2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen

The 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 15, 2011 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. Contested over 90 laps, it was the 22nd race of the 2011 season. It was scheduled to be run on August 14, 2011 but was postponed to Monday because of rain. The race was won by Marcos Ambrose of Richard Petty Motorsports, his first career victory in the Cup series and also the first-ever Cup win by an Australian driver.[3] Brad Keselowski finished second and Kyle Busch finished third.

2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen

Race details[1][2]
Race 22 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date	August 15, 2011
Location	Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.454 mi (5.43 km)
Distance	90 laps, 220.5 mi (354.9 km)
Weather	Sunny with a scattered T-storms around 75; wind out of the NNE at 7 mph.
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	1:19.767
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	49
Winner
No. 9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree

Race report

Background

Watkins Glen International, the road course where the race was held.

Watkins Glen International is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Infineon Raceway.[4] The standard short road course at Watkins Glen International is a 7-turn course that is 2.45 miles (3.94 km) long;[5] the track was modified in 1992, adding the Inner Loop, which lengthened the long course to 3.4 miles (5.5 km) and the short course to the current length of 2.45 miles (3.94 km).[6]

Before the race, Carl Edwards was leading the Drivers' Championship with 720 points, and Jimmie Johnson stood in second with 711 points. Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch followed in third and fourth with 709 and 706 points, six ahead of Kevin Harvick and 38 ahead Jeff Gordon in fifth and sixth. Ryan Newman with 658 was 16 points ahead of Tony Stewart and 19 ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.[7] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was first with 140 points, 21 ahead of Ford, and 26 ahead of Toyota. Dodge was placed fourth with 89 points.[8] Juan Pablo Montoya is the race's defending winner from 2010.[9] Kyle Busch began leading, but when they entered turn 1 of the last two laps, he turned too far and immediately in second place Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose in third place passed him. Keselowski lead until Marcos Ambrose quickly took the lead in the Inner Loop. Ambrose continued to lead when a major crash occurred at turn 2 in the final lap involving Boris Said, David Ragan, David Reutimann and few other cars that saw Reutimann go airborne and end up on his roof. This accident did not bring out the caution flag, but was brought out soon after when Tony Stewart spun out of control at the Inner Loop and Ambrose won the race.

References

1. "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
2. "The Heluva Good! at The Glen". Rotoworld.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
3. Forsaith, Rob (August 16, 2011). "Marcos Ambrose claims maiden NASCAR win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
4. White, Rea (5 August 2010). "Road course races challenge the specialists". Fox Sports. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
5. "Watkins Glen". www.nascar.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
6. "Watkins Glen History". www.nascar.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
7. "Pre-race Drivers' Championship Standings". Nascar.Com. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
8. "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site – 2011 Manufacturers Championship Standings". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
9. "2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen". Racing-Reference.info. August 8, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2011.