Fantasy NASCAR Scouting Report – Watkins Glen

[themify_box]NOTE: This post is a recap of what happened in 2015 at Watkins Glen[/themify_box]

Watkins Glen Top Ten Starters

1. AJ Allmendinger
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Tony Stewart
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Jeff Gordon
6. Kyle Larson
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8. Kyle Busch
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Austin Dillon

Sonoma Full Starting Lineup

Watkins Glen Pre-Race Notes

Chris Buescher drove the #34 car. He started in the rear of the field because of an engine change. He had oil pressure issues really early in the race. It was never mentioned in the telecast.

Kevin Harvick had a great car. Garage insiders viewed him as the favorite.

Watkins Glen Race Notes

AJ Allmendinger started on the pole and led the first 20 laps.

On lap 5 Jimmie Johnson missed the inter-loop turn and had to stop. He was running in 7th and it dropped him back to 22nd.

Running order on lap 9: 47,78,4,18,42,88,14,2,24,51 … 41,22,11,1,15,19,55,9,3,31 … 48,20,10,5,43,16,27,13,95,17 … 83,35,6,40,38,7,33,32,46,26 … 98,23,34

Notable Moment: On lap 10 Aric Almirola and Paul Menard had contact with each other which brought both of them to a stop before they regrouped and got back up to speed. Aric Almirola got the heavier damage of the two. No caution came out for this incident. On lap 11 he came down pit road to repair the damage. He thought his cars toe was knocked out.

On lap 15 Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick were following closely behind Allmendinger for the lead and applying pressure.

Tony Stewart started in 3rd and by lap 16 he was back to 9th. He wasn’t very happy with his car.

Running order on lap 16: 47,78,4,18,42,88,2,24,14,41 … 22,51,11,1,15,19,55,48,9,20 … 3,31,10,5,16,13,95,35,17,83 … 6,40,27,38,7,33,46,32,26,98 … 23,43,34

On lap 21 Martin Truex Jr. passed AJ Allmendinger for the lead. Kevin Harvick got by the #47 also.

Running order on lap 22 : 78,4,47,18,42,88,2,24,14,41 … 22,51,1,11,15,19,55,48,9,20 … 3,31,10,5,16,13,95,35,17,83 … 6,27,40,38,7,33,46,32,26,23 … 98,43,34

Notable Moment: On lap 25 Greg Biffle had a flat tire. He was running around 25th at the time. He came to pit road as soon as he could. Shortly afterwards the caution came out for debris. It was during the middle of the first pit cycle.

Notable Moment: During the Biffle caution Kasey Kahne pitted twice to repair damage from when he hit a tire on pit road.

Notable Moment: During the first round of pit stops under caution Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin got speeding penalties on pit road and had to start in the rear of the field.

Running order on lap 29 following the first caution: 35,2,55,19,9,3,78,47,95,4 … 18,14,88,22,42,31,20,15,1,17 … 51,10,13,27,83,48,46,33,5,40 … 7,11,38,32,41,26,6,23,98,16 … 43,34,24

Big Moment: On lap 29 Jeff Gordon was on pit because of brake issues.

Notable Moment: On lap 29 Denny Hamlin’s hood was popped up and was covering much of his front window. NASCAR black flagged him which forced him to dome down pit road. His problem started when he ran into the back of David Gilliland after serving his speeding penalty on pit road.

On lap 32 the caution came out for debris. This was a good break for Denny Hamlin because it allowed his team more time to fix their problem.

Running order on lap 36 following the debris caution: 2,19,55,3,78,9,47,18,4,14 … 88,22,95,42,1,31,20,15,13,51 … 48,17,27,41,83,5,40,46,32,10 … 35,7,6,11,38,16,26,33,23,43 … 34,98,24

On lap 38 Justin Allgaier spun and lost a ton of track position. He was in 19th and it dropped him far back in the pack.

Notable Moment: Around lap 40 Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson spun together. They were running 12th and 14th. It dropped both of them well back in the running order.