NASCAR at the Glen 2013 Results: Reaction, Leaders and Post-Race Analysis

In an entertaining race from world-famous Watkins Glen International, it was Kyle Busch and the No. 18 car that took the checkered flag and won the 2013 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.

Busch has been a serious contender at each of the last two races at Watkins Glen, but after holding off Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 car on the last lap, he was finally able to drive into victory lane.

Keselowski held on for a second-place finish, Martin Truex Jr. managed a very respectable third-place finish and Carl Edwards finished fourth. Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top five.

Full Cheez-It 355 at The Glen Results

Pos	Driver	Car #	Make	Started
1	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	5
2	Brad Keselowski	2	Ford	8
3	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Toyota	3
4	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	16
5	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	11
6	Clint Bowyer	15	Toyota	2
7	Joey Logano	22	Ford	9
8	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	18
9	Kurt Busch	78	Chevrolet	13
10	AJ Allmendinger	47	Toyota	4
11	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	6
12	Casey Mears	13	Ford	30
13	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	26
14	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	14
15	Max Papis	14	Chevrolet	29
16	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	17
17	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet	7
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	Ford	33
19	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	20
20	Danica Patrick	10	Chevrolet	35
21	David Ragan	34	Ford	31
22	Boris Said	32	Ford	27
23	Matt Kenseth	20	Toyota	10
24	Owen Kelly	51	Chevrolet	23
25	David Gilliland	38	Ford	21
26	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	22
27	Dave Blaney	7	Chevrolet	40
28	Landon Cassill	140	Chevrolet	41
29	Alex Kennedy	19	Toyota	37
30	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	25
31	Marcos Ambrose	9	Ford	1
32	Brian Vickers	55	Toyota	15
33	David Stremme	30	Toyota	39
34	Kasey Kahne	5	Chevrolet	19
35	Ron Fellows	33	Chevrolet	24
36	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	28
37	Aric Almirola	43	Ford	32
38	Michael McDowell	35	Ford	12
39	Brian Keselowski	152	Toyota	43
40	Travis Kvapil	93	Toyota	38
41	Victor Gonzalez Jr.	36	Chevrolet	34
42	Tomy Drissi	87	Toyota	42
43	David Reutimann	83	Toyota	36

*Visit NASCAR.com for results and race times.

Two-time Watkins Glen winner Marcos Ambrose raced his way to the pole for the race and started off red-hot, staying in the lead and putting a healthy gap between himself and the field.

David Reutimann and the No. 83 car brought out the first caution of the day on Lap 6 with a blown engine. After the race returned to green for a few laps, Jeff Gordon and the No. 24 car brought out the second caution of the day with major front-end damage on Lap 14.

After Ambrose once again brought the field back to racing, the race stayed clean until teams began pitting under the green flag. Kevin Harvick then took the lead following the first round of stops.

The yellow flag came out for the third time as Michael McDowell blew out a tire on Lap 35. Shortly after returning to green-flag racing, the red flag was brought out in a four-car wreck on Lap 40 that involved Travis Kvapil, Ron Fellows, Tomy Drissi, Landon Cassill and Victor Gonzalez Jr.

Ambrose took the lead once the race restarted and maintained it until a caution on Lap 60 came out when Aric Almirola smashed into the tire barrier. Teams made pit stops under caution, and the field was shuffled.

With Ambrose stuck in traffic, Busch took the lead with just over 20 laps to go. Another yellow flag was brought out on Lap 78 and turned the race into a closing-lap shootout.

The hope of a clean finale was shattered with just 10 laps left as Kasey Kahne and the No. 5 car got sideways and collected the No. 88 of teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., as well as Jeff Burton, Alex Kennedy and David Ragan.

Just as the green flag came out once again, Ambrose was turned around coming up the hill. The wreck included Brian Vickers and Max Papis. After the final restart of the day, Busch emerged to win the race.

2013 Sprint Cup Standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	DNF	Laps	Laps Led
1	Jimmie Johnson	808	-	22	4	9	15	0	5950	1136
2	Clint Bowyer	733	75	22	0	7	12	1	5941	115
3	Carl Edwards	728	80	22	1	7	11	0	5917	214
4	Kevin Harvick	707	101	22	2	5	11	2	5661	44
5	Kyle Busch	693	115	22	3	10	14	3	5547	1066
6	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	670	138	22	0	5	12	2	5735	94
7	Matt Kenseth	659	149	22	4	5	11	3	5548	995
8	Brad Keselowski	634	174	22	0	7	11	1	5745	153
9	Greg Biffle	627	181	22	1	3	8	0	5711	87
10	Martin Truex Jr.	625	183	22	1	5	9	2	5627	253
11	Kurt Busch	623	185	22	0	5	10	2	5855	271
12	Kasey Kahne	622	186	22	2	7	9	3	5625	466

*Complete standings found at ESPN.com.

Another wild race is in the books, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves toward the Chase for the Sprint Cup as it travels to Michigan International Speedway for the Pure Michigan 400. The next race will take place Aug. 18 at 1:16 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN.

Greg Biffle was the 2012 race champion.

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