Sam Hornish Jr. started on the pole. It was his second consecutive pole at Watkins Glen. The race had its share of early story lines. On the pace laps, Kyle Larson had one of his belts come undone. He had to report to pit road so his team could fix the belt, but he was able to start in his scheduled spot. The race went green and a lap could not be completed before a sure race contender would have trouble. Kyle Busch, who had moved into second on the start, got loose coming out of turn 1 on lap 1 and went for a spin. His car came to a stop next to the tire barrier and it looked like he would sneak away without damage, but all that would change. Mike Wallace, who was running near the back, made a quick move to avoid, but his car piled into the front nose of Busch's car. This left both drivers with significant damage. Busch made it back on track, but he was several laps down and not in contention for a win. This resulted in the first caution of the race. No drivers received the lucky dog. After an eventful first lap, Sam Hornish Jr. was able to cross the start/finish line to lead lap 1.
Everything was cleaned up after the accident and the race went back green. It was a short time after this that Brad Keselowski was able to take the lead away from Sam Hornish Jr. on lap 16. Immediately after, the second caution of the race waved on lap 17. Kenny Habul slowed on track in the inner loop. No drivers received the lucky dog. This led to strategy becoming an important part of the race. The drivers in the top 10 who pitted took four tires. Parker Kligerman, Kasey Kahne, and Andrew Ranger decided to stay out. This allowed Kligerman to take the lead with Kahne and Ranger running second and third, respectively. The race went back green it would be a short time before a regular would have trouble. Trevor Bayne spun coming out of turn 7 on lap 25 and barely clipped the inside wall, but he was able to get back going and a caution was avoided. Kligerman led for a short time before he pulled down pit road for his stop on lap 26. Just as he came back on track, the third caution of the race waved on lap 26. Joey Gase slowed on track between turns 6 and 7. Derek White received the lucky dog. Drivers like Kasey Kahne, Nelson Piquet Jr., Kyle Larson, and Brian Vickers decided to pit. Most drivers just topped off with fuel while Kahne took four tires on his first stop of the day. The race went back green with Brad Keselowski back out front. It was a short time after this that the fourth caution of the race waved on lap 43. Kyle Larson, who was having an impressive run, lost an engine coming into the inner loop and stopped on track. This ended his day early and left him with a less than stellar finish. Derek White received the lucky dog. Even more strategy was used during this caution period.
Drivers like Joey Logano, Brian Scott, Elliott Sadler, and Justin Allgaier pitted while Brad Keselowski, Sam Hornish Jr., Regan Smith, Parker Kligerman, Kasey Kahne, Trevor Bayne, and Brian Vickers stayed on track. Pit stops finished and the race went back green with Keselowski still on point. It was a short time after this that another driver would have trouble. Andrew Ranger, who had spun earlier in the race, got loose coming out of turn 7 on lap 49. Drivers did a good job avoiding and Ranger was able to get back going before the caution waved. Immediately after this, the first round of green flag pit stops of the race began on lap 50. The pit stops cycled through and left Joey Logano in the lead. Logano had pitted during the previous caution and was planning on staying out the rest of the race, but he would need caution laps. He got some in a short time as the fifth and final caution of the race waved on lap 58. Debris was spotted on the track in the inner loop. Kyle Busch received the lucky dog. This left the drivers up front in a tight spot. They could either risk trying to go the distance or pit. Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson, Kyle Kelley, Jeremy Clements, Travis Pastrana, and others decided to come down pit road. Joey Logano stayed on track to see if he could make it. Only time would tell if he could make it.
The race went back green and it would be a short time before a contender would have trouble. On lap 62, Kasey Kahne got loose trying to pass Parker Kligerman coming out of turn 7. Kahne went for a slide, but he made a great save and prevented a caution from coming out. It would still end pretty bad for Kahne as he lost a tire and had to come to pit road, which led to a pretty undeserving finish. It was a short time after this that the pass for the lead would be made. On lap 66, Brad Keselowski was able to get past his teammate Joey Logano for the lead. Keselowski would have to hold off his other teammate Sam Hornish Jr. for the win and it would not be an easy task. Keselowski did a good job, but his efforts almost went up in smoke with two laps to go. Joey Logano, who had tried to stay out from around lap 45 to the end, ran out of fuel with two laps to go coming into the inner loop. He was able to keep his car going a little bit, but it looked like he would stop and a caution would wave. But Keselowski took the white flag before Logano came to a stop and guaranteed the race would finish in regulation. Keselowski held onto the lead and took his fourth win in the same amount of consecutive starts. Hornish ended up second for a Penske Racing 1-2 finish. In fact, it was Penske's third 1-2 finish of the season. It looks like Penske is an unstoppable force in Nationwide competition.
The season started off pretty slow for Penske with Kyle Busch taking six wins to Penske's two in the first ten races. But Penske has won six of the last eleven while Kyle Busch has only won two of the last eleven. Plus, the #22 has come very close to surpassing the #54 for the Owner's Points Championship. It was definitely Kyle Busch's worst run of the season, but he bounced back to twenty fourth place finish with a beat up race car. The battle for the series title also heated up. Austin Dillon held his points lead, but Sam Hornish Jr. moved within three points and Regan Smith sits at only five points back. In fact, the top 5 is only separated by eighteen points while sixth place Justin Allgaier only a race back. As the schedule becomes even harder and the season gets even shorter, the championship could become closer than ever. The series heads to uncharted territory as the drivers visit Mid-Ohio for the first time. Will A.J. Allmendinger win in his second road course race of the season, will another road course ringer win, or will a series regular grab the victory? We will have to wait until next Saturday to find out.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 1- Kyle Busch got loose coming out of turn 1 and went for a spin down the track. He was almost clear until Mike Wallace slammed into the front of his car.
2nd Caution: Lap 17- Kenny Habul slowed on track in the inner loop.
3rd Caution: Lap 26- Joey Gase slowed on track between turns 6 and 7.
4th Caution: Lap 43- Kyle Larson stopped on the track in the inner loop after a blown engine.
5th Caution: Lap 58- Debris was spotted on the track in the inner loop.
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Brad Keselowski
2nd: Sam Hornish Jr.
3rd: Brian Vickers
4th: Regan Smith
5th: Elliott Sadler
Notables Not in Top 5:
10th: Trevor Bayne
12th: Austin Dillon
15th: Travis Pastrana
18th: Kasey Kahne
21st: Joey Logano
24th: Kyle Busch
30th: Kyle Larson
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: None
3rd Caution: Derek White
4th Caution: Derek White
5th Caution: Kyle Busch
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Zippo_200_at_the_Glen/B
-Image:
http://www.13wmaz.com/images/640/360/2/assetpool/images/130810060724_brad%20keselowski%20watkins%20glen.jpg
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