Larson Wins Watkins Glen by Holding Off Elliott

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WATKINS GLEN, NY – RIS – Kyle Larson ran up front all day and cruised to victory in the NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday. It was Larson’s fifth win of 2021.  He finished ahead of teammate Chase Elliott..  Elliott had won the past two races at Watkins Glen but started at the back for an inspection violation that also led to the ejection of crew chief Alan Gustafson, among other penalties. He had to avoid a spinning Ryan Newman on the second lap in Turn 1. .Elliott was also docked ten driver points and other penalties. It is third time among Larson’s five wins that Elliott has finished second to Larson. Among Elliott’s two wins this year, Larson finished second to him once.

The polesitter in this race led briefly.  Brad Keselowski, who started on the pole, had a rough day that included multiple spins. He spun from the lead coming to the competition caution on Lap 10. He fell back to sixth but lost more track position when he pitted for tires and most of the top 20 stayed out. Keselowski slid through Turn 1 shortly before the end of stage 1. Keselowski spun in Turn 1 on Lap 56 and slid into teammate Joey Logano.  He managed to finish 35th.

Larson’s win affected two drivers. Larson's win is good news for Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick, who finished eighth and 10th, respectively. They're the last two drivers in the projected NASCAR Cup playoff field. A first-time winner this season would knock Reddick, then Harvick out of the playoff running.

Larson hadn’t won in nearly two months since the July race at Nashville Superspeedway, which capped off a streak of three straight wins, but Sunday marked his fifth victory of 2021 and his second on a road course.

 Keselowski brought out the first caution when he spun with an ill-handling car with the first natural caution waved on lap 25 with Martin Truex Jr. leading, a stalled James Davison freezing the field. Ryan Blaney spun from sixth at all most the same time,,but avoided damage and was able to continue. Chase Briscoe, meanwhile, did take a small bit of damage when he and Bell were battling inside the top five, and the No. 14 slid off the racing line in the first turn. In rejoining the track, the No. 14 made contact with Bell’s left rear. Around the same time, Elliott flat spotted his tires and was forced to pit road. Truex, Larson’s ’s main competition in the past two races at The Glen, won stage two with teammate Bell behind him.

That runner-up spot didn’t last long for Bell, who dove into the first corner alongside Larson and ended up spinning after contact. Bell retained a top-10 spot after he was able to refire, but it moved Larson into second and he set his sights on Truex for the lead.

It was the final green-flag pit stop cycle that changed the complexion of the race, with the closing Larson inheriting the lead ahead of Truex despite the No. 19 pitting from the lead. Larson had pulled away to a lead of more than five seasons by the time 10 laps remained.

Elliott kept closing as the laps wound down, drawing within two seconds with the same number of laps remaining and passing Truex. He was fighting through lapped traffic, though, falling further behind as Larson set sail. Lapped traffic held Elliott up enough to allow Larson to scoot away, securing his fifth win of 2021 and second ever on a road course.

Next week is another road race as the Cup cars head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway where drivers will not run the big 2.5-mile oval, but the road course.  The race will start at 1 :00 PM on August 15th.

Unofficial Results for the 35th Annual Go Bowling at The Glen, August 8, 2021, Watkins Glen International: 2.45 - Mile Road

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 4, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 90, 2, 4, 2, 27, 5, 56, Running

2) 11, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 90, 8, , , , , 38, Running

3) 9, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Reser's Fine Foods Toyota, 90, , 1, 1, 34, 1, 44, Running

4) 20, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Snickers Toyota, 90, 6, 10, , , , 39, Running

5) 6, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 90, 3, 8, 1, 6, , 43, Running

6) 15, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 90, 5, , , , , 37, Running

7) 7, Christopher Bell, No. 20 STANLEY Toyota, 90, , 2, , , , 39, Running

8) 5, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford, 90, , 3, , , , 37, Running

9) 27, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 90, , 5, , , , 34, Running

10) 13, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 90, 4, , , , , 34, Running

11) 14, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Moen Ford, 90, , 7, , , , 30, Running

12) 12, Ross Chastain, No. 42 MyMcDonald's Rewards Chevrolet, 90, , 6, , , , 30, Running

13) 17, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 90, , , 1, 2, , 24, Running

14) 3, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 DEX Imaging Ford, 90, , , , , , 23, Running

15) 16, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Cowboy Channel Chevrolet, 90, 9, , , , , 24, Running

16) 8, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Go Bowling Ford, 90, , , , , , 21, Running

17) 24, Chris Buescher, No. 17 socios.com Ford, 90, , , , , , 20, Running

18) 19, Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 90, , , , , , 19, Running

19) 18, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 90, , , 1, 1, , 18, Running

20) 10, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 90, 7, , , , , 21, Running

21) 25, Michael McDowell, No. 34 CarParts.com Ford, 90, , , , , , 16, Running

22) 2, Joey Logano, No. 22 Verizon 5G Ford, 90, 1, 9, 1, 11, 1, 27, Running

23) 26, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota Toyota, 90, , , , , , 14, Running

24) 29, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Nations Guard Chevrolet, 90, , , , , , 13, Running

25) 28, Ryan Newman, No. 6 socios.com Ford, 89, , , , , , 12, Running

26) 31, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 Bence Motor Sales Ford, 89, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 22, Erik Jones, No. 43 Clean Harbors Chevrolet, 89, 10, , , , , 11, Running

28) 23, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Kleenex Chevrolet, 89, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 30, Justin Haley(i), No. 77 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet, 89, , , , , , 0, Running

30) 33, Kyle Tilley, No. 78 Bremont Chronometers Ford, 89, , , , , , 7, Running

31) 21, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Good Sam Chevrolet, 88, , , , , , 6, Running

32) 35, Quin Houff, No. 00 Fare/Share Chevrolet, 88, , , , , , 5, Running

33) 34, Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Insurance King Ford, 88, , , , , , 4, Running

34) 37, RC Enerson, No. 15 Lucas Oil School of Racing Chevrolet, 88, , , , , , 3, Running

35) 1, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Wabash National Ford, 87, , , 1, 9, , 2, Running

36) 32, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 53 Skip Barber Racing Ford, 87, , , , , , 0, Running

37) 36, James Davison, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford, 41, , , , , , 1, Electrical

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 57 Secs.

Length: 90 Laps, 220.5 Miles

Average Speed: 101.031 MPH

Margin of Victory: 2.430 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 5, 11, 8, 24, 18, 48, 9, 3, 43

Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 20, 4, 5, 14, 42, 21, 11, 22, 18

Comments: Kyle Larson won the Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International, his 11th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 20, No. 9 (inspection violation).

Caution Flags: 4 for 6 laps;

Laps: 12-12 (Competition Caution [None]);

22-22 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);

26-27 (No. 51 Stopped on Track [None]);

42-43 (Stage 2 Conclusion [51]).

Lead Changes: 7 among 7 drivers;

B. Keselowski 1-9;

J. Logano 10-20;

K. Larson 21;

R. Stenhouse Jr. 22;

M. Truex Jr. 23-56;

D. Hamlin 57-62;

K. Busch 63-64;

K. Larson 65-90.

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2021, Issue 8, Posted 6:18 PM, 08.08.2021