NASCAR at Watkins Glen live updates: Martin Truex Jr. wins second stage

Updates for this race are complete. For race results and analysis, please visit us here.The NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International is today. The race is at 3 p.m. on NBCSN.

The race is 220.5 miles (90 laps) with stages ending on laps 20, 40 and 90. All times are Eastern.

Follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex.

NASCAR at Cup race at Watkins Glen results

Final stage

5:13 p.m., Lap 90: Kyle Larson hangs on and wins his fifth race of the season, his first at Watkins Glen. Chase Elliott, who started at the rear, placed second, followed by Martin Truex, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. William Byron, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick round out the Top 10.

5:12 p.m., Lap 89: Chase Elliott is burning up the track as he tries to chase down Kyle Larson. The gap is now three seconds, but isn’t getting any smaller thanks to a little more clear track for the leader Larson.

5:10 p.m., Lap 87: Elliott now inside of three seconds behind Larson with all of this lapped traffic.

5:08 p.m., Lap 86: With four to go, Larson runs into the back of some lapped traffic, and Elliott has held him in by another full second. The gap sits at 4.7 seconds. Truex is another three second back of that in third, with Kyle Busch and William Byron (who’s quietly had a very good race) in fifth.

5:05 p.m., Lap 84: Six to go —Larson beat Elliott by a tenth that time by. It’s starting to look like Chase will need a caution

5:02 p.m., Lap 81: Chase Elliott is flying. He’s now caught Martin Truex Jr., and is now just 5 seconds back of Kyle Larson. With only nine laps to go, is there enough race left?

4:54 p.m., Lap 75: Kyle Larson has driven away (stop us if you’ve heard this before). But Chase Elliott, who had to start all the way in the back today and is running without his normal crew chief, is closing. He’s so good on road courses. Truex Jr. continues to split the two of them, in second position.

4:41 p.m., Lap 65: Kurt Busch to the pit now, and now Kyle Larson will assume the lead. Sounds familiar. Larson, Truex Jr., Lajoie and Kyle Busch are the top cars at the moment.

4:39 p.m., Lap 64: With just 20 to go, strategy becoming vital here. Denny Hamlin appears to be trying to hang on as long as mechanically possible here. He pits under green with a 10-second lead on Kurt Busch, who slides into first behind him. Hamlin’s pit stop drops him to 12th overall, but others still need to pit.

4:30 p.m., Lap 57: Brad Keselowski, who’s been having issues with braking all day, just spun into his own teammate, Joey Logano, and took him out. Still no caution. Meanwhile, pit stops under green for what might be the final time for some of these cars shuffles the deck again. Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson pit under green. This gives the lead to Denny Hamlin for now

4:28 p.m., Lap 56: Christopher Bell goes around after contact with Kyle Larson. Race stays green and Larson is into second.

4:25 pm., Lap 52: Chase Elliott is into the top 10 and looks like one of the quickest cars on the track after working through the field after the earlier stop. Erik Jones spins, but the race stays green.

4:16 p.m., Lap 45: Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain drive by Kevin Harvick, who drops to fifth. Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell lead, but Larson attempts to make it three-wide! He can’t make the pass, though, and the order stays.

Stage 2

4:06 p.m., Lap 40: Martin Truex Jr. wins the second stage of the race for his fifth stage victory this year. Christopher Bell finishes the stage less than a second behind Truex. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Matt DiBenedetto, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch finish in the top 10. Chase Elliott is back in 33rd after the earlier green flag stop.

4 p.m., Lap 37: Bubba Wallace makes a green flag pit stop with three laps left in the stage as 23XI team owner Michael Jordan watches from the pit box. Wallace was asked for an update on his car through the carousel. “Awful,” he responded. “Left rear is taking a beating. No lateral.”

3:54 p.m., Lap 32: Chase Elliott makes a green flag pit stop for flat spotting his tires. He’s in 36th as Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick race in the top three.

3:50 p.m., Lap 28: Chase Briscoe gets a bad restart and Martin Truex Jr. leads, but Brisoce tries to get his spot back. He and Christopher Bell make contact through the esses! Neither spins and Bell gains the position, with Kevin Harvick in third.

3:38 p.m., Lap 24: A caution comes out for James Davison stalled on the track just after Martin Truex Jr. takes the lead of the restart, passing Chase Briscoe. Meanwhile, Joey Logano is having radio struggles. He can evidently hear his team, but they can’t hear him with some intense static.

Stage 1

3:32 p.m., Lap 20: Joey Logano wins Stage 1 at Watkins Glen for his fourth stage win this season followed by Kyle Larson in second. Chase Elliott finishes in the top 10 in eighth in the stage and pole sitter Brad Keselowski misses points in 11th. Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Erik Jones round out the top 10 for points.

3:26 p.m., Lap 17: A handful of cars, led by drivers Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., dive into the pits with a few laps remaining before the end of the stage. Leaders Joey Logano and

3:15 p.m., Lap 10: Brad Keselowski goes for a spin in Turn 6! He loses the lead and five positions after losing control of his car. Joey Logano is the new race leader followed by Larson. Keselowski will pit, as will Chase Elliott, who’s up to 19th. Logano and Larson stay out at the caution to lead the field for the next green followed by Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. in the next row. Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick battle for track position.

3:06 p.m., Lap 4: Chase Elliott, who started at the rear due to multiple inspection failures and an L1 penalty, is up to 25th place. Brad Keselowski continues to lead.

3:02 p.m., Lap 2: Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski is running in first with Joey Logano behind him. Kyle Larson has moved up to third as Denny Hamlin battles with Ryan Blaney early for track position. Ryan Newman spun further back, but the race stays green.

Pre-race ceremonies underway

2:55 p.m.: Engines have been fired with an enthusiastic command from racing YouTuber Tyler Hoover. Penske drivers Brad Keselowski is on the pole along with Joey Logano in the front row. The green flag is coming up at 3 p.m.

2:45 p.m.: The race will go green at 3 p.m. on NBCSN with pre-race ceremonies already underway at the track. Cars are lined up on the grip with drivers getting ready to hop in. Watkins Glen International has announced a sellout crowd in the grandstands for today’s NASCAR Cup race and its first sellout for the campgrounds. This is the track’s sixth consecutive sellout in the grandstand after NASCAR skipped the course on its schedule last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Jordan spotted at The Glen

2:30 p.m.: NBA legend and 23XI owner Michael Jordan was spotted atop the pit box prior to Sunday’s race near Watkins Glen, New York. Jordan has made a few appearances at NASCAR races this season, including at Daytona and around the garage area at Sonoma. Team co-owner Denny Hamlin answered questions from the media on Sunday about 23XI’s performance this year. Driver Bubba Wallace currently sits 20th in points, four positions below the 16-driver cutoff for the playoff grid. Hamlin said that he thinks Wallace’s biggest change for a win will come at Daytona at the end of the regular season.

“That’s where he’s going to be the most competitive,” Hamlin said. “As good of a shot as any really. It’s going to be a wild and crazy race and it always turns into some drama at the end figuring out who is going to get that last Playoff spot. We just hope it’s us.”

Wallace’s best finish this year was fifth at Pocono for his only top five and top 10 finish so far this season. Hamlin said that he felt like his team was progressing “so-so” this year.

“I look at the finishes and they are trending downwards,” he said. “I’m impatient like everyone else would be who’s competitive. I want to get those guys more competitive and get Bubba’s (Wallace) confidence back up. I think confidence is a big thing with him. He really hits highs and lows pretty often. How can we keep him a little bit more steady with his emotions and I think he’ll continue that trend in a good direction.”

Wallace said that progress for his No. 23 Toyota team was continuing to build and that a win has become more critical in the last few races due to the recent shake up of the playoff picture.

“We’ve got a lot of ground to make up points wise these next four races,” Wallace said. “I don’t think we can point our way in anymore with these last two wins from Kurt (Busch) and Aric (Almirola). That really put us behind. That’s the way the sport goes.”

“...I’m really excited for Michigan. Our mile-and-a-half stuff, that package is really good and I’ve ran really strong there in the past,” he continued. “I’m excited for that, and then Daytona, we know our Toyota Camrys are strong, specifically at Speedweeks this year was really good, so we will just have to give it our all and survive.”

Possible storms in the forecast

1:40 p.m.: There is a 40% chance of thunderstorms in the area near Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high near 85 degrees, but there’s a chance of rain starting around 4 p.m.

NASCAR ended the Truck Series race at Watkins Glen on Saturday 11 laps early due to inclement weather. The Xfinity race on Saturday, won by series rookie Ty Gibbs, ran to completion.

Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell teams penalized before race

12:20 p.m. UPDATE: NASCAR announces that Chase Elliott’s car twice failed pre-race inspection. He will drop to the rear for the start of the race along with Christopher Bell. There were no other pre-race technical inspection issues or penalties besides the L1 penalties previously assessed.

12 p.m.: Two-time consecutive Watkins Glen race winner Chase Elliott will drop to the rear for the start of today’s race at the 2.45-mile road course in New York due to an L1 penalty, which carries a fine, crew chief suspension and loss of points for the driver.

NASCAR assessed to Elliott’s No. 9 team the penalty for violating rules regarding rear-window air deflectors. Christopher Bell’s No. 20 team has been hit with the same penalty and he will also drop to the rear for the start.

Additionally, the crew chiefs for both teams (Alan Gustafson for Elliott and Adam Stevens for Bell) have been suspended for the race, they each lose 10 driver and owner points and the teams have been issued a $25,000 fine.

Elliott was heavily favored to win in the sports betting odds books prior to Sunday and was slated to start 11th. He’s seeking his eighth win on a road course today to tie him with Tony Stewart on the all-time wins list on road courses in the series, one win behind category leader Jeff Gordon. Bell’s win earlier this season came on the Daytona Road Course and he was slated to start seventh for the race.

Penske driver Brad Keselowski is starting on the pole with teammate Joey Logano in the front row. The race is scheduled to start around 3 p.m. EST with a competition caution on Lap 10.

NASCAR AT WATKINS GLEN STARTING LINEUP

This story was originally published August 8, 2021 at 12:10 PM with the headline "NASCAR at Watkins Glen live updates: Martin Truex Jr. wins second stage."

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription