A look back at Kyle Busch's 12th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International including news, notes and observations by the RacingOne staff.
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Inside Line Kyle Busch notched his eighth win of the Sprint Cup Series season and became the first driver to win three NASCAR road races in one season with his victory in the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International Raceway. Photos
Keys to Victory Lane Busch was in front for a five-lap shootout to the finish, after a 45-minute red flag for a nine car accident, and outran Tony Stewart to the checkered flag. Complete Results
Zero to Hero Marcos Ambrose started 43rd on the field and followed up his Nationwide Series win on Saturday with a third-place finish for the Wood Brothers on Sunday.
Rookie of the Race Ambrose by far was the most impressive freshman in Sunday's field.
Notables Juan Pablo Montoya started 25th and came home fourth. A.J. Allmedinger began the day 34th and finished an impressive 11th. And Ron Fellows took the green flag 32nd and notched a 13th-place finish.
Race to the Chase Busch locked up the top spot in the Chase with his eighth win. Matt Kenseth slid into the 12th and final transfer spot. Clint Bowyer and David Ragan are now 13th and 14th with four races to go.
Centurion Boats at The Glen Loop Data Leaders • Average Running Position: Kyle Busch - 2.8 • Fastest Early In a Run: Jimmie Johnson - 120.049 mph • Fastest Late In a Run: Robby Gordon - 119.676 mph • Fastest Laps Run: Kyle Busch - 20 • Fastest on Restarts: Kyle Busch - 118.174 mph • Most Passes During Green Flag Conditions: Marcos Ambrose - 90 • Laps In Top 15: Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. - 87 • Quality Passes: Martin Truex Jr. - 46 • Speed in Traffic: Kyle Busch - 118.446 mph
Pit Stops • Kyle Busch captured his 12th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in his 136th career start. Detailed Active Driver Wins • Busch won the 67th race for car owner Joe Gibbs. Detailed Active Car Owner Wins • Busch became the ninth driver to win at Watkins Glen from the first position. He was the 494th driver overall to win a race from that position. Starting Position Facts • Busch won the first race for Toyota at Watkins Glen. All-Time Manufacturer Wins • Tony Stewart (second) posted his eighth top-10 finish in ten races at Watkins Glen International. It is his 11th top-10 finish in 2008. • Marcos Ambrose (third) posted his first top-10 finish in just his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. • Juan Pablo Montoya (fourth) posted his third top-10 finish in four Cup Series road course starts. • Martin Truex Jr. (fifth) posted his third top-five finish of the 2008 season. • Kevin Harvick (sixth) posted his third top-10 finish in the last four Cup starts this season and 109th of his career. • Jimmie Johnson (seventh) rallied back from a flat left rear tire mid-way through the race to post his 12th top-10 finish of the season. • Denny Hamlin (eighth) has finished in the top 10 in all three of his Watkins Glen Cup starts. • Carl Edwards (ninth) posted his 16th top-10 finish of the 2008 season. • Kurt Busch (10th) posted his first top-10 finish since the July Daytona race. • The 90-lap race saw eight lead changes among five drivers and an average speed of 97.148 mph. Lap Summary • Four caution flags were thrown for nine laps. • The Centurion Boats at The Glen lasted 2 hours, 16 minutes, 11 seconds.
Lug Nuts • Can we call the Kyle Busch slump officially over? • Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart winless in mid-August? Who would have thought? • Suddenly Brad Daugherty looks like a genius tabbing Marcos Ambrose as his Cup driver next year. • Come on, you thought Juan Pablo Montoya and Ambrose were gonna take each other out on that last lap didn't you? • Who said things don't happen fast on a road course? That nine-car pile-up took place in the blink of an eye. • Ryan Newman, consider yourself very lucky. • Robby Gordon was not a factor in either road course race this year was he? • A.J. Allmendinger deserves a Cup ride next year whether it's with Team Red Bull or another organization. • Reed Sorenson on the other hand may be in trouble.
Garage Talk • "We used that No. 21 car up. We have no clutch left, no brakes. I feel really proud of the Wood Brothers, who gave me the opportunity to come here." - Marcos Amrbose • "I can't believe we don't win a race in three or four weeks and we're in a slump." - Steve Addington • "It was a big hit for a bunch of guys." - Dave Blaney • "What are we going to do to get a good finish?" - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. • "I was a little nervous having Tony behind us and sitting there for so long." - Kyle Busch
RacingOne Rating On a scale of one to ten fingers (for the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York), we'll give Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen a six. Ho hum road racing affair, but Kyle Busch's impressive dominance is enough to have you take notice. Can anything stop this runaway train? Thankfully there were no injuries in that nine-car melee at the end of the race and now we can move on to high-speed oval track racing next Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.
