The Zippo 200 from Watkins Glen International is set to go down on Saturday, August 6th at 1:30 p.m. ET on CNBC. Sprint Cup Series mainstay Joey Logano, will start from the pole position from his qualifying efforts on Friday. The talented driver also drove on to victory in the 2015 version of the Zippo 200 from the Glen.
Joey Logano will have his work cut out for him as teammate Brad Keselowski and three other Sprint Cup Series stand-outs are lined up behind him. Furthermore, Kyle Busch who has found his way to Victory Lane here on several occasions is starting in fifth.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch returns to the NASCAR Xfinity Series circuit in his #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota. He will look to capture his eighth victory on the 2016 Xfinity Series season in the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. This is the 20th race of 33 scheduled events on the calendar.
Kyle Busch has had a lot of success at the winding New York road course. As a result, he has reeled in two Sprint Cup Series wins in 2013 and in 2008 from the pole position. Road course specialist Boris Said raced the 2015 Zippo 200 for Joe Gibbs Racing and finished the event in fourth. In 2014, the last time the defending Sprint Cup champion buckled up here, he recorded a second place finish. Believe it or not, Busch has yet to take the checkered flag at this venue in an Xfinity Series race.
Consistency has awarded JR Motorsport’s Elliott Sadler the NASCAR Xfinity Series points lead. The veteran driver chalked up a third-place finish at Iowa this past weekend. Sadler leads all Xfinity Series contenders with 16 top ten finishes. He also remains 19 points above Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Suarez for the points lead.
Daniel Suarez was hampered by engine issues this past weekend at Iowa. Therefore, Elliott Sadler took full advantage of his opportunity and made up 14 point difference. It was only the second did not finish on the year for the Mexican born driver. The steady Sadler has yet to record any on the 2016 season.
JR Motorsport’s Elliott Sadler has made seven starts at Watkins Glen International. He has claimed one top five and four other top 10’s. He has an average finish of 11.3 and will look to improve on that in this weekend’s Zippo 200 at the Glen.
The Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader Erik Jones has become the first rookie to win three Xfinity Series races since Sprint Cup rookie Chase Elliott did it in 2014. Jones has won two Dash 4 Cash races at Bristol and Dover. He also drove away with his third victory on the year in last weeks dominating performance at Iowa.
Erik Jones is also on track to eclipse the all-time rookie wins record of five. that mark was set by Greg Biffle in 2001, Kyle Busch in 2004, and Carl Edwards once again in 2005. In fact, Erik Jones has already passed his teammate Kyle Busch’s series record by capturing his six pole position of 2016 at Iowa.
The Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones sits fourth in points before the Zippo 200 at the Glen. What is even more impressive is he sits number one in bonus points that he has accrued through his three victories. Jones has now compiled nine bonus points, which is three points per victory. The talented young driver will make his Xfinity series track debut this weekend in the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International.
The Staring Line-Up for the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International:
1 12 Joey Logano Snap-On 124.552 70.814 Leader
2 22 Brad Keselowski Fleetwood / REV Group 124.325 70.943 –0.129
3 2 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards 124.115 71.063 –0.249
4 42 Kyle Larson CESSNA 123.953 71.156 –0.342
5 18 Kyle Busch NOS Energy Drink 123.878 71.199 –0.385
6 19 Daniel Suarez Arris 123.828 71.228 –0.414
7 60 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford Mustang 123.536 71.396 –0.582
8 3 Ty Dillon Rheem 123.042 71.683 –0.869
9 7 Justin Allgaier Brandt 122.987 71.715 –0.901
10 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain 122.977 71.721 –0.907
11 6 Darrell Wallace Jr Cheez-It Ford Mustang 122.787 71.832 –1.018
12 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point 122.587 71.949 –1.135
13 20 Erik Jones GameStop / Rock Band Rivals 122.215 72.168 –1.354
14 11 Blake Koch LeafFilter Gutter Protection 122.181 72.188 –1.374
15 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com 121.847 72.386 –1.572
16 48 Brennan Poole DC Solar 121.536 72.571 –1.757
17 15 Scott Heckert TBD 121.394 72.656 –1.842
18 4 Ross Chastain Taughannock Aviation / Ithaca Tompkins Airport 121.235 72.751 –1.937
19 16 Ryan Reed Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association Ford Mustang 121.212 72.765 –1.951
20 44 J.J. Yeley Zachry 120.878 72.966 –2.152
21 01 Ryan Preece teamjdmotorsports.com 120.614 73.126 –2.312
22 33 Brandon Jones Roland 120.245 73.350 –2.536
23 88 Kenny Habul SunEnergy1 119.757 73.649 –2.835
24 21 Spencer Gallagher Kingman Chevrolet Buick / Allegiant Travel 119.562 73.769 –2.955
25 39 Ryan Sieg Midstate Basement Authorities 119.441 73.844 –3.030
26 90 Todd Bodine Glenora Wine Cellars 119.112 74.048 –3.234
27 0 Garrett Smithley teamjdmotorsports.com 119.105 74.052 –3.238
28 28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing 119.080 74.068 –3.254
29 14 Tomy Drissi Arthritis Foundation 118.817 74.232 –3.418
30 10 Jeff Green TBD 118.660 74.330 –3.516
31 13 Stanton Barrett Mozido.com / OCR Gaz Bar 118.558 74.394 –3.580
32 77 T.J. Bell Vroom Brands 117.963 74.769 –3.955
33 07 Ray Black Jr ScubaLife 117.635 74.978 –4.164
34 40 Chris Cook Shockwave / OCR Gaz Bar 116.730 75.559 –4.745
35 25 Cody Ware Lilly Trucking / Carport Empire 116.473 75.726 –4.912
36 74 Nicolas Hammann WCIParts.com 115.826 76.149 –5.335
37 52 Joey Gase Donate Life 114.563 76.988 –6.174
38 97 Ryan Ellis Vroom Brands 113.883 77.448 –6.634
39 78 B J McLeod TBD 107.791 81.825 –11.011
40 70 Derrike Cope E-hydrate / Sammi’s Best 106.293 82.978 –12.164
