From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
NASCAR’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) took on Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, while the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series was at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, this past week. Below is a recap of the events.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
- Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race was a flashback to last year’s event at Watkins Glen, producing the same result of Chase Elliott driving to victory. For the second straight year, pole-sitter Elliott posted his win after holding off a hard-charging Martin Truex Jr. for most of the day’s event.
- The Dawsonville, Ga., native Elliott, who grabbed his first win of 2019 at Talladega Superspeedway in the GEICO 500 in April, led a dominant 80 laps of the 90-lap event, sweeping all three stages.
- Elliott’s margin of victory over runner-up Truex was .454 seconds.
- Denny Hamlin took home third, with Erik Jones fourth and Ryan Blaney fifth.
- The rest of the top 10 included Matt DiBenedetto, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and Kurt Busch.
- Elliott, along with Truex, Hamlin, Harvick, Keselowski, Busch, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Alex Bowman have clinched spots in the MENCS Playoffs with wins this season.
- Talladega Superspeedway’s second MENCS race of 2019 is set for Sunday, Oct. 13, with the running of the 1000Bulbs.com 500, and will be the second race in the Round of 12 of the playoffs.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
- After an intense battle for the lead between Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger during the closing laps of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) event at The Glen, Cindric rose to the top to claim his first-career series win.
- Allmendinger initially placed second, but his machine failed post-race inspection for a rear height violation, which moved him to last place (37th).
- Christopher Bell inherited the second place, followed by Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, and Tyler Reddick completing the top five.
- With wins, this season, Cindric, Bell, Reddick, Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe, and Michael Annett have secured spots in the NXS Playoffs.
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
- On Thursday night, Canadian Stewart Friesen went into the race at Eldora Speedway on the bubble of making the season-ending NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs. By the end of the night, Friesen walked away from a first-time career series Gander Outdoors Truck Series winner and clinched his spot in the playoffs. It was Friesen’s 63rd series start.
- Friesen, who opted not to pit the entire event, crossed the line .728 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Sheldon Creed.
- Fairhope, Ala., native and championship points leader Grant Enfinger finished third, with Mike Marlar and Todd Gilliland (Talladega Superspeedway’s 2019 General Tire 200 victor) rounding out the top five.
- Friesen, Ross Chastain, Tyler Ankrum, Brett Moffitt, Austin Hill and Johnny Sauter are locked in the series playoffs with victories this season. The regular-season finale is this weekend, and only two spots remain in the playoffs, with a lot of drivers in a must-win situation to advance.
- The Gander Truck Series visits Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, Oct. 12, with the running of the Sugarlands Shine 250, the first race in the Round of 6 of NASCAR’s Playoffs for the series.
