Tuesday
Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, 2011 NSCS Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen Post-Race Recaps
Press Release
EVENT: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen
DATE / TRACK: Monday, Aug. 14, 2011 / Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
RESULTS: Kahne (start 18, finish 26) / Vickers (start 20, finish 18)
+ HELUVA WILD! FINISH
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — So here’s the deal.
Kasey Kahne and the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota are hanging on by a thread, having lost three positions in the points standings after a 26th-place finish Monday at Watkins Glen International.
NASCAR’s little yellow rulebook says a driver and his team must be in the top 20 to even be eligible for a Chase berth, and then from there wins and wildcards mean everything.
Kahne sits 19th in the standings and doesn’t have a win — yet. Two drivers ahead of him in the standings, Paul Menard and Denny Hamlin, each own a victory. Another driver, Brad Keselowski, has two. So the 74-point gap between Kahne and the Chase means the No. 4 best get cracking, and a late tire issue in Monday’s rain-delayed Chip Dip at the Glen didn’t help.
“We ran well all day,” Kahne said. “The car was what we needed, but at a place like this track position is key. We were trying to save fuel at the end and somehow got a flat on the pace laps.”
Good thing for Kahne that the Race to the Chase suits Red Bull Racing Team rather well. Michigan is next (the site of our first Sprint Cup victory). After that, it’s Bristol (just keep the fenders intact). After that, it’s Atlanta (we’ve been known to run well at the mile and a halfs). And race No. 26 is Richmond (we locked ourselves into the Chase there in 2009).
Brian Vickers was scored in 18th Monday, this after an overtime of two laps that saw cars flipping and hitting hard.
It was a wild finish to NASCAR’s second and final road-course race. Just before David Ragan T-boned a guard rail, David Reutimann tumbled and Boris went after The Biff, Vickers pitted for four tires and fuel three laps from the finish. “Wish we had better track position, but we have tires,” crew chief Ryan Pemberton noted. “Give them hell.”
Vickers restarted 25th and improved seven spots at the stripe.
UP NEXT: Pure Michigan 400, Sunday, Aug. 21, Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.
- Red Bull Racing Team, Press Release
Article Tags: Brian Vickers, Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen, Kasey Kahne, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, No. 8, NSCS, Red Bull Racing Team, The Glen, TOYOTA Camry, Toyota Motorsports, Watkins Glen, Watkins Glen International, WGI
