Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Report-Watkins GlenAugust 6, 2017Track: Watkins Glen International No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – Brad Keselowski Start: 8th Recap: Brad Keselowski started Sunday's I Love NY 355 at Watkins Glen International from the eighth position before finishing 15th in the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion. As the race began, Keselowski quickly moved into the top five despite struggling for forward drive on the exit of each corner of the seven-turn road course. He would maintain that position through the end of the first, 20-lap stage to pick up six bonus points. After coming to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the break, Keselowski restarted the second, 20-lap stage from the 14th positon. Still, the handling was not quite where the 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion needed it to be, but he was able to maneuver his way to a seventh-place finish in the second stage. As the third stage of the race began at lap 45, Keselowski restarted in the same, seventh-place position after not pitting during the break. On the first lap back to green, while entering the interloop section of the track, Keselowski and Kyle Busch made contact that sent them both spinning but able to continue with only slight damage. Unfortunately, Keselowski developed a vibration five laps later and had to come to pit road for four tires, an air pressure adjustment and to work on the damage from the incident. This did not put the team in their fuel window, but Keselowski grabbed the lead when the other competitors began making their final pit stops. The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford continued to pace the field while Keselowski and team needed a caution to make their final pit stop. However, the race stayed under the green flag and Keselowski had to pit on lap 87 of the 90-lap race. To make matters worse, he drove through too many pit stalls upon exiting pit road and had to serve a pass-through penalty that placed him 15th at the end of the event. Quote: "Tough break today for the Miller Lite Ford team. I guess I drove through too many pit stalls leaving on our last pit stop. Gosh, it's a bummer. We weren't the fastest car today but we raced real hard and with a lot of heart. That put us in position. I hate that I cost us a top-five to a 15th. Good effort all around." No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Joey Logano Start: 13th Quote: "Best case scenario we were going to finish top-10 which does nothing for us. A top-5 or a win is the only thing that is going to help us, so we went for it by pitting and putting four tires on and hoping to get a caution and maybe cycle ahead of cars with new tires. Unfortunately it went green all the way and we didn't get a good finish. We need to win the next few races here." Back to previous page.Copyright ©2008-2016 Penske Racing. All rights reserved |