FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, August 6th, 2017
NOTES & QUOTES FROM NBCSN’S MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES COVERAGE FROM WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
“Martin Truex Jr. played a 180 mile per hour game of cat and mouse better than anyone else, and won.” – Steve Letarte
“They have put themselves out there as one of the favorites to win the Cup Series Championship.” – Dale Jarrett on Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 team
Watkins Glen, NY. – August 6, 2017 – NBC Sports Group presented its sixth week of live 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and XFINITY Series racing, with 15 hours of trackside coverage from Watkins Glen International, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. Coverage was highlighted by this afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on NBCSN. Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 Furniture Row Motorsports Toyota won the race, after regaining the lead with three laps to go.
This afternoon’s race telecast was called from multiple vantage points throughout the historic 2.45 – mile road course. NASCAR on NBC race announcer Leigh Diffey, and Daytona 500 winning crew chief Steve Letarte, called the race from NBCSN’s traditional broadcast booth above the start-finish line. MRN announcer Mike Bagley, as well as NASCAR on NBC analysts Jeff Burton and Parker Kligerman, each contributed to the race telecast from three individual locations around the track.
Coverage began on NBCSN at 1 p.m. ET with NASCAR America, followed by Countdown to Green at 2:30 p.m. ET. Krista Voda anchored pre-race coverage alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett. Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast and Dave Burns reported from pit road alongside features contributor Rutledge Wood.
Race Results
| Position | Driver | Car# |
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 78 |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | 20 |
| 3 | Daniel Suarez | 19 |
| 4 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
The following are highlights from this afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series coverage on NBCSN.
POST-RACE COVERAGE
Jarrett on Truex Jr. and the No. 78 team: “Championship caliber teams take advantage of every type of situation that is thrown at them. Regardless of the track and the challenge, they find a way to get it done. That is exactly what this No. 78 team does. We shouldn’t be surprised by anything they do. They have put themselves out there as one of the favorites to win the 2017 Cup Series Championship.”
Petty on the final laps of today’s race: “What can you say. The last four or five laps, we had strategies that played out, we had guys we knew were going to run out of gas, and then they didn’t pit. So much drama packed into three or four laps. So much drama throughout this whole race.”
Voda on today’s race: “I don’t even know how we begin to top that. There was drama on every side. A lot of emotion on the track and in victory lane.”
Kligerman on calling today’s race from above The Carousel at Watkins Glen International: “This was one of the most intense experiences I have ever had outside of a race car.”
STAGE 3
Letarte: “I thought he had won it, and then I thought he had run out of gas. A great job of communication between Martin Truex Jr. and Cole Pearn. He let Brad Keselowski go. He let Ryan Blaney go. They stuck to their game plan, which is easier said than done as you are giving up the lead in a race. This is going to be one of the quietest and slowest victory laps, as it looks like the No. 78 has finally run out of fuel.”
Letarte: “Martin Truex Jr. played a 180 mile per hour game of cat and mouse better than anyone else, and won.”
Bagley on Ryan Blaney, with less than five laps to go: “He would give his kingdom for a thimble full of fuel.”
Diffey on Martin Truex Jr. taking the lead on lap 66: “This car has clearly been the class of the field. It has been all No. 78, as he has just chipped off one driver after another.”
Kligerman on Martin Truex Jr.: “I think back to another black car that was famous, the No. 3 car of Dale Earnhardt, ‘The Intimidator’. I think in 2017, the car that you don’t want to see in your mirror is the black No. 78. He has a penchant for getting to the lead in these races.”
Letarte on Stage 3: “It is a full gamble all the time. Super aggressive is the new standard, and I think that is what we are going to see here.”
STAGE 2
Letarte on Daniel Suarez’s Stage 2 win: “Daniel Suarez knew where he was going to get passed, and just put his car in that position. He protected his position and did a very nice job. It was a veteran move. Not bad for a rookie in this series.”
Burton on Suarez: “So far for me, with the exception of Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., and their speed, I have to go with Daniel Suarez. That block on Turn 7, to win Stage 2, that was an awesome move. It looked like a veteran move. Thus far, that is the coolest thing I have seen.”
Bagley on Martin Truex Jr. attempting to pass Daniel Suarez to win Stage 2: “Objects in Daniel Suarez’s mirror are definitely closer than they appear.”
Kligerman on Kyle Busch: “He has been putting a beating on the rest of the field. Absolutely destroying the curbs. Just hopping directly over them. It’s something he has been doing all weekend. Whether it’s in the Cup car or the XFINITY car, Kyle Busch has been the chatter of the garage. What he has been able to do, how fast he has been, and how much faster he has been than the rest of the field.”
STAGE 1
Bagley on Kyle Busch: “He has been flawless so far. He is blowing them all out of the water in this early portion of the race. He has not really had to force the car. Right now he is in his own zone.”
Diffey on Boris Said: “Boris is making his final Cup Series race, in what has been a very long and successful career. After 31-years, Boris and his ‘Said Head’ fans are calling it quits. We wish him well. It’s been a terrific career.”
Diffey on Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.: “We are halfway through Stage 1. Does this sound familiar, the No. 18 and No. 78 are the strongest two cars.”
Diffey on the start of the race: “A relatively subdued opening lap here at Watkins Glen International, but don’t expect that to last much longer.”
PRE-RACE COVERAGE
Letarte on Watkins Glen International: “The atmosphere here at Watkins Glen is electric. It’s a packed house and is full of excitement.”
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–
