By Lou Modestino
Kyle Busch was the big winner on the annual visit to the Watkins Glen, NY road course. Settling for less was Brad Keselowski, the runner-up, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya who came in fifth. Then it was Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Jimmy Johnson who placed eighth. That road course win was Kyle Busch’s 27th career win and his third this year.
Kyle said, “It’s just great to win here before The Chase comes up. It wasn’t easy because I had some problems earlier with cold tires and I had to take it easy. Second place driver Brad Keselowski revealed, “I should have pushed harder on the last lap. I took Kyle right to the edge and he just wouldn’t cave.” Martin Truex, Jr. reflected, “Kyle was better than the rest of us.” Junior revealed, “The late caution didn’t help us at all. Overall I say it was not a good day.” Some of the problems included grass from the track getting into the air dams and into the brakes.
Road course expert Marcos Ambrose started on the pole and he’s also won races at The Glen. However, he had problems and went out of the race, and he was not all happy about it. Jeff Gordon was another one that ended up out of the race.
All of the pundits had plenty of comments. Bob Dillner said that Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon had rough days and, as a result, both fell out of the top ten in points. Speaking of which Jimmie Johnson still leads the tally with Clint Bowyer next -75 followed by Carl Edwards -80.
Dillner also stated, “We are seeing a much more mature Kyle Busch. He’s positioned to be in the hunt and to challenge Jimmie Johnson. Robin Miller had some insights about Tony Stewart and his bad Sprint car wreck that had ended his year in The Cup. “Sprint car racing is what keeps him going.” Not this time because that accident just messed up everything for him. Max Papis subbed for Tony and finished 15th at The Glen. Next up for The Cup series will be at Michigan International Speedway.
Elsewhere, Danny Schatz won the Knoxville Nationals out in Iowa while Ryan Villopoto swept the motoX action at Unadilla, NY.
Not too many motor heads are happy about the fact that the SPEED Channel is no longer and gone is all of the best motor head programming like the SPEED Report and Wind Tunnel. The newly christened Fox Sport Channel has gone the way of the NBC Sports Channel and the ESPN’s. Those programs with a big following will be looking for some place to surface. How about the ESPN’s, NBC Sport Network or the CBS Sports Network? Or how about the Velocity Channel, a high definition cable channel?
FOX Sports, one of the largest global sports networks, has signed a multi-year, international multi-media deal with the FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first fully-electric car racing series beginning in September 2014.
Formula E is a new FIA Championship featuring open-wheel cars powered exclusively by electricity and racing in the heart of 10 of the world’s leading cities, including two in the US with Los Angeles and Miami. They are designed to promote interest and investment in electric vehicles and sustainable motoring, 10 teams, each with two drivers, will compete in one-hour races using Formula cars capable of reaching speeds of more than 220 kph with zero emissions.
As well as two races in the US, last month saw leading Indy Caroutfit Andretti Autosport become the first US team to join Formula E. Six of the ten teams have now been signed for the inaugural season, three of which have already been announced with Andretti Autosport, China Racing and British-based Drayson Racing.