bigbadbrother
08-10-2014, 09:44 PM
Tom Jensen
AJ Allmendinger won Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, scoring his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and the first for his single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team.
And with the victory, Allmendinger all but locked himself into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, as he bested Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson and Carl Edwards around the Watkins Glen road course.
Five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart missed the race after being involved in a crash Saturday night at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park that killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. Regan Smith subbed for Stewart and finished 37th.
Jeff Gordon started from the pole in his familiar No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, flanked by Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. The duo was fast early, Gordon leading and opening up a margin of nearly 7 seconds on third-place Jimmie Johnson by Lap 10.
Gordon led the first 29 laps before pitting for fuel and surrendering the lead briefly to teammate Kasey Kahne.
After the green-flag stops cycled through, it was Ambrose out front, with Gordon second, some 4.3 seconds behind.
At the halfway point, Ambrose led Gordon by 2.855 seconds, with Kurt Busch third.
But on Lap 51, the engine in Gordon's car died and he coasted to a halt just past the start-finish line.
Then, chaos.
On Lap 56, between Turns 5 and 6, there was a huge crash involving Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell, among others. The impact on the cars of Newman and McDowell was savage, but both drivers walked away. "Wrong place, wrong time," said Newman, who was not happy afterwards. " ... It's a very antiquated race track and it's not at all up to NASCAR's safety standards."
The ensuing red flag – actually two of them - lasted about 90 minutes.
Once the yellow finally came out, most of the leaders pitted, Ambrose taking only fuel, but Carl Edwards stayed on track and was out front when the track went green on Lap 60.
One lap later, Allmendinger outbraked Edwards into Turn 1, to put his Chevrolet on point. Ambrose, meanwhile, restarted ninth, but was up to fourth by Lap 62.
Ambrose took second from Busch on Lap 66, moving to 2.088 seconds behind leader Allmendinger.
But on Lap 78, Josh Wise brought out a caution when he went off track, which wiped out Allmendinger's lead.
When the race restarted, Allmendinger got a great restart, but behind him the field wadded up, with contact between Regan Smith and Jimmie Johnson. That brought the yellow back out.
On the restart with five laps to go, Ambrose somehow muscled his way into the lead, but Allmendinger took it back the following lap, only to see Denny Hamlin crash into the barrels at the entrance to pit road and Alex Kennedy wreck, too. That led to another red flag.
The track went green with 2 laps to go, Allmendinger leading initially and holding on to win.
Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
Aug 10, 2014 | Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, New York | 220.5 mi (90 of 90 Laps)
Pos Driver Car # Make Started
1 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 6
2 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 2
3 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 5
4 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 23
5 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 16
6 Joey Logano 22 Ford 11
7 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 4
8 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 28
9 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 8
10 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 12
11 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 7
12 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 30
13 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 25
14 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 14
15 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 22
16 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 31
17 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 15
18 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 27
19 David Ragan 34 Ford 26
20 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 21
21 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 43
22 David Gilliland 38 Ford 33
23 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 39
24 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 17
25 Boris Said 32 Ford 34
26 Nelson Piquet Jr. 77 Ford 32
27 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 24
28 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 3
29 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 41
30 Joe Nemechek 66 Toyota 40
31 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 42
32 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 20
33 Alex Kennedy 33 Chevrolet 38
34 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 1
35 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 9
36 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 36
37 Regan Smith 14 Chevrolet 13
38 Josh Wise 98 Chevrolet 37
39 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 35
40 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 19
41 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 10
42 Michael McDowell 95 Ford 29
43 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 18
AJ Allmendinger won Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, scoring his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and the first for his single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team.
And with the victory, Allmendinger all but locked himself into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, as he bested Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson and Carl Edwards around the Watkins Glen road course.
Five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart missed the race after being involved in a crash Saturday night at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park that killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. Regan Smith subbed for Stewart and finished 37th.
Jeff Gordon started from the pole in his familiar No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, flanked by Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. The duo was fast early, Gordon leading and opening up a margin of nearly 7 seconds on third-place Jimmie Johnson by Lap 10.
Gordon led the first 29 laps before pitting for fuel and surrendering the lead briefly to teammate Kasey Kahne.
After the green-flag stops cycled through, it was Ambrose out front, with Gordon second, some 4.3 seconds behind.
At the halfway point, Ambrose led Gordon by 2.855 seconds, with Kurt Busch third.
But on Lap 51, the engine in Gordon's car died and he coasted to a halt just past the start-finish line.
Then, chaos.
On Lap 56, between Turns 5 and 6, there was a huge crash involving Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell, among others. The impact on the cars of Newman and McDowell was savage, but both drivers walked away. "Wrong place, wrong time," said Newman, who was not happy afterwards. " ... It's a very antiquated race track and it's not at all up to NASCAR's safety standards."
The ensuing red flag – actually two of them - lasted about 90 minutes.
Once the yellow finally came out, most of the leaders pitted, Ambrose taking only fuel, but Carl Edwards stayed on track and was out front when the track went green on Lap 60.
One lap later, Allmendinger outbraked Edwards into Turn 1, to put his Chevrolet on point. Ambrose, meanwhile, restarted ninth, but was up to fourth by Lap 62.
Ambrose took second from Busch on Lap 66, moving to 2.088 seconds behind leader Allmendinger.
But on Lap 78, Josh Wise brought out a caution when he went off track, which wiped out Allmendinger's lead.
When the race restarted, Allmendinger got a great restart, but behind him the field wadded up, with contact between Regan Smith and Jimmie Johnson. That brought the yellow back out.
On the restart with five laps to go, Ambrose somehow muscled his way into the lead, but Allmendinger took it back the following lap, only to see Denny Hamlin crash into the barrels at the entrance to pit road and Alex Kennedy wreck, too. That led to another red flag.
The track went green with 2 laps to go, Allmendinger leading initially and holding on to win.
Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
Aug 10, 2014 | Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, New York | 220.5 mi (90 of 90 Laps)
Pos Driver Car # Make Started
1 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 6
2 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 2
3 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 5
4 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 23
5 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 16
6 Joey Logano 22 Ford 11
7 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 4
8 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 28
9 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 8
10 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 12
11 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 7
12 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 30
13 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 25
14 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 14
15 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 22
16 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 31
17 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 15
18 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 27
19 David Ragan 34 Ford 26
20 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 21
21 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 43
22 David Gilliland 38 Ford 33
23 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 39
24 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 17
25 Boris Said 32 Ford 34
26 Nelson Piquet Jr. 77 Ford 32
27 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 24
28 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 3
29 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 41
30 Joe Nemechek 66 Toyota 40
31 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 42
32 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 20
33 Alex Kennedy 33 Chevrolet 38
34 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 1
35 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 9
36 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 36
37 Regan Smith 14 Chevrolet 13
38 Josh Wise 98 Chevrolet 37
39 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 35
40 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 19
41 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 10
42 Michael McDowell 95 Ford 29
43 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 18