4LT GS Roadster
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Tony Stewart remains the king of this road.
Stewart won his fifth Sprint Cup Series race at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course, holding off Marcos Ambrose to win Monday’s Heluva Good! at the Glen.
Stewart has now won at the Glen five times in his past eight races at the track. The win is Stewart’s third of the 2009 season and 36th of his career.
Kurt Busch got a jump on pole-winner Jimmie Johnson and grabbed the early lead in the race.
Busch maintained a sizable advantage until NASCAR threw a caution on Lap 18 for debris in the inner loop. All but three cars took the opportunity to pit for fuel and tires.
Ambrose, Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson took over the top three positions on the restart on Lap 21, followed by Kurt Busch and Johnson.
David Stremme spun in the inner loop on Lap 23 which also collected the cars of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards. During the caution, Kahne and Sorenson both pitted, but Ambrose stayed out and led again on the restart on Lap 27.
Kurt Busch, who restarted second, got around Ambrose on Lap 28 to retake the lead. He didn’t hold it long, however, pitting for fuel on Lap 29.
Ambrose came down pit road to make his first stop on Lap 30. That left Johnson in the lead.
Kyle Busch passed Johnson in Turn 1 on Lap 35 to take the lead for the first time.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove off the course near Turn 10 on Lap 42 and when he drove back on the track he plowed into Sorenson. Both cars went into the tire barrier to bring out the third caution of the race.
Only a handful of drivers elected to pit under the caution and on the restart on Lap 46, Kyle Busch continued to lead followed by Stewart and Johnson.
It didn’t take a lap for Stewart to pass Kyle Busch and take the lead for the first time.
Teams began making green-flag pit stops - for many their last of the race - on Lap 54. By the time the green-flag stops were completed, Kurt Busch returned to the lead on Lap 56.
Busch made his final stop on Lap 58, allowing David Stremme to take over the race lead. Stremme made his stop on Lap 60 putting rookie Scott Speed in the lead with 30 laps remaining.
On Lap 63, as Kasey Kahne and Sam Hornish Jr. were racing side-by-side, Khane knocked Hornish off the track and ignited a violent six-car wreck in Turn 9, which collected Gordon, Andy Lally and Jeff Burton. NASCAR displayed the red flag for nearly 20 minutes to clean debris from the track.
When the race returned to caution, Speed and some others pitted on Lap 64, and on the restart on Lap 67, Kyle Busch took over the race leader, followed Stewart, Ambrose, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle.
Stewart got around Busch for the lead just past Turn 1 on Lap 67, but Stewart is precariously close on fuel to make it to the end.
Ambrose got around Kyle Busch for second after Busch drove off the course briefly on Lap 69.
With 10 laps remaining, Stewart continued to lead followed by Ambrose and Kyle Busch.
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