Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 22 Watkins Glen

Despite some awkward tech issues and a series of unfortunate things happening, we actually did well here.  Seems as though this is one of those few road courses that works out for us.  Qualifying got washed out thanks to a crash.  The second time around was really loose, but if you held it, you could get a really fast time.

Once we got to the green flag, we were off without a hitch.

There were a few altercations over the next few laps...

...even causing Darrel to lose a ton of spots (thanks, Vickers)...

But we wouldn't see the yellow...

...even after some major wrecking.

Not until lap 7 would we get a yellow from Legano who smashed into the end of pit road.  Idiot.  But it helped Darrel a ton as he had some minor damage and ruined tires, many seconds behind the field.

Coming to the caution, Scot tried to put the moves on (like Jagger) but ended up getting side swiped... 

...into the kitty litter.

Back under green and we had a few more laps.  Chad overdrove turn one and spun right in front of the field.  He resumed racing without incident.

I, however, had lost all patience for the likes of Burton and Kahne and launched them into the bus stop.  All aboard.

That little incident brought out the second yellow and most of us came in.

Darrel and Scot did not and held onto 1st and 2nd.

Shortly after that yellow, Chad ran loose again, this time in the Esses.  It wouldn't have been so bad until Vickers ran him over while trying to get back on course.  Oddly enough, Chad turned the car around and ran it in reverse leading straight to a DQ.

With the yellow out and everyone racing back to the line, I pushed into the final two turns where Danica turned me out into Harvick and he slung me straight into the sand.  Their names have been added to the list.

With Darrel and Scot still fighting for position at the front, I was pushing through the field, even as they were knocking each other off the course.

Scot was pushing his car to the limits and quickly wearing out his tires.  I passed by him shortly after this.

Meanwhile, further down the order, Sandy was making his own charge to the front and making steady progress.

As I said earlier, Scot had worn out his tires.  He got wide out of the carousel and bounced out of the tires back into the inside wall.  He had to pit with 5 to go which dropped him down into the twenties.

The penultimate lap and I had caught Darrel going into one.

Just ahead, the K-Love machine plowed into the tire wall out of the pits.

Darrel slowed up and I instinctively pulled right to avoid him and just clipped my right side tire.

What had turned from an almost assured victory for me transformed to tragedy.  On the final lap, I got back to the pits and got a new tire on.  At the same time, Darrel disconnected!

And just as Sandy took HIS last lap...

The SAME THING!

Because there was no chance of either one of them losing or gaining positions within a lap, they have been awarded the positions they had at the time of disconnection.  I managed to place 7th right behind Sandy.  Even Scot managed to make a comeback and pulled out a 10th.

We now look towards Michigan where we'll have an excellent run down through our final regular races.

Results

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	1:14.639
2	48	J Johnson	1:15.721
3	24	J Gordon	1:16.191
4	2	B Keselowski	1:16.359
5	16	G Biffle	1:16.551
6	9	M Ambrose	1:16.579
7	18	K Busch	1:16.740
8	31	R Newman	1:17.164
9	66	J Burton	1:17.320
10	1	J McMurray	1:17.344
11	27	P Menard	1:17.526
12	11	D Hamlin	1:17.584
13	22	J Logano	1:17.602
14	15	C Bowyer	1:17.650
15	4	K Harvick	1:18.111
16	78	M Truex Jr	1:18.133
17	99	C Edwards	1:18.173
18	5	K Kahne	1:18.180
19	34	D Ragan	1:18.246
20	47	A Allmendinger	1:18.342
21	88	D Earnhardt Jr	1:18.350
22	41	K Busch2	1:18.415
23	13	C Mears	1:18.425
24	20	M Kenseth	1:18.581
25	14	T Stewart	1:18.628
26	35	E McClure	1:18.676
27	38	D Gilliland	1:18.737
28	32	T Kvapil	1:19.006
29	52	B Labonte	1:19.028
30	021	T Bear	1:19.033
31	43	A Almirola	1:19.200
32	40	L Cassill	1:19.318
33	055	C Ferguson	1:19.388
34	55	B Vickers	1:19.467
35	95	M McDowell	1:19.929
36	77	D Blaney	1:20.042
37	98	J Wise	1:20.160
38	10	D Patrick	1:20.372
39	17	R Stenhouse Jr	1:20.729
40	36	R Sorenson	1:21.567
41	061	D Hamilton	1:29.175
42	029	M Max	--

Weather: Cloudy, 71 °F, Northwest 6 mph

Session: Race

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	41	061	D Hamilton	91.314	22	12*	110	Running
2	19	34	D Ragan	-12.00	23	2	180	Running
3	29	52	B Labonte	-26.08	23	0	170	Running
4	18	5	K Kahne	-26.45	23	1	170	Running
5	15	4	K Harvick	-26.74	23	0	160	Running
6	30	021	T Bear	-30.76	23	0	118	Running
7	1	013	T Nadz	-36.46	23	6	160	Running
8	21	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-39.03	23	0	150	Running
9	32	40	L Cassill	-41.06	23	0	146	Running
10	42	029	M Max	-45.80	23	0	142	Running
11	26	35	E McClure	-45.81	23	0	138	Running
12	6	9	M Ambrose	-50.82	23	0	134	Running
13	25	14	T Stewart	-54.96	23	0	130	Running
14	27	38	D Gilliland	-56.70	23	0	127	Running
15	36	77	D Blaney	-57.41	23	0	124	Running
16	39	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-1:07.62	23	0	121	Running
17	9	66	J Burton	-54.89	23	2	120	Running
18	34	55	B Vickers	-1:04.02	23	0	112	Running
19	7	18	K Busch	-1:13.08	23	0	109	Running
20	11	27	P Menard	-1L	22	0	106	Retired
21	10	1	J McMurray	-1L	22	0	103	Running
22	23	13	C Mears	-1L	22	0	97	Running
23	40	36	R Sorenson	-1L	22	0	94	Running
24	37	98	J Wise	-2L	21	0	91	Running
25	4	2	B Keselowski	-2L	21	0	88	Running
26	35	95	M McDowell	-2L	21	0	85	Accident
27	5	16	G Biffle	-2L	21	0	82	Accident
28	24	20	M Kenseth	-3L	20	0	79	Running
29	22	41	K Busch2	-3L	20	0	76	Running
30	2	48	J Johnson	-3L	20	0	73	Retired
31	28	32	T Kvapil	-5L	18	0	70	Accident
32	3	24	J Gordon	-7L	16	0	67	Retired
33	38	10	D Patrick	-8L	15	0	64	Camshaft
34	33	055	C Ferguson	-11L	12	0	61	DQ
35	14	15	C Bowyer	-13L	10	0	58	Retired
36	16	78	M Truex Jr	-17L	6	0	55	Retired
37	20	47	A Allmendinger	-17L	6	0	52	Accident
38	12	11	D Hamlin	-18L	5	0	49	Retired
39	17	99	C Edwards	-19L	4	0	46	Accident
40	13	22	J Logano	-19L	4	0	43	Accident
41	8	31	R Newman	-19L	4	0	40	Accident
42	31	43	A Almirola	-20L	3	0	37	Accident

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 5 (5 drivers)

Weather: Cloudy, 71 °F, East 8 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 90%