Official Release

Today, at the NASCAR Fuel for Business meetings in New York City, ExxonMobil and NASCAR® announced the renewal of a long-standing partnership, continuing to designate its Mobil 1™ brand as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR®”. The newly signed agreement will extend the successful partnership to 20 years, which has been highlighted by marketing and technological innovation that has catalyzed growth across both entities.

Still riding a strong summer stretch, Ross Chastain will drive the Protect Your Melon Chevrolet in Saturday’s Zippo 200 Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen.

It’s Race One for Harrison Rhodes at Watkins Glen International, the world-famous road racing course in New York. Rhodes will drive the Great Outdoors RV Superstore Chevrolet in Saturday’s Zippo 200, an 82-lap race around the 2.45-mile course.

Smithley will drive the Taughannock Aviation and Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport Chevrolet in Saturday’s Zippo 200 Xfinity Series race on the Glen road course. Smithley made his debut at Watkins Glen last season, but he had a very short day. He parked after only 13 laps with overheating problems.

Pocono Recap: Denny Hamlin finished fourth in Sunday’s 160-lap Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, combining tactful driving with Crew Chief Mike Wheeler’s calculated pit strategy to claim his seventh top-five finish of the 2017 season in the event won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Executing the #11 FedEx team’s original pit strategy, Hamlin stayed out during the mandatory break between Stage 2 and Stage 3, and he lined up second next to Martin Truex Jr. to start the race’s final 60-lap segment.

Missing the race at Sonoma Raceway due to injury, Aric Almirola makes his first and only road course start this season at Watkins Glen International (WGI). His favorite of the two road course races, he looks to top his best road course finish of 14th which he posted in 2015 at Sonoma Raceway. The No. 43 Smithfield team will utilize notes from last year as well as from Sonoma last June to get a good start for the weekend. Almirola will tap into the knowledge he got from past teammate and WGI winner Marcos Ambrose.

Chevrolet has more wins at Watkins Glen than any other manufacturer.  The Bowtie Brigade has been to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen 17 times in the 34 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events held at the 2.45-mile road course.

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) and Xfinity Series driver Ross Chastain today held a meet-and-greet at Watkins Glen State Park to promote seat belt use. Chastain’s GTSC-sponsored race car sports the “Protect Your Melon” logo that is part of the campaign to promote the safe driving habit of buckling up.

Michael McDowell and Leavine Family Racing (LFR) are returning to Watkins Glen International, (WGI) a place McDowell will shoot for success at, fresh off their best finish at Pocono Raceway.

100 Wins for Toyota: When Kyle Busch scored his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) win of the season Sunday at Pocono Raceway it marked the 100th Cup Series victory for Toyota since joining the series in 2007. Busch was also the driver to give Toyota its first MENCS victory in March 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and has registered 35 Cup wins behind the wheel of a Camry. Eleven total drivers have scored victories for Toyota, including Busch (35 wins), Denny Hamlin (27), Matt Kenseth (14), Martin Truex Jr. (eight), Carl Edwards (five), Clint Bowyer (three), Joey Logano (two), David Reutimann (two), Brian Vickers (two), Kasey Kahne (one) and Tony Stewart (one).