Busch claims victory at Watkins Glen
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — There was no slip-up on the final lap this time, so Kyle Busch’s victory celebration at Watkins Glen International was as sweet as it gets.
Bumped aside a year ago by Brad Keselowski on the final lap as they sped around an oilcovered track, Busch held the reigning Sprint Cup champion at bay on a two-lap dash to the checkered flag Sunday.
Busch kept his foot on the accelerator a tad longer than usual during his post race burnout, even sticking half his body out the window while smoke swirled all around and the tires kept churning.
“A big sigh of relief, just a deep breath. Whew!” said Busch, who also was victimized two years ago while leading on a green-white-checkered finish and finished third. “I was just trying to take it all in and figure it all out. The last couple of years here have been tough, and today it could have been tough again.”
Keselowski finished second in this race for the third straight time. He challenged Busch on the final lap, pulling to his rear bumper at one point. There was no bump this time.
“We had a shot at it,” Keselowski said. “I was going to have to wreck him to really get it, and I didn’t want to do that. There’s racing and there’s wrecking. Those are two different things.
“Everybody defines them a little differently, and I guess that’s the code you live your life by. If I was going to take out Kyle, it would have been wrecking in my mind, and there’s a distinct difference.”
Racing can be all about luck sometimes, and Busch couldn’t get much luckier than he was on this day.
Pole sitter Marcos Ambrose dominated the race, leading 51 laps, but his good fortune — he was seeking his third straight Cup win at The Glen — finally ran out just past the halfway point of the 90-lap race.
Crew chief Dave Rogers was planning to have Busch pit on lap 60, but his crew noticed fluid on the track and brought the No. 18 Toyota in a lap early. Busch was in the pits when a caution flew and Ambrose had to pit under yellow, losing his spot to Busch at the front.
“That was a game-changer right there,” said Busch, who won from the pole in 2008.
Busch held on through a series of cautions over the final 28 laps. Ambrose, who restarted 12th, crashed late trying to make a run with an ill-handling car and finished 23rd. He entered the race with an average finish of second in five previous starts at Watkins Glen and also had won all three Nationwide races he’d entered at the storied road course in upstate New York.
“That’s just the way it goes,” Ambrose said. “We put on a strong showing. It wasn’t our day, but we’ve had plenty of good days here.”
The field didn’t have to worry about five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart. The man known as Smoke is out indefinitely after breaking two bones in his right leg last Monday night in a sprint car race in Iowa. Stewart, who has undergone two surgeries, saw his streak of 521 consecutive Cup starts come to an end. Max Papis drove Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet on Sunday and finished 15th.