POINTS BATTLE
1st #19 Liberty
2nd #11 Marshall -52
PLAYOFF CUTOFF
14th #4 Zuma +145
15th #6 Shade +143
16th #23 Claw +28
—
17th #99 Tracker -28
18th #54 Coral -49
19th #9 Chase -80
Location: Watkins Glen International, New York
Track type: Road course
We are at the penultimate race of the regular season at Watkins Glen. A 7 turn road course which usually has great racing. Marshall trails Liberty by 52 points for the regular season championship.
SATURDAY (QUALIFYING)
Dale Jr.: Marshall was on a flier lap, and he takes pole position for the time being, but can anyone improve as we see other cars coming across the start finish line?
Rick: And no one improves actually! Marshall wins the pole for Watkins Glen tomorrow afternoon!
#11 Radio: That's another pole on the road courses.
"Good job guys. Hopefully we can get a good finish tomorrow." Marshall said.
SUNDAY (RACE DAY)
STARTING LINEUP
1. #11 2. #24 3. #34 4. #54 5. #5 6. #16 7. #20 8. #45
9. #8 10. #7 11. #22 12. #23 13. #17 14. #99 15. #9 16. #3
17. #2 18. #48 19. #19 20. #31 21. #42 22. #1 23. #12 24 #6
25. #38 26. #14 27. #10 28. #47 29. #15 30. #41 31. #43 32. #21
33 #4 34. #51 35. #78 36. #77
STAGES 20/20/50*
GREEN FLAG
Rick: And we're racing at Watkins Glen!
Dale Jr.: Marshall got a great restart, but Hubcap has already passed Arrby and he's in 2nd.
#11 Radio: #34 got clear of the #24. He's been looking fast all season on the road courses, so just be aware of him.
LAP 4/90 Leader: Marshall
Rick: Hubcap dives to the inside! Forces Marshall offline, and Hubcap takes the lead away! And Marshall has lost second to Arrby!
#34 Radio: Love the aggressiveness Hubcap. Get in your rhythm now. "Haha! I'm gonna win another race!" Hubcap laughed.
LAP 5/90 Leader: Hubcap
Jeff: We got a car around in the inner loop! It's Tracker! The potcake gets it back running, but it's cost him a lot of positions and he needed a good day here!
#99 Radio: How's the car Tracker?
"It's bien, but I messed up. Lo siento." Tracker said.
LAP 20/90 Leader: Hubcap
Arrby and Marshall were able to stay with Hubcap, but for the moment, they were no match for the French bulldog. #34 Radio: #24 seven back, no pressure.
Rick: Once he got the lead from Marshall, he hasn't looked back, and Hubcap comes out of turn 7 to win stage 1!
LAP 21/90 Leader: Hubcap
#34 Radio: Good job Hubcap. We'll be pitting this time.
Rick: As they come out of turn 7, Hubcap pits- Arrby stays out! Marshall follows in and they are both getting service!
Jeff: Marshall's crew has a tidy stop and Hubcap's pit stop is complete! He's on Marshall's right! They're dead even on the pit lane! Who's gonna come out ahead?!
Dale Jr.: There's a right hand corner on the exit of the pit lane, so Hubcap should come out ahead!
Rick: We talked about not making mistakes in a race like this, and this is a big one for the #34. Driving through too many boxes! You can only drive through three pit poxes, he went through five!
#34 Radio: We have a penalty. You drove through too many boxes Hubcap. You'll have to do a pass-through.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! GODDAMNIT!" Hubcap shouted.
LAP 22/90 Leader: Arrby
#24 Radio: Pit this time Arrby. #34 has a penalty, you'll be racing the #11.
Rick: Arrby now pits and it looks like a good stop! Will he be ahead of Marshall? Yes he will! About a second and a half gap over Marshall! "Haha! Yes!" Arrby exclaimed.
LAP 40/90 Leader: Arrby
Arrby, Marshall, and Coral were the top three, and running similar lap times, but Ryder was 3.6 seconds behind, and the fastest car on the track.
Jeff: We see Arrby coming out of turn 5, and when look at the pirate pup, when the pressure is on him he always rises to the occasion.
#24 Radio: #11 eight back, no pressure. Rick: He comes out of turn 7, and Arrby has won stage two!
LAP 41/90 Leader: Arrby
"50 laps to go boys. I won't let you down!" Arrby promised.
LAP 47/90 Leader: Arrby
#5 Radio: Put that pressure on the #54. It's go time.
#54 Radio: #5 is putting pressure on us, oh crap!
Dale Jr.: The #54 went wide out of turn 7! Down the front stretch! Ryder has a run but can he take advantage?!
LAP 48/90 Leader: Arrby
Jeff: Ryder sends it into turn 1! Coral has to go wide! And Ryder clears her going into turns 2 and 3!
#5 Radio: Go chase down the #11 Ryder. LAP 52/90 Leader: Arrby
Arrby had gotten the gap to almost 5 seconds over the pack and Ryder was having trouble passing Marshall.
#5 Radio: Ryder, we cannot have him ruin our race. "I'm going for it next lap." Ryder said.
LAP 53/90 Leader: Arrby
Dale Jr.: Ryder dives to the inside into turn 1! Will he complete the pass? No he can't! Marshall stays ahead going into turn 2!
#5 Radio: Bump him if you have to. You still owe him for Pocono. "Trust me. I haven't forgotten." Ryder replied.
LAP 55/90 Leader: Arrby
Jeff: Ryder is making his pit stop, and he said the car feels fine, all he needs is a-
Rick: OH! Someone is going slow on the back stretch out of turn 4! It's Chase! Is something broken on that car, or is it out of fuel?
Dale Jr.: I just listened in on the #9 team's radio, and it was a fuel problem! I don't know why the crew chief didn't bring him to pit road on the previous lap!
#24 Radio: #9 is going slow, there will be a caution. Pit this time.
#11 Radio: A caution is coming. Bring it to the pits.
Rick: All the leaders make it to pit road, and the caution is out for the first time today!
CAUTION
#9 Radio: I don't know why your crew chief didn't tell you to pit. You'll get a push back to the pits.
"I'm so done with this season…" Chase spoke quietly.
If that wasn't bad enough for Hendrick fans, this would definitely be another punch in the gut for them
#5 Radio: Ryder, we have a penalty for going too fast exiting the pit lane.
"Show me the freaking video. There's no way I sped." Ryder furiously replied.
#5 Radio: They're saying you barely sped. We're gonna have to go tail end of the lead lap cars.
LAP 61/90 Leader: Arrby
GREEN FLAG
Rick: 30 laps to go here at Watkins Glen, and we're back under green!
Jeff: Arrby got a great restart and has cleared Marshall going into turn 1!
#24 Radio: You're already clear of the #11. No pressure from behind.
LAP 75/90 Leader: Arrby
Rick: We're looking at Hubcap right now having a phenomenal recovery. He's running 8th currently.
"What the hell?! I have no power!" Hubcap shouted.
#34 Radio: Restart it Hubcap.
"I can't! It keeps shutting off!" Hubcap replied.
Dale Jr.: This is absolutely heartbreaking for Hubcap. Qualifies great, gets the lead, wins the first stage, recovers to P8 after a pit road penalty, and it's all over now.
#34 Radio: Take it to the garage Hubcap.
Hubcap was furious when he got out of the car because he knew he had a car that could have won again, and a problem out of his control prevented that.
LAP 89/90 Leader: Arrby
Arrby was absolutely decimating the field with a lead over 3 seconds over Marshall.
#24 Radio: Just bring it home Arrby. 2 more corners until the white flag.
Rick: The pirate pup is gonna see the white flag here at Watkins Glen. One to go brought to you by Credit One Bank!
LAP 90/90 Leader: Arrby
WHITE FLAG
#24 Radio: #11 way back, hey Arrby, we're gonna celebrate in New York City tonight!
Rick: Out of turn 7, Arrby will score his 5th win of the season, and it comes at Watkins Glen!
"WOO! Let's go guys! Oh, we're gonna be so fast in the playoffs!"
#11 Radio: P2 Marshall. Great job all day. "Good job guys. Let's kick tail in Daytona." Marshall said.
For the 5th time this season, Arrby would do his burnouts in his brown and gold Chevy and the Dachshund would look more confident than ever.
Reporter: Another win for Arrby, easily can be called the championship favorite after today. Arrby, what was it like out there today?
"It was pretty great. I thought the #34 car was definitely great in the beginning, and once he got his penalty, all I had to worry about was the #11, but thankfully his car wasn't as good as ours and we were able to dominate. This #24 team has been near perfect all season, and we're ready for the playoffs." Arrby said
RESULTS
1st #24 Arrby
2nd #11 Marshall
3rd #20 Skye
4th #16 Wildcat
5th #54 Coral
6th #19 Liberty
7th #17 Rory
8th #45 Everest
9th #12 Ella
10th #22 Rubble
11th #38 Al
12th #23 Claw
13th #47 Wheeler
14th #8 Rocky
15th #6 Shade
16th #2 Tuck
17th #41 Gasket
18th #1 Sweetie
19th #42 Ben Allen
20th #7 Alex
21st #4 Zuma
22nd #99 Tracker
23rd #48 Mayor Humdinger
24th #31 Leo
25th #15 Mix
26th #5 Ryder
27th #78 Ladybird
28th #51 Charger
29th #43 Rex
30th #10 Duke of Flappington
31st #3 Harold Humdinger
32nd #9 Chase (-1)
33rd #21 Dwayne (-1)
34th #77 Copycat (-1)
35th #14 The Cheetah (-7)
36th #34 Hubcap (DNF)
PLAYOFF CUTOFF
16th #23 Claw +32
—-
17th #54 Coral -32
18th #99 Tracker -43