In the lush, green expanse of central New York lays a 2.45-mile road course that has endeared itself to many since joining the NASCAR calendar again in 1986.
After moonlighting as a playoff track last year, Watkins Glen International returns to the end of the regular season to challenge drivers to master its daunting, high-speed curves on the way to victory lane.
Fans come from all over to pay Watkins Glen a visit as it used to be just one of two total road course dates on the NASCAR schedule. Even as the road courses began popping up, the Glen maintained its spot on the schedule and in the hearts of drivers, personnel, and fans alike.
The stars of the NASCAR Cup Series possess just three more chances to make the postseason, and with only 90 laps on the docket today, the crowd at the track and the fans at home will surely see some daring moves that could result in elation or destruction.
Last year saw an epic finish as Shane van Gisbergen found himself unable to hold off a determined Chris Buescher as the two slammed into each other several times over the final half-lap. Will we see a similar battle for the win play out today?
Let’s find out in the 39th running of the Go Bowling @ the Glen!
Last Week at Iowa…
Chase Briscoe took the pole for the sixth time this season and lined up alongside Daytona 500 winner William Byron to start last week’s Iowa Corn 350, and ultimately, the battle between these two for much of the day.
In the end, Byron pulled away after a significant flurry of cautions, held the lead, and saved just enough fuel in the closing laps to make it to the finish line first for the 24 car’s second win of 2025. For a more detailed recap, click here.
This Week in NASCAR
Another news week jumped into high gear on Monday as Craftsman Truck Series team Niece Motorsports announced they had dismissed playoff hopeful Kaden Honeycutt from the No. 45 Silverado.
The move came as a shock to many, but it seems Honeycutt may have an agreement in place for 2026 with Toyota as the Halmar Friesen team agreed to hand Kaden the keys for the rest of the season while owner-driver Stewart Friesen recovers from injuries sustained in a dirt late model crash last week.
Here is Kaden Honeycutt’s response:
As for lighter news, Australian Supercars champion Will Brown looks to make his mark in NASCAR by taking a drive with Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity race in Portland.
Moving over to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, a tame race at Watkins Glen devolved into chaos in the closing stages, but much like other races before, Corey Heim cools down when the pressure heats up.
Heim held off the field on a few overtime restarts and saved enough fuel to coast to the finish for his sixth win of the season, extending an already outrageous point lead. For a more detailed recap, click here.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, it would come down to a battle between JRM teammates Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. With laps winding down, the racing grew more and more aggressive between the duo.
Suddenly, the niceties stopped, and contact from Zilisch put SVG into the barriers and out of the race. From there, Austin Hill did his best to shake things up in his return from suspension, pushing Zilisch out of the way on a late restart, but the wondrous rookie found his way back to the point to take the victory, his sixth of the 2025 campaign.
Unfortunately though, the conversation after the race quickly turned from Austin Hill’s audacious move that resulted in a multi-car pileup. Instead, it ended with an ambulance ride to the hospital for Zilisch after a fall getting out of his car saw him break his collarbone. For a detailed recap of this event and the aftermath, click here.
A surprise came in Cup Series qualifying as road course ace Shane van Gisbergen locked down a great time in group one to solidify a front row starting spot, but not good enough for pole as Ryan Blaney stormed through the Esses and Bus Stop sections to claim the top spot. Here is a link to the full lineup.
The Race
Today’s Go Bowling at the Glen begins airing on USA Network at 2pm Eastern time with Leigh Diffey, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton on the call.
The race today will go for 90 laps split into three stages ending at the following laps: 20-40-90.
As for the average Watkins Glen race, it looks something like this over the last decade: 5 cautions for 13 caution laps, 8 lead changes, a lap of final caution waving around lap 67 (or 24 laps to go), and last year is the only instance of overtime.
Writer’s Pick
Last week, my winning streak fell three spots short of continuing as Ryan Blaney came home with a fourth-place finish at Iowa.
Today, I’ll be brief: I’m going with Shane van Gisbergen. Need I say more?
(Top Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
pitboxpress.com 