2018 Go Bowling at The Glen

The 2018 Go Bowling at The Glen was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 5, 2018 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. Contested over 90 laps on the 2.45 mi road course, it was the 22nd race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Chase Elliott scored first career win in this race after holding off a hard-charging Martin Truex Jr. who was the defending winner from last year. This (as of now) was the final race for Brian France as the CEO of NASCAR, as he was arrested for DUI hours after the race occurred. Jim France was the CEO starting at Michigan.

Background
Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an automobile race track located in Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for twenty consecutive years (1961–1980), but the site has been home to road racing of nearly every class, including the World Sportscar Championship, Trans-Am, Can-Am, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the International Motor Sports Association and the IndyCar Series.

Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. The circuit's current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill Esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after J.D. McDuffie's fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event.

The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers. The facility is currently owned by International Speedway Corporation.

First practice
Erik Jones was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 1:10.467 and a speed of 125.165 mph.

Final practice
Chase Elliott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 1:10.832 and a speed of 124.520 mph.

Qualifying
Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 1:10.260 and a speed of 125.534 mph.

Stage 1
Early in the race Joey Logano(22), the winner of the Xfinity Race at the Glen, rammed the back of Kyle Larson(42). The minor accident damaged the radiator on Logano’s car. The team told Logano to take the car to the garage. They did not realize NASCAR had placed the 22 car under the damaged vehicle policy. Once it came to the garage the car was declared out of the race. A big mistake for the Team Penske crew. Logano finished 37th in last place.

Martin Truex Jr. landed a Stage 1 victory in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International.

Truex led just three of the 20 laps in the opening stanza of the Go Bowling at The Glen, taking the lead when Kyle Busch made a pit stop before the end of the stage. The stage win was Truex’s seventh of the season, banking the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota team another playoff point for the 10-race postseason.

Driver’s opting to pit early skipped the end of Stage pit stops and returned to the front of the field. Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Chase Elliott(9), Erik Jones(20), and Larson led the field to the green flag restart. Stage winner Truex Jr. will restart 12th.

Stage 2
At the drop of the green Kyle Busch pulled away. This time Elliott drove up to Busch’s bumper and would not let him get away. Elliott passed Kyle 2 laps later and began to open up a slight advantage. Elliott drove away to earn the Stage win.

While a dozen cars stopped early near the end of Stage 1, few stopped before the end of Stage 2. In fact, most cars stayed on the track during the Stage ending caution. The strategy? Because the Cup cars can only run approximately 35 laps on a full tank. The 50 lap final stage requires a pit stop for more Sunoco Racing Fuel. Most teams chose to make it a 2 pit stop race. So, no need to stop a third time and lose track position.

The Final Stage
Elliott drove too deep into Turn 1 on the restart and allowed Kyle Busch to slip by. The two battled at the front of the pack while pulling away from the remainder of the field.

With 37 laps to go, Matt DiBenedetto(32) blew an engine bringing out the caution. Cars hit pit road with 35 laps to go, Kyle Busch and Elliott enter 1-2 and exit the same way. Elliott’s tire changer slides across the roof of the car as Elliott leaves a half a second early. Landing hard on the pavement the crewman, fortunately, avoids injury.

Close to the fuel window drivers get instruction from crew chiefs to save fuel. Shutting off the engine and coasting can mean the difference between having enough gas to finish or coming up a lap short.

Hamlin had a miscommunication with his crew and leaves the pit too early. He knocks a tire across pit road and caught an air hose with the left rear tire injuring a crewman. The loose tire sended him to the rear on the restart.

Kyle Busch’s crew notices the tanks used to refuel the car are not empty. A fault in the gravity fuel system prevented the tanks from draining properly. Busch has to return to the pits to top of the tank or he will run out of gas short of the finish. He restarts at the rear of the field.

It’s now Chase Elliott’s race to win. He jumps out to a 2 second lead over Truex Jr. Byron, Michigan native Erik Jones sits comfortably in 3rd.

Kyle Busch restarted in 24th. With 23 laps to go, he had moved back into the top 10. Busch returned to the top 5 with 11 laps to go. While at the front Truex Jr. moved to within 2 car lengths of the leader Elliott.

Facing pressure from Truex Jr. on every lap, Elliott continued to run perfect circuits maintaining the slight advantage. On the final lap, Truex Jr. ran out of fuel as Chase Elliott pulled away for his first NASCAR Cup Series win. Elliott ran out of gas on the cool-down lap. Teammate Jimmie Johnson(48) pushed him back to front-stretch where he stopped to celebrate with his crew.

After finishing 2nd 8 times, Elliott scores his first win in his 99th career Cup start.

Playoff Implications
Elliott entered the race 14th in the points standings, 73 points above the cut line. His victory locks him into the playoff and takes some pressure off. He was very likely to make the playoffs on points providing a major slump did not hit the team.

Alex Bowman(24) increased his grip on the final playoff spot moving 58 points ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(17). Paul Menard(21) slipped out of a tie with Stenhouse Jr. dropping 12 points behind. Suarez pulled ahead of Ryan Newman(31) cutting his deficit from 96 to 86 points.

Bowman will likely need a major failure to occur for any driver outside the top 16 a chance to break into the final playoff spot.

Stage Results
Stage 1 Laps: 20

Stage 2 Laps: 20

Final Stage Results
Stage 3 Laps: 50

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 5 among different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 4 for 11
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 2 hours, 13 minutes and 44 seconds
 * Average speed: 98.928 mph

Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen and Steve Letarte called in the regular booth for the race; Motor Racing Network broadcaster Mike Bagley called from the Esses, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call from Turn 5, and Jeff Burton called from Turns 9-11. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio
Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.