Watkins Glen International has always set a full schedule of off-track activities during the annual NASCAR stop at the upstate NY venue including autograph sessions, driver appearances, opportunities to have coffee with track executives (president and vice president) and concerts every night of the race weekend.
Logano started on pole and dominated most of the day, leading 67 of 82 laps and cruised to victory after teammate Brad Keselowski had to pit late due to a broken track bar. It's Logano's 26th career XFINITY Series victory and his third straight overall victory at Watkins Glen after sweeping the XFINITY/Cup weekend last year.
Asked what winning does for his confidence, Chris Buescher said it's "always big to be able to pull off a win." Speaking before the NASCAR media corp during his media availability, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford - coming off his first career Sprint Cup Series victory just four days earlier in the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway - talked about what winning the race does for him and his team.
It’s been a long time since the large media center at Watkins Glen was full, but full it was when Earnhardt took to the stage at noon sharp today to discuss his progress since stepping out of his No 88 race car a few weeks ago due to side effects of a concussion that was incurred at Michigan in June.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has missed the last three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races after suffering concussion-like symptoms. Monday he participated in The Dale Jr. Download podcast to discuss his treatment progress, future racing plans and the decision to make his health a priority.
Left, left, left, and (if not at Pocono) a final left. That is usually how it goes each week in NASCAR. This week is one of those unusual ones. Eleven turns at Watkins Glen and seven of them are right. I think these road courses provide more exciting NASCAR races than some ovals, including Indianapolis. Let the arguing begin.
Given time, Buescher will grow as a driver, be it with FRM or RFR. Either way, he'll post more results as he matures, and he will be a Sprint Cup winner again. It's too early to gauge when he'll become an actual Cup title contender, but that day could very well come.
Keselowski finished second in the rain-delayed and rain-shortened Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono as Chris Buescher took the unlikely win. “It was an unlikely win by Buescher,” Keselowski said. “And I was the ‘unlikeliest,’ because no one ‘unliked’ it more than me, since I finished second.”
Well, Monday was a great day for Chris Buescher. With the fog rolling in at the Pennsylvania 400, he stayed out while others pitted to have the fuel to run the final 22 laps that never were as the race was red flagged. With impending stormy weather ensuring things would not be re-started, the 24-year old claimed his first win in his 27th Cup start.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Eli Tomac who prevailed with his third victory of the season, wrestling the lead away from Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb before soldiering home to a bounce-back win following an adversity plagued outing last weekend.
The 31-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led a race-high 78 of 120 laps and persevered through a two-lap shootout to win the O'Reilly opener at Daytona for a fourth time in five years.
All six Toyota GR Supras from Joe Gibbs Racing and Sam Hunt Racing failed to finish an incident-filled NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday evening.
Nick Sanchez finished eighth in Stage 1, despite being collected in a multi-car accident coming to the finish line. The damage, however, was enough to force him out of the race in 36th place.
In just his 13th career ARCA Menards National Series start, Truck Series regular Gio Ruggiero earned his first career win in the series at Daytona International Speedway on a late race restart.
