Tony Stewart, King of Watkins Glen

By starting from pole, Jimmie Johnson had a clear advantage at the start of the race but, from the first meters, Kurt Busch caught up with him and took the lead. Behind, Denny Hamlin, winner last week at Pocono, moved from third to second place by overtaking Johnson. The three-time champion of Nascar, visibly slower, is not there. He was also overtaken shortly after by Marcos Ambrose.

On the 18th lap, debris on the track forced the marshals to wave the yellow flag. The majority of drivers took the opportunity to make the first round of pit stops. During these, Juan Pablo Montoya injured David Ragan's mechanic by hitting him on the restart. Not all the drivers having returned to their pits, the restart offers a new face at the head of the race: Marcos Ambrose ahead of Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson.

Shortly after, David Stremme went through the grass and hit Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick while returning to the track. The yellow flag reappears. At the restart, Marcos Ambrose kept the lead ahead of the Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle. But the elder Busch got the better of Ambrose and took the lead again while Stewart, who started thirteenth, already climbed to sixth place by overtaking Boris Said.

Marcos Ambrose then Kurt Busch returned to the pits and Jimmie Johnson, the pole sitter, took the opportunity to regain the lead. Tony Stewart reached the front and, by overtaking Greg Biffle, took third place. EIn front of him, Kyle Busch beat Jimmie Johnson and took the lead a third of the way into the race. The pole-sitter definitely fails to resist his rivals and sees Tony Stewart take second place from him. After 40 laps, Kyle Busch leads ahead of Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.

On the 42nd lap, the controversial Dale Earnhardt Jr missed his braking and went into the gravel, taking Reed Sorenson in his wake. The yellow flag is out again. At the restart, halfway through the race, Tony Stewart managed to get the better of Kyle Busch and took control, thanks to a superb comeback over the laps. Quite far from there, at the gates of the Top 10, Juan Pablo Montoya begins his comeback, overtaking Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer.

On the 55th lap, Jimmie Johnson lost control of his car and spun, without seriousness, despite losing three places. At the front, Tony Stewart comes into the pits and hands over the lead to Kurt Busch. After the latter stopped, David Stremme took over, before Scott Speed ​​took the lead.

On lap 63, the red flag was raised. The cars stop on the grid, after the spectacular accident that occurred in turn 9. Pushed by a gap from Kasey Kahne, Sam Hornish Jr hits the wall on the outside, before returning to the track like a top. He hits Jeff Gorgon head-on, before hitting Jeff Burton.

After a 20-minute stop, the cars started again, Scott Speed ​​returned to the pits and handed over to Kyle Busch, who led ahead of Tony Stewart and Marcos Ambrose. But the younger Busch goes by the leader of the 2009 Nascar rankings, who takes back command of the race. A little later, Kyle Busch failed to brake entering a corner and saw Marcos Ambrose and Greg Biffle take the opportunity to pass him. In just a few laps, he went from first to fourth place.

Greg Biffle, the man everyone is chasing, since he is twelfth in the Nascar standings, and therefore last qualified for the title race, is quickly taken over by Kyle Busch, then by Carl Edwards. The latter moved up to third place, passing Busch, who made another mistake while hitting the pitch.

At the front, everything is going well for Tony Stewart, who proves that he is very comfortable on road circuits. The Chevy driver leads by a short but clear advantage over Marcos Ambrose, also in good spirits after his victory this weekend in Nationwide.

Tony Stewart concluded the 90 laps of Watkins Glen by crossing the finish line in the lead, gleaning his third victory of the season, an important victory heading into the Chase. He is ahead of Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya, the latter two consolidating their place in the top twelve in the general classification. As for Kyle Busch, he is still thirteenth, despite his three victories this season.

« We weren't good enough at the start of the race, declared Tony Stewart at the foot of the podium. I didn't think I had a car to win the race. But we stiffened the suspension, the car was better. During the pit stops, the guys worked hard, we only lost six places in the pits. On certain parts of the track, [Ambrose] was faster, he was able to get closer but I wasn't too worried, here I am in my element. » With his victory, Tony Stewart firmly maintains the lead in the Sprint Cup standings and capitalizes for the title race. But Jimmie Johnson, disappointing this Monday, has certainly not said his last word.