Track: Watkins Glen International
Location: Watkins Glen, New York
Track length: 2.45 miles
When: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App
Race purse: $9,797,935
Race distance: 90 laps | 220.5 miles
Stages: 20 | 40 | 90
Defending winner: Chris Buescher, September 2024
Starting lineup: Ryan Blaney scores surprise pole
RELATED: How to watch on USA Network, NBC
Pressure rises at The Glen as regular season winds down
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Only three races remain before the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin. Some drivers are chasing a Regular Season Championship. Some are still vying for one of the potential three spots still available in the postseason field.
But in New York’s Finger Lakes region Sunday afternoon, all will be chasing victory in the Go Bowling at The Glen.
MORE: Cup standings ahead of Watkins Glen
William Byron currently holds the lead in the season standings by 18 points over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. But while the hunt for the regular-season title persists, Byron is also carrying a playoff-centric mindset into the Watkins Glen weekend, with the 2.45-mile road course featured ahead of the 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway and 2.5-mile superspeedway at Daytona International Speedway.
“I look at it as this is kind of its own three-race round right here, so good preparation for us,” Byron said Saturday. “As unpredictable as Watkins Glen, Richmond and Daytona can be, it’s honestly not much different than the Round of 8. You’ve got Talladega in there this year, so it could be a lot like this stretch.”
The New York course features a signature downhill drop into the 90-degree, right-handed Turn 1 before a 120-foot climb twists drivers through the esses. Both are key areas of the track — but in two entirely different ways.
“Your lap time and your speed is going to come from the esses and the bus-stop (chicane),” Michael McDowell said. “But you don’t pass so much there. You pass into Turn 1 and you pass into Turn 6. And so for practice, you’re focusing on both what do I need to make ultimate lap time, and am I good in these areas leading up to the passing zones? So it is unique from that standpoint. Where some of the other tracks are more straightforward of where you need to be strong, this, I think, is different for lap time than it is for the race.”
Unlike Byron, McDowell needs a victory to propel him into the postseason. Road courses have been the veteran’s strongest suit, but the driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet also won the 2021 Daytona 500, meaning Sunday isn’t his last chance to make a playoff run. Don’t tell that to him, though: The urgency for the No. 71 team couldn’t be higher.
“It’s do or die, for sure,” McDowell said. “I mean, yes, we have more opportunities. I mean, we can go to Richmond and run well too. Obviously, Daytona, I feel like we have a shot, but to me, this is the only way you control your own destiny is to win here. The other two are very tough to execute and have everything go your way. Time’s winding down, as you guys know, and the pressure always ramps up as the time’s winding down. But I’ve been in this spot before, and yeah, definitely feel confident that our road-course program’s been really good.”
MORE: Full Saturday recap
From atop the pit box …
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
On the surface, strategizing for a road-course race might seem cut and dry: Sacrifice track position and collect the stage points, or pit before the stages end, restart up front and go after the win.
But as Spire Motorsports crew chief Travis Peterson explained, too many variables can turn the best laid plans upside down.
“I don’t think any of the road courses are straightforward, and it’s just because there’s so many options,” Peterson, the crew chief for Michael McDowell, told NASCAR.com. “What it seems like to me is it comes down to more what everybody chooses to do than it does, ‘what’s the correct answer.’ Yeah, you may be on the right plan, but if everybody else does something different, at some point, you’re gonna be off-strategy and lose all your track position, and then what do you do? So that part of it makes it tough.”
RELATED: Watkins Glen schedule | Full 2025 schedule
Crew chief Alan Gustafson twice led Chase Elliott to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen, doing so in both 2018 and 2019. Part of the trick is committing to one strategy early. The other part is remaining adaptable when circumstances change.
“I think you just have to make a decision,” Gustafson told NASCAR.com. “If you feel like you’ve got a legitimate opportunity to win the race, then you kind of sell out for that. If you don’t feel as good about it and an opportunity comes to get points — it’s just so tough. I know the race in the fall, all the top cars really went to get points, and then they get buried back there. It’s just so hard to make it up through.”
Last year’s contest took place as part of the Cup Series Playoffs. Multiple contenders incurred trouble, but those who didn’t opt to score stage points instead of chasing the win and were unable to pass their way back to the front of the field. Though some drivers are still searching for points, the outlook is expected to be different this weekend.
“There’s less people in a points scenario this time,” Peterson said. “However, there are guys near the cutline and there are guys going for regular-season championships. That played a huge factor to last (year’s) Watkins Glen because almost everybody in the playoffs went for stage points and allowed people outside behind that to flip the stage and get them. So how everybody plays that out, I think, is going to be interesting, and it’s going to be a very different dynamic than last year.”
RELATED: See where drivers will pit for Sunday’s race
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
History tells us …
Someone who hasn’t won yet this season may do so on Sunday. According to Racing Insights, seven of the 17 Next Gen road-course races in the regular season were won by a driver ranked 16th or worse in the playoff standings.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
TY GIBBS. Gibbs has been a threat in each of this summer’s road races, leading 27 laps at Mexico City before finishing 11th, then notching a runner-up result on the Chicago Street Course and placing seventh at Sonoma Raceway. Gibbs posted the fourth-quickest lap in Saturday’s practice session and will start 14th in search of his first career Cup win.
Fantasy update
NASCAR Fantasy Live expert Dustin Albino provides insight for your Sunday lineup.
Many of the top road-course drivers were again towards the top of the scoring pylon on Saturday at Watkins Glen, though Ryan Blaney scored an upset pole award. William Byron led the way on 10- and 15-lap averages in practice. Kyle Larson was also sporty on long-run pace, but will start 27th Sunday. Chase Elliott is also mired back in 20th at the start. I’m leaving my lineup the same as it was earlier in the week, though I flirted with the idea of replacing Elliott with Chase Briscoe, who turned in another strong qualifying effort and finished runner-up at Sonoma Raceway last month. Given where Elliott is in the regular-season championship battle, I’m banking on the No. 9 team chasing stage points.
Lineup: Shane van Gisbergen, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher.
Garage: Chase Elliott.
MORE: Lineup advice in Fantasy Fastlane
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
– NASCAR at Watkins Glen: Key info, practice reports and more from doubleheader weekend | Read more
– Smith still angry at Hocevar: No. 38 Front Row racer unloads after Iowa contact | Read more
– Hill maintains innocence: Austin Hill shares perspective on Indy incident in NASCAR.com exclusive | Read more
– Chastain: ‘We’ve been slow’: No. 1 Trackhouse team eyeing quick turnaround before playoffs | Read more
– Racing Insights: Where your favorite driver is projected to finish Sunday | Read more
– Field of 16: Last chance for McDowell, Allmendinger to burst playoff bubble | Read more
– Turning Point to The Glen: Has Byron plowed his path to a regular-season title? | Read more
– At-track photos: Scenes, sights from New York’s Finger Lakes | View gallery
– Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh looks twisting through Watkins Glen | View gallery
– Power Rankings: Chris Buescher’s time to strike at The Glen | This week’s top 20
