by Garrett Horton
2
This marked the second race in 2012 where there was a lead change on the final lap – the other came at Daytona a few weeks ago.
3
This is the third win for Ford this year. Ambrose joins Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle as representatives of the Blue Oval in Victory Lane in 2012.
4
Brian Vickers didn’t even get to complete a lap in the No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota on Sunday due to an engine failure. It marked the fourth engine failure for the No. 55 in 2012.
6
Sunday’s runner-up Brad Keselowski has six consecutive top-10 finishes, the longest current streak.
7
Kyle Busch finished in the top-10 at Watkins Glen for the seventh straight race. In fact, the only time he failed to finish outside the top-10 was his rookie year in 2005, when he finished 33rd.
12
Martin Truex, Jr. finished tenth on Sunday, his 12th top-10 of the year on Sunday, matching his total from all of last year.
16th
Paul Menard is currently the highest driver in points without a top-5 in 2012, sitting 16th in the standings. His best result so far was a sixth in the season opening Daytona 500.
20.4
Joey Logano’s average finish since winning Pocono eight races ago.
21.0
As bad as it’s been for Logano since his Pocono victory, it’s been slightly worse for his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. Hamlin’s average finish in the same span has been a 21.0. Sunday’s engine failure/fire only made things worse for Hamlin.
32
Jimmie Johnson is the points leader for the first time this year, and for the first time in the last 32 races. The last time the five-time champ was atop the standings was race 25 in Atlanta last year.
44
Marcos Ambrose sits 44 points behind the second occupant of the wildcard spot for this year’s Chase, Ryan Newman.
45
Sam Hornish posted his first top-5 since the August Michigan event in 2009. It’s his first in his last 45 Cup races run.
2006
When Marcos Ambrose picked up his second career win at Watkins Glen, he became the first driver since Denny Hamlin in 2005 to win his first two Sprint Cup races at the same track. Hamlin won his first two Cup points races at Pocono Raceway (he also won the 2006 Budweiser Shootout, but that is an exhibition race).
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