Over the years, Watkins Glen has produced some of the most memorable finishes for NASCAR fans, finishes that most followers of the sport remember to this day. Looking back at the 2012 season, one could argue that the final stages of the race produced exactly what fans love about the sport – unpredictability and chaos. The nailbiting final few laps saw several lead changes, eventually leading to an unlikely winner.
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Recently, while taking a look at the footage from the race, protagonists Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski sat and broke down the order of the events. Both opened up with their versions of the events of the race, where they lost the lead to eventual winner Marcos Ambrose.
Kyle Busch breaks down the 2012 Watkins Glen race
As the video played through, Busch narrated, “So I’m leading the race and it’s only a few laps to go and there’s a lapped car in front of me which is actually leaking oil and putting fluid down on the racetrack.”
“I kept slowing down and they were speeding up… It was the last lap so I go off-line. And then as you get down to the middle of the corner, you slip through the oil and I go all the way out to the other side.”
“And I figured okay, there’s, nobody’s out here, so I’m clear. I’m good out here. As I tried to come back across the racetrack and blend into the group, Keselowski just doesn’t give an inch and just plows right through me and spins me out.”
Although the wreck ended Busch’s chance for the race win, he managed to salvage a top 10 thereafter with a 7th-place finish.
Brad Keselowski describes his version of events
Later on in the video, Keselowski narrated his version of the events, “It was just a dogfight of a race. The track was really slick. There was oil on the track. I’ll never forget I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know exactly what… You can see all the drivers starting to go off the track… I pass Marcos Ambrose on the second of the last lap.”
“And next thing I know is we’re exiting to start the white flag lap. I’m right behind Kyle Busch… And Kyle Busch drives off the racetrack, Marcos Ambrose behind me drives off the racetrack I go to turn down underneath. My version of events. Kyle comes down, he probably has a different version…”
Eventually, after Busch spun out, Keselowski had to battle Ambrose for the win. And after winning an incredible duel, it was Ambrose who emerged victorious, marking his second consecutive win at the Glen.
Near the end of the video, Keselowski added, “I think we look back in the last 75 years of NASCAR and we think of some of the greatest races. I’m proud to think that this will be one of them.”
Alas, neither Busch nor Keselowski won the race that day, but the racing between the three drivers was surely one of the most action-packed finishes to a road course race in recent memory.
