, who came to the green for the final restart with six-lap fresher tires than Keselowski. “He was definitely faster. I thought the tires would have been enough to be faster than him.

RELATED: Logano celebrates 50th national series win 

“I had a good restart and got in front of him, and he dogged me. These Xfinity cars draft quite a bit down these straightaways, and it’s hard to pull away. It felt good to race each other really hard, so it’s cool to see Penske cars doing that.”

The victory was Logano’s third in four races at WGI, his second in four starts this season and the 30th of his career, breaking a tie with Matt Kenseth for seventh on the all-time list.

Preece came home fourth, his fifth top 10 and fourth top five in six 2018 starts. Aric Almirola completed the top five.

RELATED: Cars race in the rain

Logano won the race’s first stage before a rainstorm forced a change to rain tires. Allmendinger showed his road racing superiority by pulling away to win the second stage before the sun came out and dried the track.

Allmendinger drew a one-lap penalty for sliding too far and pitting outside his stall during a fuel-only green-flag stop on Lap 52, but he fought back to finish second after two late cautions bunched the field.

“Just a dumb mistake on my part,” Allmendinger said. “I was coming in for fuel there, and it was still a little bit damp on pit road… I rolled in and slid a little more than I expected and got the nose over the line, and they’d already started to refuel.

“I just knew that, once we got the yellow, I was going to have to start roughing people up an driving up through there as hard as I could.”

Christopher Bell fell short in his attempt to match Sam Ard’s series record of four straight victories. Bell recovered from a pass-through penalty (for crewmen over the wall too soon on a Lap 16 stop) and finished ninth.

But Bell holds the series lead by 22 points over Cole Custer, who finished sixth on Saturday. Daniel Hemric (16th) is third, 23 points back, and fourth-place Elliott Sadler trials by 26 points.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials have deployed rain tires during Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International.

A track-drenching shower forced teams to pit road during the third caution of the 82-lap Zippo 200, allowing them to install treaded, wet-weather tires for the completion of the race. The cars are also equipped with windshield wipers and a flashing rear brake light for racing in the rain, which only occurs on NASCAR’s road courses.

Goodyear officials allotted three sets of rain tires — marked with white letters instead of the traditional yellow — for the race. After mandating a pit stop for wet-weather tires and activation of wipers and brake lights, NASCAR officials will leave tire choice up to the teams’ discretion for the remainder of the event.

Saturday’s race marked the fifth time that rain tires have been used in an Xfinity Series race. The others: Montreal (2008, ’09), Road America (2014) and Mid-Ohio (2016).

Posted on by Reid Spencer

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Daniel Suarez is a quick study.

With a racing background that includes very little road course experience, Suarez nevertheless finished third last year at Watkins Glen, his only top-five result in his rookie season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

He matched that third-place run earlier this year at Dover and improved his career best by one position last Sunday at Pocono Raceway. In Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Suarez will make his second start at the 2.45-mile road course.

RELATED: Playoff outsiders with high hopes at The Glen

That he has his sights set on another top-five finish at the high-speed road course is emblematic of the 26-year-old Mexican driver’s seamless adaptation to a racing discipline that involves right turns as well as left.

“I didn’t have a lot of road course experience or roval experience when I was young, just go-karts, and that’s pretty much all I did on a road course,” Suarez said on Saturday morning at Watkins Glen.

“After that, I jumped pretty much straight to the stock car stuff, which became more ovals than road course racing.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that the karting experience wasn’t useful.

“I feel like go-karts is like the base of everything,” Suarez said. “It really helps a lot, but it’s very different as well because… just the weight and the way that it drives.

“In the go-kart, you can do everything extremely fast, and in this car, you have to wait longer, but the basics are the same. I feel that has been helpful to be running well in road-course racing.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. has demonstrated the ability to win on a wide variety of venues.

Clearly, his superiority on 1.5-mile intermediate tracks can rightly be considered the primary strength of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team. But Truex also is adept at the road courses, as his recent record indicates.

RELATED: Full schedule for Watkins Glen

Truex is the defending race winner at Watkins Glen International. He also won at Sonoma in June. And if Truex is first to the finish line in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), he’ll be the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2004-2005 to win three straight road course events in the Cup series.

Does that qualify Truex as an elite road course driver? He’ll let others make that judgment.

MORE: Road course kings in NASCAR 

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be with a great team the past few years and to be able to take advantage of that,” Truex said. “They’ve given me great cars, and I feel like I’ve always been good at road courses. You look back in Xfinity Series days in Mexico (where he won in his only start in 2005), and things like that.

“I feel like we’ve always been strong on road courses, but now I feel like I have the team that gives me the capability of winning. So we’ve been winning. I don’t know how my name fits into that conversation. I guess you’d have to ask other people that.”

RELATED: Truex Jr.’s stats at Watkins Glen | And Sonoma

Truex acknowledges that winning three straight would be an important accomplishment.

“It means a lot to me, personally,” he said. “I think everyone in the garage … you want to be known in the garage as a driver that can win anywhere.

“Certainly, road courses are a unique set of circumstances. I think it’s an extra special feeling to be able to win at tracks that are completely different — like this.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR announced before the season that it will standardize at-track team rosters across all three national series in 2018, providing a structure for the number of personnel working on each vehicle during the course of a race weekend.

Official team rosters for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have been released. Click the print icon above, or the link below.

ROSTERS: Watkins Glen

RELATED: Overview of 2018 rules updates

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott powered to the fastest lap in final Monster Energy Series practice Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen International.

Elliott pushed the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet to a best lap of 124.520 mph late in the 75-minute session. That lap bumped Denny Hamlin, a Watkins Glen winner in 2016, out of the top spot by .088 seconds. Hamlin settled for the second-fastest speed — 124.365 mph — in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota.

RELATED: Final practice results | 10-lap averages | Weekend schedule

Aric Almirola posted the third-fastest speed at 123.979 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford. Rookie William Byron and Michael McDowell completed the top five in the final tune-up session before qualifying for Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Martin Truex Jr., winner of the last two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series road-course events, registered the 10th-fastest lap in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota. Erik Jones, the fastest driver in opening practice, wound up 22nd on the speed chart in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota.

Busch Pole Qualifying to set the provisional starting lineup is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET (NBCSN).

Erik Jones, JGR show early speed in first practice

Erik Jones topped the leaderboard in opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday morning at Watkins Glen International, leading a 1-2 sweep by Joe Gibbs Racing.

Jones lapped the 2.45-mile road course with a best speed of 125.165 mph in JGR’s No. 20 Toyota. That lap edged teammate Kyle Busch, a two-time winner of Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Busch clocked a 124.255-mph lap in the No. 18 Toyota as Joe Gibbs Racing placed all four of its cars among the top seven in practice.

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Weekend schedule

Joey Logano, the 2015 Watkins Glen winner, checked in with the third-fastest lap (123.654 mph) in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, just ahead of fourth-fastest Clint Bowyer. Martin Truex Jr., aiming for his third straight road course win, completed the top five on the speed chart in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota.

The 75-minute session went without major incident. The most signicant issue was Ryan Newman’s scrape against the guardrail in the esses, leaving his Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet smoking on its way back to the garage. Denny Hamlin also slightly brushed the left side of his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota against the barrier in the final turn.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Joey Logano can see what Kevin Harvick is doing.

He just can’t duplicate it, and that’s a major source of frustration as Logano and Team Penske try to match the speed of the six-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner this year.

“We have all the data these days,” Logano said. “We have all the SMT stuff (comparative SportsMEDIA Technology data) to look over. ‘Oh, he’s doing this different as a driver. He’s doing that different.’ His car is allowing him to do that, where I try to do that, and I can’t. My car is not allowing me to do that.

“So it’s a little frustrating sometimes, because you can see it and you’re like, ‘Oh, I just have to do that,’ but you can’t do it. So you know what you’ve got to get to. I guess it gives you a good goal and a good baseline to try to get off of. He’s driving a Ford as well, so we know it’s possible. We just have to get to that point.”

Logano has a victory at Talladega this season and an accompanying berth in the Playoffs, but the No. 22 Ford team hasn’t been able to run with NASCAR’s triumvirate of Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., who collectively have won 16 of the 21 events so far this season.

“We all talk about the big three and how fast they are,” Logano said. “Well, we’re not going to catch them if we don’t try something different. A majority of the time, when you try something, it doesn’t work, but maybe one out of 10 things you try does work, and you’re able to make some gains.

“I think just the mentality and the thought process has changed a little bit on how can we get faster for when we get to the Playoffs, because the speed that we have right now is not enough to win the championship. We have to get better, no doubt.

“The only way I know how to get better is you have to try new things. You have to be willing to change as a driver, as a team with the setups, the way we build cars and the thought process. Things have to change to be able to keep up with the top three cars right now that we constantly talk about, and we constantly see winning.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

There are certainly worse things than being the subject of high expectations and AJ Allmendinger would heartily agree as much. He shows up at the historic Watkins Glen road course this week – any week really – as a trophy favorite for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

He won the race in 2014 for a berth in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs, and the former IndyCar driver is justifiably a race favorite at any of the Cup series road course venues. This weekend, in particular, Allmendinger is rather motivated as a rare driving error eliminated him from contention at the series’ first road course, Sonoma Raceway, in June.

“You know, the road course races, I really try to be a perfectionist,’’ Allmindinger shared of the missed shift at Sonoma that blew his engine and relegated him to a 38th-place finish – the worst of his Cup career on a road course.

“Like I said, it’s not going to bother me here, but I am who I am,’’ he said. “It’s still in the back of my mind. It still just annoys me. That’s it. I was disappointed for the race team and that I let them down. We didn’t get a good finish. I don’t think we were going to win that race. I don’t think it cost us a Playoff spot there, but I thought we were going to at least have a top three or four finish. It just annoys me.”

RELATED: Sizing up Playoff outsiders at Watkins Glen

Putting that disappointment aside is certainly a little easier whenever Allmendinger, 36, arrives in upstate New York. The rowdy and loyal fans at Watkins Glen obviously adore him – applause and autograph seekers meet him wherever he goes at the venue. Even his pet, a cat named “Mr. Tickles,” is a celebrity – boasting nearly 4,000 followers of his own on Twitter

In return, Allmendinger has usually rewarded his road course “roadies” with lots to cheer about.

He’s completed every lap of all nine Cup races he’s run here – a remarkable statistic at a road course where the bumping and banging is more reminiscent of a stock car short track. He has six top-10 finishes highlighted by that 2014 victory. Four times he’s started from the first two rows on the grid and he answered his win with the pole position in 2015.

Allmendinger has two top-10 finishes in the three races at The Glen since his win, including a ninth place last year.

MORE: Count on ‘Dinger in Fantasy Live or not?

A victory on Sunday would vault Allmendinger into the 2018 Playoffs and cause a major shift in the standings with five races remaining (counting this week) to set the 16-driver Cup Playoff field. Allmendinger is currently ranked 23rd with three top-10 finishes – earning a season best third place at Daytona in July.

“In the end, I can just do my best,” Allmendinger said Friday morning. “I’ve come here and put a lot of pressure on myself. We all know what the ultimate goal is when we show up here. I think over the past couple of years it’s gotten a little bit more difficult. I think the field is spread out more.”

Allmendinger, who drives the No. 47 Chevrolet for JTG-Daugherty Racing, says this season in particular, the Cup drivers have raised their road course game. All three drivers atop the standings – Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. – have won at Watkins Glen previously. And Truex, who won at Sonoma in June, is the defending race winner here.

“This year, we’ve seen the three fastest guys are usually the three fastest guys every weekend,” Allmendinger said. “It doesn’t matter what track we go to, unfortunately. They’re good everywhere. I think there’s more of a difference I can make here as a driver, but I don’t see why it’s not going to be those three again that are going to be the fastest cars. As a whole, in the series, we’ve got to catch up to them.

“So, I just come here and do my best and try to get everything I can out of it. And whatever that holds, I think sometimes people look at it like if we don’t win, it’s a full disappointment of the weekend, but we come here and we run top five all weekend and you get a top-five finish, that’s still tough to do and that’s still a good day.

“So, if there’s a chance to win, we’ll take the chance. And if not, we’ll just get the best that we can and for me, just get everything I can out of the weekend. And if I do that, I can be satisfied with it.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Still admittedly stinging a bit from an accident at Pocono Raceway last Sunday afternoon, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rookie Bubba Wallace was equal parts grateful and optimistic about rebounding from that scene and making his Cup debut Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

Smiling often and even managing a joke or two, Wallace sounded like his old self. His mindset had already moved forward from last weekend’s wreck to what it will take to score a good finish in Sunday’s GoBowling at the Glen (3 p.m., NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It’s a tough one to watch, but man we hit a ton,’’ Wallace said of his single car accident at Pocono, 11 laps from the finish. “And it’s good to be able to come away and walk away from that and just know that I had a lot of people’s support. That was pretty cool as well. I think that was obviously a big highlight for me was just getting out and seeing everybody reaching out and showing their levels of concern.”

MORE: Bubba loses brakes, slams into wall | Why he waited to drop the window net  

Wallace is hopeful that concern from last week turns into positive vibes for this week as the Richard Petty Motorsports driver prepares for his first Cup experience on the historic 2.54-mile road course in upstate New York. To ready himself Wallace is also scheduled to race in Friday afternoon’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race – something he seemed really excited to participate in.

“It’ll be fun, it’s going back,’’ said Wallace, who last raced in the K&N Pro Series in 2012. “We’ll see how it shakes out and go beat up on some little kids or get my butt whooped by some little kids. We’ll see.’’

Wallace said he is genuinely hopeful the extra time on track will translate into a better showing on Sunday. He started 35th and finished 29th at Sonoma Raceway, the other regular season road course, in June. He has three top-10s at road courses in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – all coming at Mid-Ohio and Road America – the best showing was a fifth at Road America in 2015. He had a fourth-place finish at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park road course in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2013.

“I mean you can watch the races and see what kind of moves they made, but trying to pick on-throttle time, braking points, and everything, that’s kind of hard to do,’’ Wallace explained of his decision to run the K&N race at Watkins Glen. “So, I’m just going to go out and figure it all out. I’ve got Will Rodgers as a teammate. He is badass on the road courses, so I’m sure I’ll pick his brain before we get going.

“…I looked at Sonoma and I’m like I’ve got to do something to be better than we were at Sonoma. So I took matter matters into my own hands and I’m thankful for [sponsor] Sunoco stepping up and helping to foot the bill a little bit, but I’m just trying to learn for Sunday.”

After a  historic runner-up in the season-opening Daytona 500, Wallace and his RPM team have needed to regroup and go through the learning curve expected of any rookie. He answered with another top-10 (eighth) at Texas Motor Speedway in April, but has had only three top-20 finishes in the last 10 races.

One of the most candid competitors in the garage, Wallace reiterated that one thing he has learned quickly this year is that you have to adjust expectations throughout the season.

“You definitely change them up as you go,’’ Wallace said. “Coming into this season we didn’t know where we were going to stack up at first, so we said 8th to 12th was our range. And I thought that’s good, especially coming off last year and how we ran.

“And then when we started getting into the races and we weren’t really finding ourselves barely inside the top-20 so it’s like okay, we re-adjust. Once that started becoming unfortunately the norm, it’s like OK, so we’re going to fight for top 20s and those are going to be really good days for us.”

Of course driving for a seven-time champion, 200-race winner and NASCAR’s most famous icon in Petty certainly increases the spotlight and raises the expectations to a certain extent, even for a rookie driver. Wallace is keenly aware of that, but he remains confident this team has all the makings to be competitive.

“We had expectations,’’ Wallace said. “We haven’t really met them at all. I’ve kind of scaled back. I think the ‘King’ is still on that 8th to 12th, and like ‘why aren’t we running 8th to 12th?’  We’re trying.

“But. …it’s a rookie year in Cup. We’re going to go through the struggles but none of us obviously thought we would be so far behind the eight ball. But what’s cool to see is that we show up to the shop each and every week, and show up at the race track every week, and our guys are still digging hard, 100 percent, a 110 percent effort, trying to find something.

“And each weekend it’s like all right, we think we’ve got something really good for this weekend. Hopefully it translates into something. Sometimes it doesn’t, but at least we’re trying things and we’re not just sitting there with our heads in our laps just saying, well, we’ll see how it goes next weekend. We continue to push the efforts to try and get better.”