Post Race Notes from the Glen

August 6, 2017 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service FOR ROOKIE DANIEL SUÁREZ, TOP-10 RUNS ARE BECOMING ROUTINE WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Daniel Suárez didn’t seem particularly elated about finishing third at Watkins Glen International, even though he had just achieved a career best in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Perhaps that’s because the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender is growing accustomed to success. Consider this: Suárez received a battlefield promotion into the Monster Energy Series when Carl Edwards announced his sudden, unexpected exit from the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the offseason. After a rough start to…

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Truex wins the strategy game, grabs first victory at Watkins Glen

August 6, 2017 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – At a track where his father raced, and a track where he was a “garage rat” as a child, Martin Truex Jr. won Sunday’s I Love New York 355 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race by slowing down over the closing laps. Truex let Brad Keselowski pass him for the lead on Lap 77 of 90. On instructions from crew chief Cole Pearn, Truex also let Ryan Blaney past his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota on Lap 83. All the while, Truex was saving fuel, with Pearn calculating…

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Watkins Glen Race Preview

Denny Hamlin has historically never been on the shortlist of favorites to prevail when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competes at Watkins Glen International. This weekend is an entirely different story, however. For the first time ever, Hamlin is considered the driver to beat on the challenging 2.45-mile road course. The reason? Last season — seemingly out of nowhere — Hamlin was NASCAR’s most successful road racer. After finishing second at Sonoma Raceway in June, Hamlin scored his first career road course victory when NASCAR’s premier series convened at WGI in August. Hamlin’s road-course success has since carried over to 2017,…

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Kyle Busch gets breakthrough NASCAR XFINITY win at The Glen

August 5, 2017 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – With a victory in Saturday’s Zippo 200, Kyle Busch continued to tick items off his bucket list. Recovering from a wheel-hop and spin in Turn 1 on Lap 17 of 82 along with a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes, Busch claimed his first NASCAR XFINITY Series win at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course, beating polesitter Joey Logano to the finish line by 1.049 seconds. “The cars have really been working for me here and it just feels so good to finally win an XFINITY…

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Watkins Glen: 5 to watch

Driver To Beat: Denny Hamlin Team To Beat: Joe Gibbs Racing Sleeper: Erik Jones Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner at Watkins Glen and has been NASCAR’s most consistent road racer the past two years. He’s also still riding high from his playoff-clinching win at New Hampshire earlier this month. A two-time winner at Watkins Glen, Kyle Busch returns to the 2.45-mile road course fresh off a commanding victory at Pocono. No driver arrives at The Glen any hotter than the driver of the No. 18 Toyota. Always a threat to win on the road courses due to the experience he…

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