Story by Rose Ward/Photos by MSA Staff:
It was a great weekend for Joey Logano. It was also a great weekend for Watkins Glen International. Watkins Glen was recently voted the “Best NASCAR Track” by USA Today. Then for the Cheez-It 355 it was announced that the reserved grandstand tickets were sold out.
Watkins Glen also created additional campsites to satisfy the overflow of campers for the NASCAR weekend. This happened when many racetracks struggle to fill their seats. “A reserved grandstand sell-out shows just how dedicated and passionate Watkins Glen International fans are.” Said WGI President Michael Printup. Watkins Glen was also featured in the “I Love NY” tourist campaign this year. It was a beautiful day for the race as AJ Allmendinger, last year’s Cheez-It winner, took the pole position.
Fan favorites Tony Stewart started in 3rd and Jeff Gordon started in 5th. Dale Earnhardt Jr also drew large applause from the fans. And there were a lot of Said Heads in attendance also to cheer on Boris.
Denny Hamlin lost his hood after 30 laps around. He cruised around the track a couple times with his hood over his windshield. He finally pitted and they removed his hood. Shortly after that a tire rolled from pit road, down the track and settled against the guard rail on turn one, much to the amusement of the fans and tailgaters on that turn. That brought out a yellow flag for debris on the track.
On Lap 50, Kasey Kahn had an accident on the backstretch, his front end was badly damaged which put him in the garage. He later continued the race with no hood or front fenders.
At lap 51 there was a chain reaction putting Jamie McMurray’s McDonalds car in the garage. The red flag comes out for fluid on the track. On lap 58 Jimmy Johnson spun nose first toward the inside wall.
No damage to the car but it took some time to get it re-started. In the meantime Tony Stewart’s number 14 car stalls on the track in the back straightaway causing a caution flag. Tony stated “We just broke”. Tony was running 5th but had to be pushed back into the garage ruining any chance for him to be in the winner’s circle. They had to replace Tony’s driveline. Tony finished last.
Kevin Harvick led the most laps, 29, including the final laps, however he ran out of gas on turn 7 with only a few turns remaining. He crept across the finish line in third. Earnhardt also barely made it on fuel. He finished 11.
Joey Logano, who was 15 car lengths behind Kevin Harvick sped past Kevin, as he ran out of gas, to win the race. Kyle Busch came in second.
With Joey’s win, it was the first time in Watkins Glen History that a driver sweeps the weekend winning both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and the NASCAR XFINITY Series races. Joey’s job was not done at the end of the race however. Watkins Glen starts their re-paving project after the NASCAR race. Joey got to show his backhoe skills and took the first chunk out of the track at the finish line. Next year, drivers will be racing on a newly paved Watkins Glen racetrack.
Because of the repaving, the vintage car race was held earlier this year. However the village of Watkins Glen will host their annual Grand Prix Festival on September 11 which will feature classic cars running the original Watkins Glen race course through the town. It’s a must see for classic car lovers.
