Started first, finished first is the name of the game for NASCAR’s most popular driver, as Chase Elliott completely dominated to win his fifth Cup Series career victory and his second consecutive win at The Glen.
“The past month and a half has not been that fun at all, and this team has stuck together, just stayed the course,” Elliott said to MRN Radio. “That’s the most important thing when you’re struggling. So to be able to stay the course, come up here, sit on the pole Saturday, lead the most laps, win the race, I’ve never done that in my career. That’s the kind of team we can be. I feel really confident about that, so we just have to keep it rolling.”
Stages were broken into 20/20/50 laps to make up the 90 lap race distance.
Only Ryan Blaney had to go to the rear for making unapproved adjustments prior to the start of the race.
Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20
No cautions took place in the first stage, however, there were a couple of incidents. Kyle Busch spun underneath William Byron on Lap 2 in Turn 1. There would be no caution, but more on this later.
Aric Almirola reported that his shifter was about to break off. There was a near-miss between Denny Hamlin and Byron and Daniel Suarez had grass on his grille.
In the remaining laps, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Blaney, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Chris Buescher all pitted with three laps to go in hopes to have track position for the Stage 2 restart. Byron also had grass on his grille after going through the bus stop.
It was all Chase Elliott who led every lap to take the Stage 1 win.
A heated interaction occurred between Byron and Kyle Busch under the stage break, as Byron went to retaliate by running into the rear end of Busch in the esses. However, Byron got the worst of it with damage to his hood.
Busch would also have more problems occur on his pit stop, as he would be caught being too fast exiting on section eight. Corey LaJoie was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes on exit. Ross Chastain was penalized for having a crew member over the wall too soon.
Elliott, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Almirola rounded out the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.
Stage 2: Lap 24 – Lap 40
Larson assumed the lead as he would stay out under the stage break, but later pitted from the lead on Lap 29.
On the other hand, Truex had a close call with Keselowski coming to the inner loop by going off the grass a little bit. Logano went through the inner loop grass as well and would have minor front end damage.
Another driver who had issues with the inner loop was Parker Kligerman who went spinning around after contact with Suarez. Since Larson pitted from the lead, Elliott would assume the lead on Lap 29.
A caution broke out on Lap 32 when the No. 77 of Reed Sorenson began leaking fluid in the inner loop. This prompted NASCAR to clean up the fluid. Under the caution, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch pitted along with Byron.
A restart came with four to go in Stage 2. With that, a battle heated up for the lead between Elliott and Truex for the stage win. However, Wallace was sent spinning into the Turn 5 tire barrier to bring out the caution on Lap 39.
With the incident, Stage 2 would end under yellow with Elliott once again picking up the stage win. Truex, Harvick, Bowyer, Hamlin, Keselowski, Bowman, Jones, Blaney and Johnson were the remaining top-10 finishers in the second stage on Lap 40.
Stage 3: Lap 43 – Lap 90
The final stage began just how it ended with Elliott and Truex contending for the lead. Ryan Newman pitted on Lap 50 for a right front flat and was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes on exit. Hemric also spun through the inner loop two laps later with no caution and the Richard Childress Racing driver suffered major damage to the rear end after contact with Ty Dillon. Due to the contact, Dillon went through the inner loop picking up grass on his grille.
Green flag pit stops started to take place on Lap 57 with Harvick being the first to pit. Elliott pitted from the lead with 30 to go, while Truex stayed out one lap longer and came in the next lap. Elliott retook the lead right after Truex re-entered the track.
Two incidents broke out on Lap 61. Johnson went sliding in Turn 5 toward the tire barrier after getting loose. Then, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace were bumping and banging on the frontstretch with Wallace turning Busch in Turn 1. A caution came out for the incident.
The final restart of the race came with 25 to go. Elliott and Truex had a thrilling battle off the restart, banging doors with each other. So much so, that even with Elliott getting the lead, he was concerned with having a flat tire going down.
But Elliott was able to fend off Truex for his second consecutive win at The Glen. Elliott led all but 10 laps to pick up his second win of the season.
“Track position, obviously, having a clean air was the biggest thing,” Elliott added. “I thought he (Truex) was a little better there at the end. Just tried to hit my marks and stay mistake free. You know, just not hand it to him. I knew he was going to come up there and pass me, just didn’t want to beat myself and worked really hard at that. Glad we were able to seal the deal, it feels really good.”
Elliott led three times for 80 laps and picked up 60 points, along with seven Playoff points.
There were four cautions for 13 laps with four leaders among five lead changes.
Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 22
Race Results for the 34th Annual Go Bowling at The Glen – Sunday, August 4, 2019
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road
Total Race Length – 90 Laps – 220.5 Miles
| Fin | Str | No | Driver | Team | Laps | S1Pos | S2Pos | S3Pos | Pts | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet | 90 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 60 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 90 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 52 | Running |
| 3 | 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Cares Toyota | 90 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 49 | Running |
| 4 | 14 | 20 | Erik Jones | DeWalt Toyota | 90 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 39 | Running |
| 5 | 19 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | PPG Ford | 90 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 34 | Running |
| 6 | 20 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Procore Toyota | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | Running |
| 7 | 15 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Beer Ford | 90 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 38 | Running |
| 8 | 5 | 42 | Kyle Larson | McDonald’s Chevrolet | 90 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 9 | 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Autotrader Ford | 90 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 10 | 7 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy Chevrolet | 90 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 29 | Running |
| 11 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota | 90 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 12 | 9 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Go Bowling Ford | 90 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 26 | Running |
| 13 | 16 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Cottonelle Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 14 | 17 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Axalta Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 27 | Running |
| 15 | 12 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Acronis Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | Running |
| 16 | 11 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Long John Silver’s Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Running |
| 17 | 18 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Haas Automation Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | Running |
| 18 | 22 | 21 | Paul Menard | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | Running |
| 19 | 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Ally Chevrolet | 90 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 20 | 13 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford | 90 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 21 | 2 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet | 90 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 22 | Running |
| 22 | 31 | 38 | David Ragan | MDS Transport Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Running |
| 23 | 21 | 22 | Joey Logano | MoneyLion Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Running |
| 24 | 26 | 36 | Matt Tifft # | Maui Jim/Surface Sunscreen Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Running |
| 25 | 25 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Acronis Ford | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Running |
| 26 | 24 | 96 | * Parker Kligerman(i) | TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 27 | 32 | 15 | Ross Chastain(i) | Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 28 | 30 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Victory Junction Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | Running |
| 29 | 34 | 0 | Landon Cassill(i) | StarCom Fiber Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 30 | 27 | 13 | Ty Dillon | GEICO Military Chevrolet | 89 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | Running |
| 31 | 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 89 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Running |
| 32 | 36 | 52 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Chevrolet | 89 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 33 | 35 | 51 | Cody Ware(i) | JACOB COMPANIES Chevrolet | 89 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 34 | 33 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Samaritan’s Feet Ford | 85 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Engine |
| 35 | 23 | 8 | Daniel Hemric # | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Running |
| 36 | 29 | 47 | Ryan Preece # | Kroger Chevrolet | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Rear Gear |
| 37 | 37 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Steering |
Updated Playoff Points Standings
- Kyle Busch, 4 wins
- Martin Truex Jr, 4 wins
- Denny Hamlin, 3 wins
- Brad Keselowski, 3 wins
- Joey Logano, 2 wins
- Chase Elliott, 2 wins
- Kevin Harvick, 1 win
- Kurt Busch, 1 win
- Alex Bowman, 1 win
- Aric Almirola, +96
- Ryan Blaney, +89
- William Byron, +60
- Erik Jones, +54
- Kyle Larson, +46
- Clint Bowyer, +12
- Jimmie Johnson, tied with Ryan Newman
Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 11.
