NASCAR Cup Round 22: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen-Watkins Glen Int'l

[fieldodreams79]

Slow day for me and after last week's race, this one is sure to have more interest here at 10/10ths, so let's get it going:

JAYSKI RACE PAGE

Chances of Taz grabbing the Victory this weekend???

46 cars entered with Ron "Mosport" Fellows, BORIS, PJ Jones, Andrew Ranger and Andy Pilgrim as the only real "ringers". Jones and Pligrim must qualify on time.

Scott Speed will be back in a Cup car and I hope Andy Lally will have a little better luck this time out on the twisty track. Speed needs to get in on time as well.

Still years out in terms of weather but looks like rain could play a factor in both q'ing and the race. Quick look didn't lead me to whether or not rain tires and wipers will be used....

Practice sessions scheduled for Friday and Q'ing Saturday.

GREEN FLAG Sunday @ 119est

[fieldodreams79]

5 races left to get into the chase...

2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings:
[after Pocono, race 21 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 720
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson [1 win], 711, -9
3) #18-Kyle Busch [3 wins], 709, -11
4) #22-Kurt Busch [1 win], 706, -15
5) #29-Kevin Harvick [3 wins], 700, -20
6) #17-Matt Kenseth [2 wins], 694, -27
7) #24-Jeff Gordon [2 wins], 668, -52
8) #39-Ryan Newman [1 win], 658, -62
9) #14-Tony Stewart, 642, -78
10) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 641, -79
current wild cards
11) #2-Brad Keselowski [2 wins], 558, -162 [18th in points, 2 wins]
12) #11-Denny Hamlin [1 win], 618, -102 [11th in points, 1 win]
others in contension for the wild card
14) #27-Paul Menard [1 win], 587, -133 [14th in points, 1 win]
19) #6-David Ragan [1 win], 556, -164 [19th in points, 1 win]

Courtesy of Jayski

[St00ge]

Taz needs to win it this year..

[Juarez Jed]

Taz has said that he has nothing to prove in the Nationwide race after 3 straight victories and is putting all his attention and effort to Sprint Cup this time around. Plus they couldn't find a sponsor.....
Anyway, if he doesn't win this time he won't have a Nationwide trophy for solace. Will we see the return of "Angry Ambrose" or will things for once go his way ?

[fieldodreams79]

1st Friday practice for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International is over after 110 minutes, the top five, slowest and any notes:
#18-Busch 125.566
#42-Montoya 125.557
#43-Allmendinger 125.544
#39-Newman 125.233
#2-Keselowski 125.185
slowest: #37-Speed 119.769 & #6-Skinner 119.428.
notes: #7-Gordon started smoking early in the session but the team diagnosed it as trouble with the power steering line. #14-Stewart spun a couple times, but didn't hit anything. #13-Mears blew an engine.
(8-12-2011)

LINK

After being at the top (or near the top) for the first 45 minutes to the hour mark of the session, Ambrose falls to 13th overall. However, the top 15 are within a second of each other with Andy Lally in 15th.

Practice 1 Times

Sunday still looks questionable, weather wise.

[Juarez Jed]

Marcos fastest in P2 and a new track record !!

[gomick]

He did 2 very fast times - hope he can convert to pole... He needs a cup pole just before he gets his 1st cup win

[rustyfan]

Race postponed until Monday 10am ET.

[browney]

What is the reason behind not being able to race on a circuit in the wet? I assumed that not racing NASCAR when it rains was due to the danger running at high speeds on ovals when it is wet.

The only reason I could think of was that, given that most of the time they race on ovals, there is not a wet weather tyre available (because it would be expensive to develop for only a handfull of races).

[nickyf1]

The thing is, i'm pretty sure they have wet tyres there.

They did for the previous days Nationwide Series race.

However, usually with NASCAR, if it rains, the officials bring everyone in and make a decision to put on rain tyres. Its not as simple as pitting for wets. They just want to avoid racing in the wet..

[Axeman444]

Originally Posted by browney

What is the reason behind not being able to race on a circuit in the wet? I assumed that not racing NASCAR when it rains was due to the danger running at high speeds on ovals when it is wet.

The only reason I could think of was that, given that most of the time they race on ovals, there is not a wet weather tyre available (because it would be expensive to develop for only a handfull of races).

Originally Posted by nickyf1

The thing is, i'm pretty sure they have wet tyres there.

They did for the previous days Nationwide Series race.

However, usually with NASCAR, if it rains, the officials bring everyone in and make a decision to put on rain tyres. Its not as simple as pitting for wets. They just want to avoid racing in the wet..

they use wets in NW, they did a couple of years ago in Montreal, and on Saturday. I think it was Robin Pemberton that was interviewed at the time as to why they weren't used in Cup, or maybe it was the following year at WG. The reason given was that they didn't want to ruin the spectacle of Cup cars racing under non-wet skies. Sounds like a load of bull to me, if they can use them in NW they should be able to use them in Cup, but hey, i don't run the series...

[Silver GT]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Race postponed until Monday 10am ET.

thats really annoying....nearly as much as having to listen to Leigh Diffy again

[Purist]

I posted elsewhere that, part of me out of spite would like it to rain all damn week. And then, they can re-schedule for Thanksgiving, so it can snow.

I agree with Knaus, the "wold card" issue is bull. If that really mattered, drop Talladega from the Chase!

[gomick]

Monday it is then, glad i have Tuesday (Australian Time) off

[fieldodreams79]

Wouldn't it be much better to run a bunch of speedway cars, with speedway drivers on a very fast and wet road course to see how many cars they could wreck?

Should NASCAR explore wet tires for the Cup series? They are in the NW series, and it has pros and cons.

Perhaps one day they will be able to run a wet race on a road course successfully, but I would much rather prefer a day delayed race on a dry track to see good racing, instead of shoe horning it in on a wet track just because proper road racing protocol dictates you should.

This is NASCAR after all.

[JHamilton]

I forgot to set the DVR, so I won't be watching this one. Neither will anyone else.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I forgot to set the DVR, so I won't be watching this one. Neither will anyone else.

I am, there's no way I'm going to miss a race on one of the more interesting tracks amid the sea of cookie cutters

[rustyfan]

First caution; Greg Biffle stops right after the Inner Loop. Might be out of fuel.

[rustyfan]

Second caution; Kurt Busch stuffs it into the tires. Lots of damage to the front of the #22 Dodge, looks like his day is done.

[rustyfan]

Third caution; Denny Hamlin went straight in turn one plowing hard into the barrier. Huge damage on the car but Hamlin thankfully climbs out under his own power.

Edit - Just saw the replay, massive hit.

On a side note, this caution has to make Ambrose very happy as he will now be right behind the leaders rather than 8-10 seconds behind. Should be an exciting restart.

Edit 2 - Ambrose and Montoya will restart side by side on row three. Oh boy.

[rustyfan]

Ambrose up to second place, outbraking Keselowski in turn one. 16-17 laps left to hunt down leader Kyle Busch.

[rustyfan]

Ambrose is really putting the pressure on Busch now. Seven laps to go. This could end in tears.

[rustyfan]

Fourth caution; Tire & fire problems for Menard brings out the caution.

Looks like this could bring out the GWC - unless NASCAR decides to red flag the race - which could spell trouble for quite a few cars that would be close on fuel.

Edit - We're into overtime. This is turning into a thriller.

Edit 2 - Marcos Ambrose tightens up his belts, preparing for the restart. This could get wild!

[rustyfan]

What a restart! Ambrose into the lead!

White flag!

[rustyfan]

Huge crash entering turn number two, Reutimann flipping wildly!

The race is over, Marcos Ambrose has just claimed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory!

Bloody fantastic race, easily one of the top three of the season!

Edit - David Ragan got tagged, went into the wall and then speared across the track - right in front of David Reutimann who hit the armco a ton and started flipping. Ragan, meanwhile, nearly flipped as well and went into several other cars entering the Esses. Wild, wild wreck.

Elsewhere on the track Tony Stewart went into the wall as well.



Unofficial results: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2011...nofficial.html

Video of Kurt Busch's crash: http://www.nascar.com/video/post-rac...two/index.html

Video of Hamlin's massive hit: http://www.nascar.com/video/post-rac...ree/index.html