Monday, August 10, 2009

Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen Recap...

In unprecedented fashion, Tony Stewart came home with the hardware today in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen. After being rescheduled due to thunderstorms and steady rain throughout much of the day yesterday, the race was run in full today under cloudless skies. This is Stewart's fifth win at Watkins Glen International, and he is in very elite company as the only driver to record five victories in the same professional racing series at the historic road course. Stewart has won 5 of the past 8 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at The Glen and today he referred to the track as "my house." Can't say anyone could
argue with him. (Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com)

Alright, so with that, it's time for some fun. Here's where my Six Pack of drivers finished in today's race...Hooray for bad Photoshop!

My pick for the race win, Denny Hamlin (in between Scott Speed and Joey Logano, click left to enlarge) finished 10th place after speeding on pit road early in the race. He was running in the top 5 up until his mistake on pit road but he was able to rebound and finish solidly here at The Glen.

Tony Stewart (click right to enlarge) ended up with the victory. In the race to the Chase, he now finds himself at the top of the mountain with a 260 point advantage over second place Jimmie Johnson.

Mark Martin didn't perform very well today at all with a 23rd place finish. Bleh.

Juan Montoya did not disappoint today with a 6th place finish and gained an important position in the Chase for the Sprint Cup (7th in points now).

Marcos Ambrose once again proved that he is one of the best road course racers on the Sprint Cup circuit with a career-best second place finish. In four races at The Glen, Ambrose has not been outside the podium with a win in last year's Zippo 200, a third place finish in the Centurion Boats At The Glen, a win in the Zippo 200 THIS year, and today's excellent finish for JTG Motorsports.

Jeff Gordon...unfortunately Jeff Gordon WAS someone to watch today, but for the wrong reason. Coming out of Turn 9, Gordon had nowhere to go as he plowed into the side of Sam Hornish, Jr's car. The accident initially started when Kasey Kahne lost control of his car and slipped up, tapping Hornish and sending him careening against the tire barrier and back out into the middle of the track where he collected Gordon. To see how vicious this accident was, watch for yourself here. Jeff admitted that he was experiencing some back pain following that horrendous crash, but it's a miracle that he and everyone else involved (Kasey Kahne, Sam Hornish Jr., Jeff Burton, Andy Lally, and Joey Logano) were physically okay, aside from some minor injuries. The crash brought out a 19 minute red flag period.

Movers and shakers of the race...

Bubble Man Greg Biffle. He shot up two positions in the Race to the Chase from 12th to 10th with a top 5 finish here at Watkins Glen International. The two drivers who lost positions in points were Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth. They'll both try to rebound next week at Michigan.

CARL EDWARDS! He scored a 3rd place finish today after starting 33rd! Sound familiar? Marcos Ambrose accomplished a similar feat last year starting 43rd and finishing 3rd. Edwards now finds himself 6th in points and in solid position to be racing for the Sprint Cup crown in 4 weeks.

Did What He Needed to Do...

Kyle Busch. He finished fourth today and cut down the distance between himself and Matt Kenseth (12th in points). He is now only 58 points out of The Chase with four races remaining before NASCAR's playoff series begins.

Oh S***!!! Moment of the Race...

OUCH! I realize there were several bad accidents today, but anytime a crew member is hit on pit road, you remember just how much can be at stake when these folks hop over the wall to perform week in and week out from February to November. Very fortunate that he's okay.

Well, that just about does it here for the Spirit of Watkins Glen tonight. It was an amazing and exciting weekend of racing here in Watkins Glen, but it's time to fold up the tents, start up the haulers, and move on down the road. Thanks for reading everyone!

1 comment:

  1. That hit that Gordon took was downright vicious. Earnhardt's hit was pretty hard too. Nice job with the blog this year. I think I'm gonna have to head up there and catch this race live next year.

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