Watkins Glen NASCAR: Kyle Busch resists Brad Keselowski for victory
Kyle Busch hung on ahead of Brad Keselowski to win the Watkins Glen NASCAR Sprint Cup race and make amends for their last-lap clash a year ago
Busch lost the 2012 Glen race to Marcos Ambrose when Keselowski tapped him sideways on the final lap.
But this time it was Ambrose who lost out, having dominated the first half of the race from pole position.
Ironically Ambrose's Richard Petty Motorsports team-mate Aric Almirola played a part in his downfall, crashing due to a flat tyre as the final pitstops were unfolding.
Crucially for Ambrose, he had not managed to stop before the caution prompted by his team-mate, whereas his main rivals - led by Busch - had.
That dropped Ambrose right back to 13th for the restart, and he made little progress before picking up damage and then being spun by Max Papis with six laps to go.
Ambrose's spinning Ford collected Brian Vickers on its wall to the barriers and had to retire.
That incident was the second multi-car restart tangle of the closing stages, following a similar incident at the same part of the Esses when Matt Kenseth tagged Kasey Kahne and sent him into the wall and then Hendrick team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Following another clear-up, the race came down to a two-lap shootout, with Penske driver Keselowski trying everything he could to overtake Busch's Joe Gibbs Toyota.
A final-corner bid sent Keselowski sliding, and he only just held on to second as Martin Truex Jr gained.
Keselowski had earlier fought back from a spin that dropped him from seventh to 22nd.
Juan Pablo Montoya was caught out in the pits in the same manner as Ambrose, sending him from fourth to 12th. He recovered to fifth, just behind Carl Edwards, and ahead of front row starter Clint Bowyer.
Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch were next up, with AJ Allmendinger salvaging 10th. He had been third before running out of fuel and then picking up a pit penalty that left him 32nd.
Kevin Harvick was a lead contender for a while on an alternate pit strategy, but it only gave him 13th place in the end.
Other incidents included a struggling Jeff Gordon crashing heavily early on before rejoining in a patched-up car.
There was also a 22-minute red flag spell after a multi-car midfield tangle in which Victor Gonzalez Jr dropped a lot of oil as he tried to limp back to the pits.
Results - 90 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 2h32m04.000s 2. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford +0.486s 3. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota +0.582s 4. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +1.357s 5. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet +1.833s 6. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +2.365s 7. Joey Logano Penske Ford +2.778s 8. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +3.344s 9. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet +4.190s 10. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Toyota +4.223s 11. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet +4.743s 12. Casey Mears Germain Ford +5.018s 13. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet +5.516s 14. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +5.966s 15. Max Papis Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +6.343s 16. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford +7.146s 17. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +7.280s 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford +7.441s 19. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +7.747s 20. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +7.868s 21. David Ragan Front Row Ford +8.781s 22. Boris Said FAS Lane Ford +10.362s 23. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +10.534s 24. Owen Kelly Phoenix Chevrolet +10.621s 25. David Gilliland Front Row Ford +10.700s 26. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet +10.789s 27. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet +11.820s 28. Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet +12.136s 29. Alex Kennedy Humphrey Smith Toyota +16.927s 30. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +5 laps* 31. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +6 laps* 32. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota +6 laps 33. David Stremme Swan Toyota +7 laps 34. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +8 laps 35. Ron Fellows Circle Sport Chevrolet +16 laps 36. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +25 laps * Not running at chequered flag Retirements: Aric Almirola Petty Ford 58 laps Michael McDowell Front Row Ford 58 laps Brian Keselowski Keselowski Toyota 47 laps Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 41 laps Victor Gonzalez Jr Baldwin Chevrolet 39 laps Tomy Drissi NEMCO Toyota 39 laps David Reutimann BK Toyota 4 laps
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