New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Truex hits Watkins Glen seeking third straight win on road course
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Martin Truex Jr. has a chance to join former NASCAR greats Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart as kings of the roads.
Truex is seeking his third consecutive victory on a road course in NASCAR’s stop Sunday at Watkins Glen. The 11-turn, 3.4-mile circuit joins Sonoma (California) Raceway as the only two true road courses on the Cup schedule.
Gordon, with nine career road course victories, won six straight races from 1997-2000. His streak included three wins each at Watkins Glen and Sonoma. Stewart, with eight career road course wins, won three straight from 200405.
Truex won at Watkins Glen last summer, in California in June, and now is chasing Stewart and Gordon for the mark of three straight. The reigning Cup champion figures he’s successful on road courses because he enjoys the challenge of the rare right-hand turns.
“It’s a unique set of circumstances. It’s an extraspecial feeling to win on tracks that are completely different like this,” Truex said Saturday, insisting he could be going for four straight if not for an engine failure at Sonoma last year. His Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota led 25 laps in that race before the engine blew.
“I think we should have three in a row already with the trouble we had at Sonoma last year, but that’s kind of the way it goes in racing,” he added.
Truex is part of the “Big 3” in NASCAR that is dominating the season. Truex, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have combined to win 16 of the 21 Cup races. Truex has four victories, but three of those wins have come in the last eight outings. The Sonoma win was by a margin of over 10 seconds and was aided by crew chief Cole Pearn’s gamble to pit offsequence from the rest of the leaders.
Pearn was pivotal last year at The Glen when the No. 78 won a strategic fuel mileage race.
Truex held off Matt Kenseth on the final lap after Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney were forced to pit for gas as the race wound toward the checkered flag.
“You do what you can do,” said Keselowski, a three-time runner-up at The Glen, “if it takes strategy to win, you play strategy. If you can win on speed, you try to win on speed.”
LOGANO WINS XFINITY RACE
This time, Joey Logano survived the rain.
Logano passed Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski on a restart in the closing laps and held off his final challenge to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International in a race that was redflagged for rain, forcing the drivers to briefly run on grooved rain tires.
“I thought that was going to be my best shot,” Logano said. “I wasn't going to go all or nothing, but I was able to get all the way to their doors. It's hard racing at the end. We were going for it.”
Logano, who started from pole, took control with under 10 laps to go in the 82-lap race around the 2.45-mile layout. He dived to the inside on the first turn, making it three-wide going through the 90-degree right-hander. The move forced Keselowski, who was leading, wide as Logano assumed the top spot, leaving his teammate behind.
It became a two-car race as Keselowski recovered and the two pulled away. With four laps to go, Keselowski was on Logano's back bumper as the two sped nose-to-tail. Keselowski lost his chance to challenge for the victory when he skidded out on the first turn with under three laps to go.
“I tried to pull away and I couldn't,” Logano said. “I knew he was thinking that was going to be his chance. I knew I could drive into that corner pretty hard. We both were pushing the cars as hard as we possible could.”
Logano beat AJ Allmendinger by 3.3 seconds. Justin Allgaier was third, followed by Justin Haley and Aric Almirola. It was Logano's third win in the series at The Glen and 30th overall, seventh on the career list. Keselowski finished 10th.
The Penske drivers struggled on rain tires. They weren't alone.
Rookie Christopher Bell, who leads the points standings and was chasing a record-tying fourth consecutive win, finished ninth in a race on a track he had never raced on.
Bell became the first series driver since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1999 to win three straight with a victory last week at Iowa. Sam Ard set the record of four consecutive Xfinity Series wins in 1983.
Logano was dominant at the start, leading the entire 20-lap first segment and keeping Keselowski at bay as Cup regulars occupied the top three spots.