It’s Monday, August 21, 2023 and this is Race Recap, your summary of last weekend’s motorsports action. The NASCAR Cup Series has its annual stop at Watkins Glen in upstate New York. It wasn’t the most exciting affair but a split day for Hendrick Motorsports: William Byron won yet again, but Chase Elliott’s playoff hopes are up against the ropes. In MotoGP, Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia won lights-to-flag at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
William Byron Cruises To Victory Lane At The Glen
William Byron comfortably won yesterday’s Go Bowling at the Glen, his fifth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver led 66 laps of the 90-lap road course race. No one had a response to Byron’s pace, including pole-winner and second-place finisher Denny Hamlin. The less-than-frantic nature of the on-track action had more than a few yearning for the return of stage break cautions to bunch the field up. The race only had six lead changes and nearly went caution-free.
The only caution of the day happened on Lap 57 when Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro stopped on track. The Hendrick car ran out of fuel due to a miscalculation and had to be pushed back to the pit lane. Elliott rejoined the race a lap down and finished 32nd. The 2020 champion already needed a win to make the playoffs, and now only a single race remains in the regular season, Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Elliott has three Cup Series superspeedway wins, two at Talladega and one at the reconfigured Atlanta but none at Daytona.
Race Results
1. – William Byron (Hendrick)
2. – Denny Hamlin (Gibbs) – +2.632 seconds
3. – Christopher Bell (Gibbs) – +3.118 seconds
4. – A.J. Allmendinger (Kaulig) – +4.066 seconds
5. – Ty Gibbs (Gibbs) – +4.482 seconds
Pecco Bagnaia Wins Austrian Procession
Francesco Bagnaia had a spotless weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix. Ducati’s reigning world championship won pole position, won both the sprint race and the Grand Prix, and recorded the fastest lap in both races. It was a similar story behind Bagnaia. KTM’s Brad Binder started third and finished second in both races. In the second half of Sunday’s race, there were only 13 passes across the entire field.
Race Results
1. – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
2. – Brad Binder (KTM) – +5.191 seconds
3. – Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) – +7.708 seconds
4. – Luca Marini (VR46) – +10.343 seconds
5. – Alex Marquez (Gresini) – +11.039 seconds