Junior needed to gain back some ground lost last week. Did he? Um... welll...

The usual suspects turned Watkins Glen International into an exciting place to be for Sunday’s Centurion Boats at The Glen. Several cautions, a red flag and a shoving match made for 90 very interesting laps.

Friday rains washed out qualifying, setting the field by points. In an unusual and gracious move, Bill Elliott handed over his #21 Wood Brothers machine to road course specialist Boris Said. Other ringers in the field were Ron Fellows in the #96, Patrick Carpentier in the #10 and P.J. Jones piloting the #00.

A bit of shuffling occurred on the first lap but Jeff Gordon prevailed and began leading the pack around the legendary course. Ryan Newman and David Ragan tangled in the gravel pit, the first of several slide-offs. Gordon retained the lead until lap 14, when Tony Stewart blew by. It lasted until lap 22, when Red Bull Racing’s Brian Vickers spun and showered debris across the race course.

Pit strategies, so very crucial to success on a road course, began to cycle. Jeff Gordon came out first, but restarted eighth as some drivers did not pit. When the green flag flew again on lap 25, Jamie McMurray led the field with Carpentier hot on his heels. Carpentier took over when McMurray pitted on lap 31, and eventually gave up to Stewart when Carpentier was forced to pit at lap 38.

The third caution of the day flew at lap 39 for contact between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Busch lost many spots and was temporarily relegated to a place in the back of the pack. Stewart continued to lead with Jeff Gordon in pursuit. When Stewart lost control in the first turn on lap 45, Gordon resumed the lead. Stewart was able to stay on the lead lap, but found himself in 19th position.

Lap 52 started the confrontations between Juan Pablo Montoya and other drivers. In a repeat of some side-by-side Sonoma action, Montoya tapped Jimmie Johnson, sending the #48 Chevy spinning. Reed Sorenson also ran into trouble on this lap. His car sputtered and Sorenson was unable to restart it, bringing out the caution.

Petty Enterprises’ Bobby Labonte led at lap 54, relinquishing the lead at lap 58 to Jeremy Mayfield to take his #43 in for service. Mayfield, who didn’t pit in the last sequence, finally went down pit road on lap 61. As this was taking place, Jeff Green and Casey Mears made contact, sending Mears spinning off the course but able to recover. The next lap found Green himself spinning in the same place while racing with a different driver.

Junior Nation felt heartbreak as the Budweiser Chevy’s powerplant failed. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was unable to restart the car and was given a push around the track to finally reach put road. This was important in the Race for the Chase; Earnhardt had been racing Kurt Busch for the 12th spot in the live points standings and with his fifth DNF of the year Earnhardt would fall to 14th at the conclusion of the day. Busch would eventually take over the 12th spot.

The fifth full-course caution came out at the same time Earnhardt’s car failed, for another spin by Newman and also Clint Bowyer. Jeff Gordon still retained the lead and would continue to do so through the sixth caution, when wild passes through the “bus stop” grass by Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Edwards brought out the yellow flag once again.

As the restart began, Montoya flew out to the right to block the oncoming #1 of Martin Truex, Jr. Montoya, going hard into the first turn, collected Kevin Harvick and caused extensive damage to the #29. Montoya’s car, still moving across the racetrack, was hit by Harvick’s teammate Jeff Burton.

As the other drivers went past the scene of the accident, Harvick and Montoya climbed out of their cars, visibly angry with one another. It was clear that Harvick thought Montoya had run over him and tempers flared. This writer felt that while Harvick obviously did not know Truex had set off the melee, Montoya was quick to grab Harvick’s helmet and shove him while Harvick appeared to be taking Montoya’s hands away from his (Harvick’s) helmet and visor.

Burton hurried over to help separate the two men and finally both were taken away. Montoya attempted to restart his car but when it proved unusable, he exited the car over the yells of his team, who could not see or understand that Montoya’s car was out of commission.

The red flag was displayed for an extended period of time to clean up the rear-end grease and other assorted fluids left on the track. During the impromptu intermission, a particularly intrepid and possibly alcohol-fueled fan hopped the inside guard rail and ran over to Matt Kenseth’s car with a hat and Sharpie in hand, hoping for an autograph. The fan walked away empty-handed as Kenseth stressed to the man that he was a little busy despite being parked.

The long caution periods coupled with the red flag left most teams confident they could reach the end without refueling. When the engines fired again, the green flag was displayed at lap 77. Gordon took the lead only to be stopped by another caution at lap 80 when P.J. Jones slid into the pea gravel.

When the flag waved again on lap 83, Gordon built a lead on the men directly behind him, the fiercely battling trio of Stewart, Hamlin and Edwards. As he rounded the treacherous first turn on lap 88, Gordon lost control trying to escape Stewart and slipped off the course, leaving Stewart in the lead followed closely by Edwards, who had handily passed Hamlin moments before. As Edwards attempted to pull close enough to pass Stewart, Edwards lost control and spun into the grass, letting Stewart cruise to victory.

Despite being turned, Gordon was still able to recover a top ten finish. Stewart took his fourth win at The Glen in the last six races at the track. Hamlin, Johnson, Fellows and Robby Gordon were the top five, and Truex, Kyle Busch, Edwards, Gordon and Greg Biffle rounded out the top ten.

The top three in points remained unchanged with Jeff Gordon leading Hamlin and Kenseth. Next comes Stewart, gaining a spot to fourth and Edwards gained a spot to fifth as Jeff Burton slid two places. Bowyer and Harvick swapped places on the chart and Kurt Busch found himself in the 12th position.

Race Results

Nextel Cups Standings

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