Penske Racing’s Joey Logano drove on to victory in the Xfinity Series’ Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International for the second straight year on Saturday. He also was able to hold off teammate Brad Keselowski for the duration of the event. Furthermore, Logano started from the pole position in the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen and dominated by leading 67 of the 82 laps turned.
The victory was Joey Logano’s 26th overall in the Xfinity Series and the first time for Penske Racing in the last 21 contests. Logano swept the Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series weekend at The Glen last year. The driver of the #12 Ford commented on the race’s ending.
“Brad gave me a run for my money, that’s for sure,” Joey Logano said of Saturday’s race. “He was just as fast as me, maybe faster. We never ran so many qualifying laps inside the car. I was running as hard as I possibly could, and I wasn’t sure if my car would last. I was running that hard, but she held together just long enough. Couldn’t be more proud to be here in Victory Lane. This is big for Penske Racing team on the Xfinity Series side of things. Great to get a win for them.”
Brad Keselowski qualified his Fleetwood/RV Ford into the second spot around the winding course in upstate New York. The speedster was on Joey Logano’s bumper until a track bar mount broke and sent him to the pits. Unfortunately, there was only six laps remaining in the Zippo 200. Keselowski’s mechanical problem gave Logano the space he needed to pull off the win. Keselowski ended his day at the 2.45 mile road course in 24th.
“It looked like a bad weld broke,” he said of the track bar issue. “I don’t know what to say about that. You can’t win races in the garage. Joey and I were both really fast, and if either one of us got in the lead it was obvious we were going to drive away. “That’s something to be really proud of. We had very fast Ford Mustangs today, and congrats to Joey on the win. It’s good for the program to see Penske Racing get in Victory Lane today. I wish it could have been us, but I am happy for Joey and all those guys.”
Kyle Larson sped to a third place finish, followed by Daniel Suarez. Suarez’s fourth place result was not enough to overtake Elliott Sadler for the Xfinity Series points lead. Sadler, racing with JR Motorsports, had yet another top ten finish in 2016.
The veteran points leader drove his #1 OneMain Chevolet to a sixth place tally. NASCAR mainstay Trevor Bayne was sandwiched between the two points leaders in the fifth spot. He also drove the iconic #60 Ford for Penske Racing on Saturday afternoon at the Glen.
The Zippo 200 had six cautions for 18 laps. Therefore, the most decisive incident was a multi-car pileup on Lap 18. The wreck took out Xfinity Series guru Kyle Busch. Busch was attempting to win his first race at the iconic east coast road course. Busch has claimed victory at every venue on the Xfinity Series circuit, except at Watkins Glen International and Pocono Raceway.
The Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International took two hours and 17 minutes to complete. The average speed of the field around the 2.45 mile road course was 87.496 miles per hour. Race winner Joey Logano, won by 1.151 seconds over Paul Menard. There were eight lead changes by five different drivers and Joey Logano claimed the Coors Light Pole Award.
Final Results for the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International:
1. (1) Joey Logano, Ford, 82 laps, 0 rating, 0 points.
2. (3) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 0.
3. (4) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 0.
4. (6) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 82, 0, 38.
5. (7) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 82, 0, 0.
6. (10) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 35.
7. (9) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 34.
8. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 33.
9. (19) Ryan Reed, Ford, 82, 0, 32.
10. (16) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 31.
11. (8) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 31.
12. (13) Erik Jones, Toyota, 82, 0, 29.
13. (22) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 28.
14. (18) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 28.
15. (20) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 82, 0, 26.
16. (17) Scott Heckert, Ford, 82, 0, 25.
17. (23) Kenny Habul, Chevrolet, 82, 0, 24.
18. (28) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 81, 0, 23.
19. (31) Stanton Barrett, Toyota, 81, 0, 22.
20. (33) Ray Black Jr, Chevrolet, 81, 0, 21.
21. (35) Cody Ware, Ford, 81, 0, 20.
22. (24) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 81, 0, 0.
23. (25) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 80, 0, 18.
24. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 79, 0, 0.
25. (15) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 74, 0, 16.
26. (39) B J McLeod, Ford, 73, 0, 15.
27. (21) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, suspension, 67, 0, 14.
28. (36) Nicolas Hammann, Dodge, oilleak, 67, 0, 13.
29. (11) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 63, 0, 12.
30. (38) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 62, 0, 11.
31. (40) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, accident, 53, 0, 10.
32. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, transmission, 32, 0, 9.
33. (30) Jeff Green, Toyota, fuelpump, 18, 0, 8.
34. (26) Todd Bodine, Chevrolet, accident, 17, 0, 7.
35. (14) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, accident, 17, 0, 6.
36. (29) Tomy Drissi, Toyota, accident, 17, 0, 5.
37. (5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 17, 0, 0.
38. (32) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, transmission, 13, 0, 3.
39. (27) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, overheating, 13, 0, 2.
40. (34) Chris Cook, Dodge, suspension, 8, 0, 1.
