Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – WATKINS GLEN, NY – William Byron took advantage of a Michael McDowell penalty to score his career-high fifth win at Watkins Glen International.
McDowell took the lead from polesitter Denny Hamlin on lap four and held it until his lap 21 pit stop, in which he was penalized for going through too many boxes on pit road. Byron would not look back and led 66 of the race’s 90 laps.
After not having a top-five finish since winning at Atlanta in July and having never won on a road course in Cup, this one is sweet for Byron.
“Road courses this year have been tough for us,” said Byron in his post-race news conference. “Had good grip in our car, felt like I could push the car to make a good lap time. I felt optimistic that we could run well, but as soon as I got out there in practice, I felt really good about what we had.”
The race was also a massive win for crew chief Rudy Fugle, who grew up in nearby Livonia and raced around western and central New York tracks.
“I really don’t even know how to take it in yet. I’m sure it will settle in a few weeks,” Fugle said. “I raced at Limerock, Ransomville, and Canandaigua. WNY dirt tracks and big block modifieds were where it was at. I still watch it on TV sometimes. Getting a win here is special.”
McDowell blended back in 17th, in which he regained ground to get back to the top 10, until another penalty for a crew member over the wall too soon.
The yellow brought McDowell back to contention in the top 10 until an engine issue in the No. 34 ended his chances at a win.
“I’m not sure what happened,” McDowell told Nathan Solomon of The Podium Finish. “I came out of the carousel, and everything shut off. Not sure if it was electrical or ECU. It’s unfortunate. It wasn’t a great day execution-wise. We were really fast. Proud of the effort. To take the lead early and win the first stage, picked up right where we left off at Indy. Just couldn’t finish today.”
The story all eyes were on today was with Chase Elliott. Entering the weekend as a +330 favorite to win per Draft Kings Sportsbook, Elliott started outside the top 10 and made moves early. Approaching his second pit stop, crew chief Alan Gustafson told him to stretch the fuel stint as much as possible. Elliott ran out of fuel down the back straight and stalled at the bus stop, bringing out the race’s lone caution. He finished 32nd and will have to win next week or miss the Playoffs for the first time in his career.
“Clearly miscalculation with the No. 9 car, and that was huge,” said Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. “He was stretching — he came in a little bit short the first stop, and so they were trying to stretch it to get closer on the strategy of the others. You always want to pad yourself here just in case there’s a lot of restarts at the end. The fuel just wasn’t there. It was really unfortunate.”
Martin Truex Jr. needed to gain a point on Denny Hamlin to clinch the regular season championship and 15 Playoff Points. Hamlin cut the deficit in half after the first two stages, with the gap at 39 points.
Bubba Wallace picked up some ground on the cut line, now at 32 points entering Daytona. Ty Gibbs is now the first driver out. If he or anyone below Gibbs in points wins Daytona, that will eliminate Bubba from the Playoffs.
“A really good day. Looking at last week, we gave up 30 points. Everybody, including myself, were like it’s going to be the same thing, and go into a heads-up battle. Thankful for the team to continue to preach how good we are and to give me the right resources to give me the results,” Wallace said in his post-race availability.
The NASCAR Cup Series hosts its regular season finale at Daytona Saturday.
Nathan Solomon from The Podium Finish contributed to this story on-site from Watkins Glen International.