Cup

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Denny Hamlin, winner of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, entertained a sold-out grandstand with a celebratory burnout that trailed a plume of smoke the entire length of the frontstretch at Watkins Glen International. But Hamlin’s smoke show—with a bad back, no less—paled in comparison to the fireworks that preceded the checkered flag, Hamlin’s first at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series road course. The race was in doubt until the final corner, with Martin Truex Jr. pressuring Hamlin, who ledRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Going into the race weekend at Watkins Glen International, A.J. Allmendinger was one of the pre-race favorites to win on the road course. This was Allmendinger’s best chance to score a win and qualify for the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Allmendinger was eighth fastest in the opening weekend practice and topped the charts in the final practice. In qualifying, Allmendinger put his No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet ninth on the grid. It didn’t take long for Allmendinger to move forward after the race started.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Just like in the first road course race of the season at Sonoma, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie class had their hands full with the second road course race on Sunday at Watkins Glen. Coming out on top of the rookies at Watkins Glen was Chase Elliott, who stayed out of trouble and under the radar throughout the day. Elliott started the day in 16th and was able to hold steady just outside the top-10 in the early going before falling back toRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Lately, Kyle Larson has been surging towards his first-ever Chase berth. After qualifying second for this weekend’s Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen, and staying inside the top-10 all day long in Sunday’s race, it looked like Larson would further cement himself in the Chase standings at day’s end. However in the final turn of the final lap, Larson’s championship aspirations took a huge hit while running fifth. Larson made a move to avoid a spinning Martin Truex Jr. in front of him, and when Larson barely moved toRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Chris Buescher won last weekend at Pocono Raceway, which means that if he can race his way inside the top-30 of the championship standings that he will race for a championship when the Chase begins in a few weeks. Buescher began that quest Sunday at Watkins Glen, as he entered the day six points behind David Ragan for the 30th-place spot in points. Buescher started the Cheez-It 355 from the 25th position, but lacked overall speed all race long. Buescher and crew chief Bob Osborne struggled withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Erik Jones and Furniture Row Racing made it official on Sunday morning at Watkins Glen International. In 2017, Furniture Row Racing will expand from one car to two, with Jones driving the No. 77 Toyota under sponsorship from 5-hour Energy. The addition of Jones brings to six the number of full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams receiving comprehensive factory support from Toyota Racing Development (TRD). A native of Byron, Michigan, Jones, 20, will team with veteran Martin Truex Jr., whoRead More

SHOW #422 – Guest: Julianna White Miss Sprint Cup – We recap Chris Buescher’s foggy Pocono win, Keelan Harvick swims in puddles, a Dale Jr. concussion update, Jeff Gordon;s 800th start, Matt Kenseth’s 600th start, Tony Stewart goes retro, and a full Watkins Glen road course preview. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie DOWNLOAD HERE CREDITS: Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Toby Christie Executive Producer: Kerry Murphey Music: Russell Nash Audio Director Voice Over: Thomas Moog SUBSCRIBE FREE HERE RSS FEED RADIO STATIONS CLICK HERE SUBSCRIBE FROM iTUNES: Take usRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For the 34th time, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head up to New York to take on Watkins Glen International, a fast 11-turn road course that has played host to NASCAR’s premier series in August of each year. This week we’ll take a step back to the 2000 season and the running of the Global Crossing at The Glen for this edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater,” which saw a first time winner and things getting a bit heated between two former champions. Heading intoRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Tuesday, Hendrick Motorsports announced that their full-time driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet SS, and 13-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Most Popular Driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss at least the next two races at Watkins Glen and Bristol as he continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms. After a bunch of cryptic and not-so-optimistic sounding tweets and sound bytes on his podcast over the past several weeks, many have been speculating as to whether Earnhardt would be coming back at all. Wednesday, Earnhardt finally TweetedRead More