Watkins Glen Int'l - Zippo 200
RACE WINNER: KEVIN HARVICK
Kurt Busch: 3rd (started 1st)
- After last year’s exciting battle with Robby Gordon in the closing laps, Kurt began his run at the Glen with a record-breaking pole lap. Obviously, he had a great race based on his finish, but pushing the car to its limits all day crippled it. The #39 Dodge experienced brake problems at the end of the race and Kurt nearly wrecked it while barreling into a turn only to have the brakes go flat. Then his strategy was forced to change from offense to defending his 3rd position from Paul Menard. Regardless, Kurt is always fun to watch at the road courses!
Casey Mears: 8th (started 19th)
- Some extra fuel at the end of the race allowed Casey to continue racing while others had to pit. Even though he didn’t muscle his way to the front, an important aspect of road racing is to keep the car clean and stay on the track, which Casey did wonderfully.
Todd Kluever: 20th (started 33rd)
- He had a much better day than at Montreal. The team used pit strategy early in the race that faltered and put Todd a lap down. However, he was able to claim the free pass after a caution flew. Restarting in 25th, he gained all five positions on the track.
David Reutimann: 25th (started 26th)
- Rain that cancelled practice put David at a disadvantage, since this was the first time he had even visited the Glen. He made good progress at the start of the race, but fell a lap down after green flag stops. While a lap down, he made contact with Jeff Burton, though it’s difficult to say if the damage to his car was enough to alter handling. Not a stellar finish, but it was better than being taken out of the car like he was in the Cup series.
- Quotes:
“Today was just a tough day. I had never raced on the track before this weekend, and it was only my third road course race, so I didn't come in here with too high of hopes. The track is a pretty fast road course, but going into turn one gets pretty tough on restarts with all those cars going in at once. Overall, we lost a little bit in points, but we have some tracks coming up that I think we're going to be real good at, so I'm optimistic.”
- However, David did gain on point leader Carl Edwards, who had mechanical issues. He is now 766 points away from a championship!
Other Notes:
- Didn’t watch the race because we had to go into work early.
Kurt Busch: 3rd (started 1st)
- After last year’s exciting battle with Robby Gordon in the closing laps, Kurt began his run at the Glen with a record-breaking pole lap. Obviously, he had a great race based on his finish, but pushing the car to its limits all day crippled it. The #39 Dodge experienced brake problems at the end of the race and Kurt nearly wrecked it while barreling into a turn only to have the brakes go flat. Then his strategy was forced to change from offense to defending his 3rd position from Paul Menard. Regardless, Kurt is always fun to watch at the road courses!
Casey Mears: 8th (started 19th)
- Some extra fuel at the end of the race allowed Casey to continue racing while others had to pit. Even though he didn’t muscle his way to the front, an important aspect of road racing is to keep the car clean and stay on the track, which Casey did wonderfully.
Todd Kluever: 20th (started 33rd)
- He had a much better day than at Montreal. The team used pit strategy early in the race that faltered and put Todd a lap down. However, he was able to claim the free pass after a caution flew. Restarting in 25th, he gained all five positions on the track.
David Reutimann: 25th (started 26th)
- Rain that cancelled practice put David at a disadvantage, since this was the first time he had even visited the Glen. He made good progress at the start of the race, but fell a lap down after green flag stops. While a lap down, he made contact with Jeff Burton, though it’s difficult to say if the damage to his car was enough to alter handling. Not a stellar finish, but it was better than being taken out of the car like he was in the Cup series.
- Quotes:
“Today was just a tough day. I had never raced on the track before this weekend, and it was only my third road course race, so I didn't come in here with too high of hopes. The track is a pretty fast road course, but going into turn one gets pretty tough on restarts with all those cars going in at once. Overall, we lost a little bit in points, but we have some tracks coming up that I think we're going to be real good at, so I'm optimistic.”
- However, David did gain on point leader Carl Edwards, who had mechanical issues. He is now 766 points away from a championship!
Other Notes:
- Didn’t watch the race because we had to go into work early.
