Montoya Strikes Bulls Eye at the Glen

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Taking the grid for the 25th race at the Glen in the NASCAR modern era (28th since the 1957 debut of the stock car series at the New York state road course), the NASCAR Sprint Cup series readies for their final road race of 2010. Tolerating just two events per year, the special driver skills for mastering the 9-turn, 2.45 mile track provides fans with a specific enjoyment seeing their favourite drivers negotiating right turns along with the left turns.

Carl Edwards posted fastest time in qualifying but would find his stint at the from extremely short. Within the first lap, the #99 Ford was immediately displaced from the lead by the #1 Chevy of Jamie McMurray where he would lead the initial 5 laps at Watkins Glen. On the fifth lap, the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing #1 Chevrolet was hounded his Target-sponsored teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Conceding to the ultra-fast Colombian native, McMurray gave the #42 car pretty of room to complete the lead change. Montoya would lead through the next 20 laps around Watkins Glen

The first caution came out after a round of green on lap 29 for a stalled #07 Toyota driven by PJ Jones who would retire as result of a fuel pump failure. Unlike the NASCAR Nationwide series race which involved a major 10-car crash, the Sprint Cup event was a more subdued affair when it came to on-track carnage. However, there would be some major incidents of note transpiring deeper into the Heluva Good! Sour Cream at The Glen.

Being the 5th race left before the cut off to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the finishes at Watkins Glen as well as the remaining rounds prior to New Hampshire are going to be very important to teams contending for the top-12 spots. On the outside of the final Chase spot, Mark Martin and Ryan Newman both made a habit to lead at least one lap for 5 valuable driver points. Both drivers also required some struggles for drivers embedded within the Chase-eligible top-12. The Heluva Good! Sour Cream at The Glen produced the circumstances Martin and Newman were looking for to aid their Chase hopes. The most significant event occurred on lap 62 when the #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer encountered a driveline problem. Leaving debris on the track which drew a lap 63 caution, behind the wall repairs required of Bowyer's car took 3 laps. Clint Bowyer would gain 2 of those laps back through free passes on subsequent cautions but would ultimately finish 34th on the day. Falling to 13th in Sprint Cup series points, Mark Martin is now in the 12th place spot heading into Michigan next week.

Compacting the field, drivers eagerly fought for positions on the track through the final 1/3 of the Watkins Glen event. A result of the heightened aggression, drivers were less willing to show courtesy contributing to the final two cautions of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream at The Glen. Shortly after the debris caution, the yellow flag fell for a violent impact of the #83 Red Bull Toyota through turn 2. Driven by Boris Said during the weekend, the #83 car was accused of crowding the #14 Chevrolet of Tony Stewart through turn 1 running the Chevy wide. In an incident which had similarities to Leffler's triggering of the big wreck in the Nationwide race, Stewart forced himself back into the race surface bumping into Said. As the #83 Toyota was sent into the Armco, all other cars were able to miss the stopped Red Bull machine. Later in the garage, Boris Said testified to he did not see Stewart.

Following the lap 66 crash, another more high-profile accident collected 2 of the top contenders for the Sprint Cup. Through turn 7, Jimmie Johnson's #48 Chevrolet was sent around on lap 72 into the outside wall. While Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports car suffered minor damage from the wall impact, the #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin would quickly get caught within the tire smoke of the #48 car. Colliding with the spun vehicle of Johnson, Hamlin made head-on contact with his #11 FedEx Toyota. Hamlin's day was at Watkins Glen was over but Johnson was able to soldier on to finish 28th. Starting the season as the driver and team to beat winning 3 of the first 5 races, Johnson has only 1 top-20 finish in the past 5 Sprint Cup race events.

Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/ Getty Images

In a similar dominating performance to Ambrose's walk away from the field in the Zippo 200 NASCAR Nationwide series race the previous day, Juan Pablo Montoya led for 74 of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream at The Glen's 90 laps. Out front through the final 28 laps, Montoya's Chevrolet pushed to over a 4 second interval over second place. It was a triumphant win for Montoya and crew chief Brian Pattie as the pairing his performed a multitude of strong runs with victory still eluding the #42 Chevrolet. Juan Pablo Montoya's 2nd win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series since his first win at Infineon Raceway in 2007. This was Montoya's first win in a Chevrolet.

Chasing the Colombian-born racer through much of the race distance was Marcos Ambrose trying to swap at Watkins Glen. Looking to be a match for the #42 Earnhardt/Ganassi

Rounding out the top-5 at Watkins Glen was the Richard Petty Motorsports driver AJ Allmendinger and pole sitter Carl Edwards who were both driving Ford Fusions.

Next Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series will return to the two-mile race at Michigan International Speedway.


2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dip At The Glen
Race Results

Top-10

Pos #  | Car # | Driver   | Sponsor/ Car Make

1 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet

2 2  Kurt Busch Miller Lite/Vortex Dodge

3 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Toyota

4 43 A J Allmendinger Insignia HDTV Ford

5 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford

6 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet

7 14 Tony Stewart Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet

8 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota

9 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet

10 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet

Other Notable 

11 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet

12 39 Ryan Newman U.S.Army Chevrolet

13 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford

19 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

21 26 Patrick Carpentier Air Guard Ford

26 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet

28 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet

40 36 Ron Fellows Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet

Reutimann Breezes to Convincing Chicagoland Sprint Cup Win

Photo Credit: Jon Harrelson/ Getty Images for NASCAR


With many NASCAR fans reminiscing about the wacky and entertaining 4th of July weekend race at Daytona just one week ago, fans planned on seeing a much different race this Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway situated in Joliet, Illinois.

Within the restrictor plate event a week ago, it's accepted to see a few surprise climbs to the front of the NASCAR Sprint Cup field. Unfortunately, the remaining ovals on the series stock car tour are known for their status quo runners. This year, the #48 Lowes Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson, #11 FedEx Toyota of Denny Hamlin and the presence of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge of Kurt Busch made for a rather uncomplicated winner selection process through 2010. Heading into one of the so-called 'cookie-cutter' 1.5 oval tri-oval, it initially appeared likely that this fate was going to appear at the 400 mile Chicagoland Speedway night race

Assembling the front row of the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was the #1 McDonald's sponsored Chevrolet of Jamie McMurray and the #48 Lowes Chevy of Jimmie Johnson. Once the green flag started the Saturday night NASCAR Sprint Cup affair, Johnson wasted no time rushing past McMurray. Taking the lead on lap 1, Jimmie Johnson kept the Hendrick Motorsports-prepped stock car out front through the first 92 laps of the LifeLock.com 400.

Racing under the lights for the 3rd time at Chicagoland Speedway, the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors one team which came to grips of the new style race was the Michael Waltrip Racing organization. Both starting within the top-10 the #00 as well as the #56 Toyota Camrys of David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr were noted for spending the entire race hovering within the group of stock cars.

While fortune found the Michael Waltrip Racing team, another Toyota team was suffering a uncharacteristically off-race at Chicagoland Speedway. The troubles of the Joe Gibbs Racing three-car group starting in qualifying where Denny Hamlin became the high-placed team car in 17th place, one spot ahead of his #20 teammate Joey Logano. Kyle Busch, the 2008 winner of this event, started deep in 33rd place though few observers of the #18 Toyota were concerned that Busch would not find have way to the front. However, in this event, the #18 just never found the pace to move at any point in the night. Fighting hard to branch up to 17th at the end, Kyle Busch proclaimed on Twitter "Rough nite. Fought harder for 17th than most wins. Just didn't hav the speed we needed. Need this wk off to regroup!".

As Joe Gibbs Racing was enduring difficulties through the night, they were not the only juggernaut to experience troubles. Losing the lead the McMurray after leading 92 laps, Jimmie Johnson's #48 Chevrolet would fall victim to a tire blow-out through the Chicagoland oval's backstretch on lap 137. Sliding through the infield grass, the Hendrick Motorsports Chevy was little more than a little dirty. Able to continue in the event, the #48 Chevrolet would be removed from front-running competition eventually finishing one lap down in 25th place. Becoming a father to a baby daughter delivered by his wife Chandra this past week, Jimmie Johnson's lose at the track this weekend comes after an enormous, unmatched victory which no race or championship will compare.



Photo Credit: Jonathan Daniel/ Getty Images


With Jamie McMurray leading 72 circuits of the LifeLock.com 400 with his #1 Chevy, the Dupont #24 Chevy took over the race lead for 165 to lap 200 with Jeff Gordon still attempting to lock his first win of 2010.

With Chevrolets of Hendrick Motorsports and Earnhardt/Ganassi Racing appearing to be left to their own devices at the front, David Reutimann's Tums-sponsored #00 pushed forward to take the lead with his Toyota. Leading at first for 1 lap as the #24 of Gordon charged back reclaiming the position, Reutimann's Toyota would soon make a more lasting impression in first place. Leading 11 more laps, Jeff Gordon suddenly developed handling issues with his #24 Chevy costing him speed and eventually the race lead to David Reutimann taking a more permanent hold on the 1st place spot on lap 213.

A final round of pit stops for the field saw David Reutimann turn over the lead for 3 laps but his #00 Toyota was recycled back to the front once all teams pitted. Encountering some fierce lapped traffic through the final run, Reutimann sailed to victory at Chicagoland Speedway. The 2nd win in his NASCAR Sprint Cup career, the LifeLock.com 400 race may prove an even sweeter trophy for the Florida driver. Unlike the first win in the 2009 Coca-Cola 600 where rain played a factor in reducing the race distance, the LifeLock 400 run the full 267 lap duration. Being David Reutimann's 2nd win, it proves that the first win was no fluke which can serve as a major boost to the driver's physique.

Behind Reutimann's #00 Toyota, the Ford of Carl Edwards had reason to celebrate. The highest finish of the year for the driver of the #99 Roush Fenway Racing team, Edwards and the whole four-car operation of Jack Roush have been struggling to find a winning formula for 2010. Jeff Gordon, the #33 Chevy of Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 5 for the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

In Sprint Cup series points, the top-3 remain in their respected positions but changes pivotal to the fast-approach chase did occur. Clint Bowyer climbed from 13th to 11th while Dale Earnhardt Jr lost two positions in the point standings as a result to a dismal 23rd place run falling out of the 12 driver cut. Rising two spots to 15th place, David Reutimann is also a mathematically close 96 points with still two months worth of races to go.

The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup tour receives a week off before hitting the 2.5 mile Brickyard of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.


2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup
LifeLock.com 400
Chicagoland Speedway
Top-10 Finishers Plus Other Notables

Pos # | Car # | Driver | Sponsor/Car Make

1 00 David Reutimann TUMS Toyota
2 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Silver Ford
3 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
4 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet
5 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet
6 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford
7 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
8 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 
9 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot Chevrolet
10 98 Paul Menard Moen / Menards Ford

16 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
17 18 Kyle Busch       Snickers Toyota
23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet
25 48 Jimmie Johnson    Lowe's Chevrolet