Watkins Glen Race Report

- No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished fourth and is now seventh in points.
- No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished 10th and is now sixth in points.
- No. 55 MyClassicGarage Toyota driver Brian Vickers finished 43rd and the No. 55 is now 13th in owner points.
 
Clint Bowyer Race Summary: No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished fourth in Sunday’s 90-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver started eighth and raced between fifth and 10th the majority of the afternoon. Bowyer came to pit road in sixth on lap 58 for a regularly scheduled pit stop and returned to the race just as a caution came out. The well-timed pit stop moved Bowyer up to third for the restart with 18 laps remaining. Bowyer raced in sixth position in the closing laps when the intensity on the track picked up and hard racing caused several drivers to lose positions. Bowyer gained two spots in the closing laps to finish fourth. Bowyer moved from tenth to seventh in points. He holds a 66-point cushion over 11th place with four races remaining before the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to action on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.  
Started eighth and finished fourth.

- Raced in the top-10 all day.
- Pitted under green on lap 58 right before a caution came out on lap 61 moving him up to third.
- Restarted in third with 18 laps to go and raced hard in the closing laps to move from sixth to
  fourth.
- Recorded his fifth top-five and 12th top-10 of the season.
- Gained three positions in the point standing – up to seventh place. The No. 15 team is 66 points
  ahead of 11th.
 
BOWYER: “That was some slick racing the last few laps. You watch these road racers race in the rain and find traction. It kind of reminded me of the old motocross days. It was real slick in that oil and you had to find grooves around it. I almost got the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) there. We were sliding everywhere. He about got me and I about got him. It was kind of fun, but it was pretty nerve-racking.”
 
Are you happy with a top-five finish for your points position? “We needed that. It was a solid weekend for us. This isn’t one of my best tracks and I’m real proud of Brian Pattie (crew chief) and everybody on this 5-hour ENERGY Toyota for helping me out
 
Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary:  No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished 10th in Sunday’s 90-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. Truex started ninth and climbed to third before the first pit stop on lap 27. Truex looked poised to battle for the victory but he ran out of fuel right before a caution on lap 59. Truex made it back to pit lane but lined-up 22nd on the lap 62 restart. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver used some aggressive driving and two cautions to gain 10 positions during the final laps. Truex is sixth in points holding a 75-point lead on 11th place for the tenth and final points berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The NAPA AUTO PARTS team returns to action Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

- Started ninth and finished 10th
- Raced as high as third and as low as 22nd
- Battled a loose handling car through the corners
- Ran out of fuel on lap 57 but rallied from 22nd to finish 10th
- Owns five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 2012

TRUEX: “Man, it was rough. We dodged a big bullet there with a 10th-place finish. We had a good car. The NAPA Toyota was fast. We were running third and one lap from pitting and we ran out of gas and the caution came out. So, when we pitted we had to go to the tail end of the longest line and I think there were only 25 laps to go and we were in the tail end of the longest line. We had to pass a lot of cars to get back to 10th. Man, if we didn’t run out of gas we were going to get us another top-five here. Those kinds of days when you make mistakes you’ve got to battle back. It was a good points day for us. We dodged a big bullet by being able to come back through the field like that.”
 
Brian Vickers Race Summary: No. 55 MyClassicGarage Toyota driver Brian Vickers finished 43rd in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver started 33rd and suffered an engine failure before completing a lap. This was Vickers fifth start for MWR and his first finish outside the top 20. The No. 55 returns to action Sunday at Michigan International Speedway with Mark Martin behind the wheel. Vickers returns to the No. 55 Aug. 25 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
 
- Started 33rd and finished 43rd
- Suffered engine failure on lap 1
- Vickers first finish outside the top 20 in 2012
- Vickers will be back behind the wheel of the No. 55 Aug. 25 at Bristol Motor Speedway
- In five races this season Vickers has two top-five finishes (Bristol – 5, Sonoma – 4)
 
VICKERS: “We blew an engine getting into turn 6. On the downshift maybe I over-revved it. I’m not sure. It’s really frustrating. MyClassicGarage.com Toyota was a really good car and I was really excited about the race. I thought we had a chance to win or grab another top-five finish.”
 
RACE NOTES:
- Marcos Ambrose won the race.
- Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Bowyer, and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top-five finishers.
- The race took two hours and 14 minutes. 
- The race featured 10 lead changes among five drivers.
- Four cautions slowed the race for 13 laps.
- NASCAR estimated the attendance at 90,000.