MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
I Love New York 355 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Age: 37
Team: No. 78 – Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota
Owner: Furniture Row Racing
Crew Chief: Cole Pearn
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “I’m a little bit lost for words at the moment just because I’ve been thinking about this one a long time – all weekend, all day. Then, at the end there just it’s so hard there to let guys pass you for the lead. You’ve just got to listen to your crew chief and luckily for me I’ve got the best one in the business and I just believe in him so much and I just do what he says and it seems to work out. I’ve just got to thank him (Cole Pearn, crew chief).
· Martin Truex Jr.
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· Martin Truex Jr. won the 32nd annual I Love New York 355 at The Glen Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Watkins Glen International Sunday afternoon. It is Truex’s series-leading fourth win in 22 races this year.
· Overall, it is Truex’s 11th win in 427 career MENCS races. His 11 wins have come on 10 different tracks. The only track at which he has won multiple times is Dover.
· Truex now has won four races in both 2016 and 2017. It also was his first win in 12 starts at Watkins Glen International. His previous best was a third-place showing in 2013.
· Matt Kenseth (2nd) posted his 10th top-10 finish and sixth top-5 showing in 22 MENCS races this year. It is his best finish since he had a second-place showing at Charlotte on October 9 of last year.
· Rookie Daniel Suarez (3rd) posted his best finish of the year and his career, while it marked his fourth straight top-10 showing and his eighth overall in 22 MENCS races in 2017.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· Kyle Busch won Stage 1 of the race, which is his ninth stage win of the year and the second-most on the circuit this year, trailing only Truex’s 14. Daniel Suarez won Stage 2, his first stage win of the year.
· Martin Truex Jr. (881) leads the 2017 point standings by 116 points over Kyle Busch (765). They are followed by Kyle Larson (759) and Kevin Harvick (746).
· Thirteen drivers currently have qualified for the 16-driver field of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The list consists of Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch, each of whom has won at least one race this season. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship finale on November 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
· In 12 career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Truex has had seven top-10 finishes. In 2015, he was a part of Championship 4 who competed for the Cup Series title. He finished 12th that year. His best finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway was a second-place showing in 2006.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· Kyle Busch won the 23rd annual Zippo 200 at The Glen NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Watkins Glen International Saturday afternoon. It is Busch’s 90th win in 336 career XFINITY Series starts, and his fourth victory in eight XFINITY races this year.
· Joey Logano was second and Brad Keselowski placed third. For Logano, it was his seventh top-10 showing in eight XFINITY races this year, while it was the eighth top-10 finish in as many 2017 XFINITY races for Keselowski.
· Justin Allgaier (4th) was the highest finishing XFINITY Series regular while William Byron (10th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· Brad Keselowski won Stage 1 of Saturday’s race, while Paul Menard won Stage 2.
· With victories to their credit this year, William Byron (3), Justin Allgaier (1) and Ryan Reed (1) have clinched spots in the 12-driver playoff field in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
· Elliott Sadler (732) leads the XFINITY Series points standings by 52 points over rookie William Byron (680). They are followed by Justin Allgaier (608).
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was off this weekend. They will return to action On Saturday, August 12 at Michigan International Speedway.
· Christopher Bell (4 wins), John Hunter Nemechek (2 wins), rookie Kaz Grala (1 win), Johnny Sauter (1 win) and Matt Crafton (1 win) all have qualified for the 8-driver field in the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17.
· Currently, Christopher Bell (528) leads the points standings by 18 points over Johnny Sauter (510). Chase Briscoe has compiled 470, while two–time series champion Matt Crafton has collected 464 points.
