Posted on by Holly Cain

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — AJ Allmendinger stood next to his car on pit road looking regretful and remorseful. The normally mild-mannered Kyle Larson emerged from the infield care center annoyed and aggravated.

 

The two NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers collided coming to the checkered flag for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. When Allmendinger’s JT Daugherty Racing Chevrolet knocked into Larson’s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet on the final lap, it ended what looked to be a sure-fire top-five finish for Larson and instead resulted in a hard-to-swallow 29th-place.

 

Allmendinger recovered from the contact and finished fourth.

 

“We were about a 10th-place car and we were going to get a top-five day out of it,” Larson said after coming out of the medical center following the race. “We were running sixth coming to (Turn) 7; the No. 47 was behind me. He is always aggressive. I figured he would be smart. 

 

“Obviously, the No. 78 (Martin Truex) was spinning in front of us. That is a free spot for both of us and he (Allmendinger) 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. He wrecked me earlier in the year at Vegas. He has run 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.” 

 

Allmendinger was apologetic about the incident while talking as he leaned against his car on pit road after the race. The 2014 Watkins Glen winner was hopeful that a victory in this final road course race on the Sprint Cup schedule would be enough to put him in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

 

But a pit road penalty and then hard racing back through the pack altered his goal for the day. He and Larson had another intense meeting earlier, too.

 

But Allmendinger was forthright and apologetic about the incident, which damaged Larson’s car enough that the 2014 Rookie of the Year couldn’t drive it back to the pits after the checkered flag.

 

“I cost him a good finish, all over fourth place,” Allmendinger said. “I don’t want to race like that. I’m upset with myself and I know his team should be pretty mad at me right now.

 

“I spun Kyle Larson out. Not on purpose. We were battling hard there for fifth and coming into the last corner, he had a good run and I defended, and I think the 78 was spinning as I tried to cut back under Kyle. He was lower than I expected.

 

“I just literally barely caught him in the right rear, and when I did, I tried to jump off the throttle to let him straighten it back up.

 

“They should be pissed off at me right now. I’m a little pissed off at me right now myself. Can’t thank Kroger and Kingsford enough for the effort. I just feel pretty crappy right now.”

 

The poor finish left Larson 15th in points in the driver standings, but 16th on the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship grid.

 

Last week’s winner, Chris Buescher, would move into the 16th and final position on the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup grid if he advances into a top-30 points position. He’s currently three points behind 30th-place David Ragan.

 

Allmendinger is ranked 19th in the points standings, 26 points behind 16th-place Trevor Bayne.

Posted on by Holly Cain

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — While visiting Watkins Glen Raceway on Sunday morning, IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden said he would be open to competing in a NASCAR race if the right opportunity came along.

 

Newgarden, 25, a Tennessee native, said he was particularly interested in running a NASCAR short track race at a facility like Iowa Speedway, or maybe even a road course.

 

“I have a huge interest (in driving a NASCAR car),” Newgarden said. “Open wheel was always my interest as a kid. That always has a special place for me. I want to win Indy 500s. But I’d love to see guys cross over more. I know a lot of (stock car) guys who want to run the Indy 500.

 

“But in today’s day and age it’s become less acceptable to cross paths, people don’t go into other people’s territory. I’d love to see that change. I’d love to do an IndyCar race one weekend and the next weekend run a NASCAR race. That’s a big goal.”

 

Conversely, Newgarden predicted that a few NASCAR drivers currently working for high-profile teams may compete in next year’s Indianapolis 500.

 

Newgarden said he personally knew of several Sprint Cup drivers hoping to run the Indy 500 at some point in the future, and perhaps a smaller number — he specifically said two or three — would be good bets to attempt next May’s Memorial Day double.

 

He smiled and refused to name names, however.

 

“I don’t know if I want to give names but I know there’s probably five or six that want to, and two or three that could pull it off and probably will pull it off,” Newgarden said. “I think it’s something for you guys (in the media) to watch. Kurt (Busch) proved you can do it. And that dispelled a lot of apprehension for guys. You want to win. No one goes over there just to run it.

 

“I think there’s a lot of interest for guys to check it off their bucket list and not just run it, but win it.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. —  Furniture Row Racing formally introduced young NASCAR star Erik Jones as driver of a second Sprint Cup Series car the team will field in 2017.

 

Jones, 20, spoke with reporters at Watkins Glen International on Sunday morning before the Cheez-It 355 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

Jones will drive the No. 77 Toyota with sponsorship from 5-hour Energy, and the car was unveiled in the Watkins Glen infield.

 

 

“It’s hard to say I’m not excited, but anxious at the same time,” Jones said. “Anxious for this day, and excited to be here,. It’s pretty cool for me to be partnered up with Furniture Row and be part of them growing and part of 5‑hour, too. To have such a big company like that be partnered with me is pretty cool this early in my racing career and something I’ve always wanted. Just a good fit all around.

 

“I’ve had the chance to kind of meet with everybody, get everything lined up, to see it all come together here over the past month or so has been a pretty cool experience for me. Got a lot to do this year yet, but definitely excited for next year.”

Team owner Barney Visser said that Jones’ contract is for one year, and that the team is actively pursuing a Charter for 2017.

MORE: Fast facts on Charter system

 

The reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, Jones is currently fourth in the XFINITY Series points standings with three victories. He sits first in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase Grid.

 

He has three previous Cup starts — all in Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. He filled in one race (Kansas) for an injured Kyle Busch in 2015 and then substituted for a suspended Matt Kenseth at both Texas and Phoenix later in the season. He scored a career best 12th place in Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota at Texas.

 

“I think a day like today, you have to put in perspective,” said Toyota Racing Development’s General Manager David Wilson. “Think about this. It was less than four years ago that Erik Jones, famously now, beat Kyle Busch in the Snowball Derby super late model race. Last year Erik won his first NASCAR championship with Kyle Busch Motorsports. This year obviously Erik is fighting for an XFINITY Series championship with Joe Gibbs Racing.

 

“So next year for him to ascend to the Cup Series with Furniture Row Racing is a spectacular story. Three different teams in three consecutive years. Toyota is the fortunate and grateful common denominator in that equation.”

 

Wilson said he expected Jones to begin sitting in at Toyota Sprint Cup racing briefings this year while the young driver continues to race for the XFINITY Series title.

 

It was a big weekend of news for the Denver-based Furniture Row Racing.

 

The team announced Friday it had re-signed its current driver Martin Truex Jr. to an additional two-year contract that will cover 2018-2019 seasons.

 

Truex advanced to the four-driver championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway last season, finishing fourth in the final standings. He had a dominating victory from the pole position at Charlotte Motor Speedway this year for the Coca-Cola 600 — leading 392 of 400 laps — and is currently ranked eighth in the standings as he prepares for a second championship run.

 

“Obviously they’ve been working on it for quite a while,” Truex said. “I think for us, and the long-term future of our company it’s a good thing. It’s stability. It’s more people, more money coming in. You could probably race two cars cheaper than one as far as per car. Bringing in more sponsorship will help.

 

“I think short term it might be a little more challenging. Our shop isn’t real big, not a lot of space. We need to make sure when bringing in more people it doesn’t upset the chemistry we’ve got going on. But Joe (Garone) and (Truex’s crew chief) Cole (Pearn) and those guys will make sure they have people who fit into their system and way they do things and won’t upset the apple cart, so to speak.

 

“From Toyota side and JGR side, obviously it’s really good for that relationship and anything we can do to keep that going, make that stronger, build that through is going to be good.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See the full Chase Grid


Here’s a breakdown of the Chase Grid and bubble picture following Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International.

BUESCHER’S STANDING

Chris Buescher remains on the cusp of a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup because of his win at Pocono Raceway, but the rookie’s involvement in a wreck with six laps remaining at the Cheez-It 355 hurt him greatly. Buescher still sits outside of the top 30 in points — a requirement to make the Chase — and is 31st, just three points behind 30th-place David Ragan. Ragan also was involved in the wreck on Lap 84, so Buescher stood to gain some ground if he could have found a way back into his car, but his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford couldn’t be fixed in time to get back on the track. Buescher, the reigning XFINITY Series champion, has four races to get into the top 30 and lock in his playoff spot. 


LOCKED IN

Drivers who have clinched a spot in the Chase are: Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin (all with multiple wins), along with one-win drivers Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. 


WIN, BASICALLY IN

With one win and a place in the top 30, Tony Stewart has all but claimed one of the remaining six spots. That accounts for 11 drivers in the 16-driver postseason field, leaving five spots up for grabs via points, with Buescher still sitting outside the top 30 in the standings. Here’s how that picture looks post-Watkins Glen.


BUBBLE WATCH


Editor’s note: The standings below are the Chase Grid standings, not the Sprint Cup Series drivers standings.

CHASE BUBBLE WATCH

Standing Driver Points differential from cutoff
12. Ryan Newman +51
13. Chase Elliott +49
14. Austin Dillon +47
15. Jamie McMurray +39
16. Kyle Larson +8
————————– CUT-OFF LINE ————————–
17. Trevor Bayne -8
18. Kasey Kahne -10
19. Ryan Blaney -19
20. AJ Allmendinger -34
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -45
22. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -59
23. Paul Menard -98
24. Greg Biffle -104
25. Danica Patrick -107
26. Clint Bowyer -123
27. Aric Almirola -141
28. Casey Mears -161
29. Landon Cassill -186
30. David Ragan -225
31. Chris Buescher* (1 win) -228
Posted on by Staff Report

Four cars were caught up in a wreck on Turn 5 of Lap 52 in the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen on Sunday, which brought out the red flag at Watkins Glen International.

 

The No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun and careened across the track to start the incident.

 

Stenhouse’s car impacted with the interior wall, and then made contact with the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson, the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon and the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Greg Biffle.

 

The Nos. 16, 17 and 48 did not return to the track.

 

“We were just hustling hard on that restart and got loose over the curb and just kind of spun,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “From that point we were just along for the ride. It looked like everybody scattered and it was probably pretty hard to see. We got hit pretty hard.”

 

Johnson was the one who did the hitting, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

 

“The cars started checking up in front of me and they all moved out of the way and the No. 17 was sitting there, stopped,” Johnson said. “I remember seeing a door number and I was so thankful it was the passenger-side door and not the driver-side door because I plowed him. I really hit the car hard. I was afraid that I might have injured him. But, thankfully he’s OK and everybody is all right.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The XFINITY Series continues road racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend, while the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series are off. See the full schedule below:

Note: All times are ET

SATURDAY, AUG. 13:

RUN OF SHOW
2:49:00 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series driver introductions
3:19:00: Moment of Silence, Bryan Clauson

3:19:10: Presentation of Colors by: Ohio Air National Guard Base Honor Guard
3:19:20: Invocation by: Lonnie Clouse, MRO
3:20:00: National Anthem by: Wendy Reiser

3:21:00: Team FasTrax (landing in Keyhole area)

3:26:30: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by: TBD
3:33:30: Start of the XFINITY Series’ Mid-Ohio Challenge (75 laps, 169.35 miles) (Results), USA/NBC Sports App

DAILY ROUNDUP

— Marks nabs first XFINITY win at rainy Mid-Ohio

— Watch: Marks’ emotional speech following win

— Blaney: ‘It was a blast’ to race in rain

— Watch: Multiple cars go spinning following late-race restart

— Hornish goes spinning, later runs off course

— Identity mixup: Fans congratulate the wrong Justin Marks on Twitter

— NASCAR Next’s Alon Day’s strong showing at Mid-Ohio

FRIDAY, AUG. 12:

ON TRACK

— 9-10:25 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series opening practice (Results)
— 11:35 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice (Results)
— 6:15 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole qualifying (Results), USA/NBC Sports App


DAILY ROUNDUP

— ‘Six-Time’s’ daughter a Kenseth fan, more tweets

— Dillon, Hornish top Friday’s XFINITY practices

— Penske expands XFINITY teams for 2017

— Drivers share thoughts, memories of Bryan Clauson

— Hornish feels at home at Mid-Ohio

— Hornish sets track record, earns pole for Saturday’s race

— Snapshot: Mid-Ohio

— Full lineup, roster for Mid-Ohio event

Posted on by Zack Albert

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Brad Keselowski took ownership of the final-lap, final-corner contact that sent Martin Truex Jr. looping out of second place and a last-ditch shot to win Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

According to the affronted Truex, apologies can only go so far.

“Hell no, it don’t help,” Truex said, “because you’re like, ‘Well, that’s awesome. Thanks for saying you’re sorry, but what do I get out of it?’ You know what I mean? That’s just racing. It’s like yesterday in qualifying, you know. A guy pulls out in front of you, he says I’m sorry. Well, no s— you’re sorry, but you gotta damn stop doing stupid stuff, you know what I mean? I don’t run over people all the time. I don’t pull out in front of people in qualifying. So race me like I race you is all I ask.”

Keselowski trudged on, securing a third-place finished as Denny Hamlin pulled away to victory and Team Penske stablemate Joey Logano slipped by for the runner-up spot in the final stretch of the Cheez-It 335 at The Glen.

Truex, who had closed in on Hamlin with hopes of making a final-lap challenge, salvaged seventh place after righting his damaged Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota in the final road-course race of the year for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Truex showed his post-race displeasure with multiple bumps directed at Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford on the cool-down lap. Keselowski walked over to Truex’s pit-road perch after parking, saying, “Hey, that was my fault, man.” With his voice raised, Truex said he agreed.

“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,” Keselowski said, taking the blame. “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. I am proud of my guys for a really fast race car and it was another crazy Watkins Glen day.”

The spin to a seventh-place result was the latest spike in a weekend of peaks and valleys for Truex. His Furniture Row team provided a boost by announcing a two-year contract extension for its primary driver Thursday, then by formalizing its plans Sunday to expand to a two-car Sprint Cup operation with rookie Erik Jones in 2017.

RELATED: Jones to pilot No. 77 for Furniture Row in 2017

The lows included a mediocre 14th-place starting spot, triggered by the aforementioned hold-up in Coors Light Pole Qualifying by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Sunday’s final setback left Truex with something to file away in his memory as he and Keselowski charge toward the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

“We had (Hamlin) squared up a little off (Turn) 11 and maybe could’ve drag-raced him to the line. It’d have been fun to see, but it was all not to be with getting hit in the left-rear,” Truex said. “It’s unfortunate, but you know, hard racing at the end, all of us going for a win and all of us locked in the Chase. I guess he races with that mentality that, ‘Hey, it doesn’t really matter where we finish or if we finish.’ Just have to be mindful of that when we’re around him for the rest of the time.”

Keselowski also addressed the situation on Twitter after the race:

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Watkins Glen race results


WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Elton Sawyer, NASCAR Vice President of Officiating and Technical Inspection, said Sunday morning that the odd explosion involving Derrike Cope’s car Saturday at Watkins Glen International was a result of excessive brake heat with little place to escape forcing a dramatic tire failure.

Cope’s No. 70 Chevrolet slowed to a stop in a cut-through area at the 2.45-mile road course’s chicane during Saturday’s Zippo 200 for the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The front end of the car then sustained severe damage in the blowout, sending up a cloud of brake dust and bringing out the last of the race’s eight caution flags.

NASCAR competition officials impounded the car after the race, with Sawyer — who was named to his post July 12 — and XFINITY Series director Wayne Auton investigating the issue alongside Goodyear tire engineers in the Watkins Glen garage.

Sawyer said that Cope’s No. 70 had made contact with another car one or two laps before the incident, causing a vibration and brake issue on his car’s right-front corner. When his brake pedal started to lose its effect, Cope indicated he was looking for a place to pull off the course.

The contact broke the brake caliper where it attached to the spindle, Sawyer said, creating excessive heat to melt the bead on the right-front tire’s inner sidewall.

“As soon as the vehicle comes to a stop, you’ve got all that radiant heat and it’s just sitting there at the soft point of the sidewall, which is where it basically explodes,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer said that NASCAR did not take the car back to its Research & Development Center in North Carolina, releasing the car to the team after at-track investigation and adding that competition officials would review the issue further.



“We’ll look into it as we always do,” Sawyer said. “We’ll get back and get with the guys at the R&D Center and say, ‘here’s what happened.’ We’ve got plenty of photographs and documentation, so we’ll look into it. But I think it’s when you’re at a high-speed place where there’s high braking, like a Martinsville, we see beads all the time. The situation here was when the vehicle came to a stop, there’s no air moving, so it’s probably the biggest issue.”



Cope was evaluated and released from the infield care center after the incident.



“In 35 years of racing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that transpire before,” Cope told NBCSN after Saturday’s evaluation. “We were just trying to survive and get through this thing so next week we could kind of work on this thing. I lost the brake pedal going into Turn 1, and I knew something happened to a piston or whatever so I just went easy down there and got off the end down there and started coming to a stop, and the whole thing just blew the hood off. And I don’t know really what it was. It looked like the shocks were all intact and the tires were up, so I don’t know really what exploded.”



The incident was also a new one on Sawyer, too, who competed for parts of 20 seasons in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.



“That may be the first,” Sawyer said. “We see tires blow all the time, but they’re at speed, they go down, so we don’t usually see it in a static situation like that.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon officially made his 800th NASCAR premier series start Sunday, taking the green flag at Watkins Glen International.

Gordon made his 24th start at the 2.45-mile road course in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen (USA, MRN, SiriusXM), substituting for the third consecutive week in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet as Dale Earnhardt Jr. recovers from concussion-related symptoms.

The green flag also marked big milestones from two other drivers. Matt Kenseth, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, made his 600th start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Michael McDowell, in the Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing, made his 200th premier-series appearance.

Gordon, who turned 45 on Thursday, becomes the ninth driver in NASCAR history to hit the 800-start plateau in stock-car racing’s top division. Of the eight drivers ahead of him on the all-time list, five are inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Kenseth becomes the second driver to cross the 600-start barrier this season. The retiring Tony Stewart also achieved the milestone, making start No. 600 at Kentucky Speedway on July 9.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

During the driver meetings prior to Sunday’s Cheez-It 355, Watkins Glen International President Michael Printup announced a grandstand sellout for the second consecutive season.

 

“This is a great testament to the passion and dedication our fans have for Watkins Glen International,” Printup said. “We’re looking forward to a great race and delivering an incredible experience that keeps our fans coming back year after year.”

 

In addition, the track also announced plans for a new viewing deck outside the Esses (turns 2-4) in 2017.

 

Joe Gibbs, owner of the winning No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, acknowledged the massive turnout during a post-race interview session with reporters.

 

“First of all, it’s great to be able to come to New York and Watkins Glen and race,” Gibbs said. “I want to say congratulations to everybody here. What impressed me a lot was that crowd. To have a sell-out crowd here is huge for our sport. It’s big for all of our sponsors. We had a number of them here with us this weekend.”

 

Team Penske driver Joey Logano had similar thoughts.

 

“Typical Watkins Glen,” he said. “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, ‘