An ill-timed caution flag with 25 laps to go ended Jeff Gordon’s chances for his first Watkins Glen victory since 2001. Nevertheless, he posted a 13th place finish and held onto 7th in the series points standings.

Under overcast skies, Gordon started 17th and moved into the top-10 by lap 11. He advanced as high as 7th before a pit stop sequence on lap 26. The first caution waved on lap 28 for Greg Biffle running out of gas on the track. Gordon advanced up to 3rd on lap 32 due to pit strategy. He took the race lead on lap 40 after Juan Pablo Montoya pitted, before losing the top spot to Kyle Busch on lap 44. At the halfway point on lap 45, he ran in 3rd place. Gordon pitted under caution on lap 50 after Kurt Busch wrecked. He restarted in 17th and again moved up through traffic. Due to a pit sequence, he moved to 2nd on lap 64. He took the race lead on lap 65, but was caught on the track when Denny Hamlin crashed in turn 1 — on the lap where he wanted to come to pit road. Gordon eventually pitted under the caution and restarted in 20th place. He moved up to 13th with 4 laps to go before a debris caution slowed the field and set up a green/white/checkered finish.

On the final lap, Gordon eased around Tony Stewart when he went through the grass in the inner loop and finished 13th. It was his ninth top-13 finish in the last 10 races as he held 7th in the points standings.

Road ahead: The series heads to Michigan Speedway for the second time in 2011. Jeff Gordon struggled with handling in the first Michigan race and improvement on the 2-mile oval will be critical going forward as NASCAR closes in on the Chase for the Championship.

Source: gordonline.com

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[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Jeff-Gordon-2011-08-15-Heluva-Good-Sour-Cream-Dips-at-The-Glen-Watkins-Glen.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2011-08-15 – Heluva Good Sour Cream Dips at The Glen – Watkins Glen]

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In the Esses

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August 9 – – Juan Pablo Montoya dominated on the Watkins Glen road course en route to his second career victory. Montoya won by more than 5 seconds over Kurt Busch and Marcos Ambrose. Jeff Gordon was never a factor for the lead, but ran his best laps late in the race to salvage a 10th place finish.

Gordon started 14th and dropped a spot on the opening lap to Robby Gordon. On lap 15, he followed Robby Gordon past Jimmie Johnson to take 13th place. Two laps later he took 12th from Robby. The handling became looser as the green flag run continued and Gordon came to pit road for tires on lap 27. A caution for P.J. Jones slowed the field on lap 28. Gordon ran 12th at the caution flag. The second caution waved on lap 40 after Bobby Labonte stopped in the inner loop area of the track. Crew chief Steve Letarte elected to take track position and kept Gordon on the track during the caution period. The green flag waved at the halfway point — lap 45 — with Gordon losing a spot on track to Clint Bowyer. He ran in 15th on lap 48, nearly 2 miles per hour slower per lap than race leader Juan Pablo Montoya.

Gordon re-assumed the 14th spot from Bowyer on lap 57 and ran more than 20 seconds behind the leaders. He came to pit road for his final stop on lap 60. A slower stop due to the insertion of a spring rubber sent him back to 25th in the running order before a debris caution on lap 62 slowed the field. The next caution waved with 26 laps to go when Tony Stewart clipped the rear of Boris Said’s car sending the Red Bull Toyota into the turn two guardrail. Gordon moved up to 14th due to drivers pitting and the wreck in front of him. With 20 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson spun in turn 11 and collected Denny Hamlin in the melee. Gordon gained a spot and restarted in 13th with 16 laps to go. A lap after the restart, Gordon took 12th from Sam Hornish. With 10 laps go, Gordon took 11th from Ryan Newman. On the final lap, Gordon got around the slowing car of Kevin Harvick to take 10th on an otherwise forgettable afternoon in upstate New York.

source: gordonline.com

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 [audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Jeff-Gordon-2010-08-08-Heluva-Good-Sour-Cream-Dips-at-The-Glen-Watkins-Glen.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2010-08-08 – Heluva Good Sour Cream Dips at The Glen – Watkins Glen]
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