Tag: Watkins Glen

NASCAR explains decision to park Blaney at Watkins Glen

NASCAR’s Brad Moran has explained that officials followed its rule when towing Ryan Blaney back to the garage at Watkins Glen and declaring the Team Penske driver out of the race. Blaney was one of the multiple drivers involved in the first-lap …

NASCAR’s Brad Moran has explained that officials followed its rule when towing Ryan Blaney back to the garage at Watkins Glen and declaring the Team Penske driver out of the race.

Blaney was one of the multiple drivers involved in the first-lap crash through the Bus Stop on Sunday. The reigning series champion made contact with Brad Keselowski in the incident, and the mechanical damage left him unable to drive his Ford Mustang. He complained in the garage that NASCAR should let the team diagnose their vehicle and not be the ones to declare the day over.

However, NASCAR introduced the damaged vehicle policy (DVP) in 2017, which dictates that cars taken to the garage from an on-track incident cannot return to the race. In part, NASCAR wanted to avoid damaged vehicles returning to the track and shedding debris. Cup Series teams get seven minutes to attempt to repair their vehicles on the DVP clock.

In the case of Blaney, however, the issue started on the track. Any time a car has to be towed back, it is out of the race.

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“If you’re in an incident and on the DVP and you cannot drive the vehicle back to your pit stall, then you are out of the race at that point,” said Moran, the Cup Series managing director, on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “If you drive it into the garage or behind the wall, at that point, you’re out of the race and have to go to the care center. It’s a variety of reasons; there were efficiencies and safety. But all of the industry and collaboration put this together in 2017.

“It was very unfortunate. I totally get Blaney’s frustration, but he was involved in the incident with [Brad Keselowski], which did end up busting the front suspension or steering, and that would be consistent with what we’ve been doing since 2017.”

Blaney also referred to cars towed back to pit road with flat tires and not taken out of the race. Moran acknowledged that is an issue with the Next Gen car that NASCAR has had to work to address, but it is not the same as a damaged vehicle.

“They could be perfectly fine with flat tires and getting stuck and couldn’t move,” Moran said. “Now that’s not the same thing as bringing a damaged vehicle back to pit road; that’s a vehicle that has steering and suspension and everything working but cannot move due to flat tires. We do bring them in to allow them to change tires and continue.

“The last thing we want to do is put cars out of the car. So, we do everything we can do to not do that but we have rules we have to follow.”

Blaney has since admitted — also on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio — that he didn’t know the rule before giving his television interview. Since then, Blaney has looked over the rule book and said NASCAR did everything by the rule and that he understands the situation.

Van Gisbergen ‘gutted’ after mistake costs Watkins Glen win

Shane van Gisbergen knew exactly what kept him from the win after losing the lead on the last lap in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen. “Driver error,” he said. The three-time Supercars champion did well to position himself for a second NASCAR Cup …

Shane van Gisbergen knew exactly what kept him from the win after losing the lead on the last lap in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen.

“Driver error,” he said.

The three-time Supercars champion did well to position himself for a second NASCAR Cup Series victory. On a weekend when most eyes were on the playoff field, the Kiwi qualified third and ran well enough to find himself second to leader Chris Buescher with the laps winding down.

A trio of late cautions shook up the running order and brought the field together. Van Gisbergen elected to start on the inside of the second row each time. For the first two attempts, the decision didn’t yield fruit, but on a final overtime restart, van Gisbergen was able to give Buescher a small nudge into Turn 1 and make a three-wide move on the bottom.

He cleared Buescher heading into the Esses and emerged with a slim advantage in the Bus Stop, but van Gisbergen also knew he could be due for contact in return from Buescher if the Texan was able to chase him down.

For the next full lap, van Gisbergen was flawless. He made a rare mistake in the final trip through the Bus Stop, though, clipping the inside wall and pushing him off-line. Buescher took advantage, jumped to van Gisbergen’s inside and muscled his way by for the lead.

“I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there,” van Gisbergen said. “As I turned in, I got a little bit loose and clipped the inside wall.”

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Van Gisbergen tried to chase Buescher back down but got loose at the exit of Turn 6 and had to chase his tail heading into the final corner. That left him too out of control to give Buescher a final nudge in the last corner, allowing the RFK Racing veteran to ride off to his first road course win.

“I got in there deeper than I had been and I think [van Gisbergen] was still going, so I had a good feeling that it was probably going to bottom out,” Buescher said of van Gisbergen’s mistake. [The re-profiled chicane is] smoother, not smooth. It was a big moment, big opportunity for us and I was able to roll on by.”

The second-place run was van Gisbergen’s best since he shocked the field to win on debut in the 2023 Chicago Street Race. He’d finished no better than 10th in the ensuing eight starts, though six of them have come on ovals where he has much less experience.

It’s a good sign heading into his first full-time Cup season in 2025, but it was little consolation to the 35-year-old after he gave away a potential win.

“I’m gutted,” van Gisbergen said. “The WeatherTech Camaro was really good. The race was awesome with Ross (Chastain), Chris and the others at the end. I’m gutted that we couldn’t get it. I had a lot of fun, but I’m pretty angry with myself.”

Truex has had it with restart crashes after another crushing blow at Watkins Glen

Martin Truex Jr. has had enough. The 2017 Cup champion was seemingly poised to make the most of a chaotic playoff race at Watkins Glen International. He’d won Stage 1, avoided the many accidents that befell his playoff rivals and was in the running …

Martin Truex Jr. has had enough.

The 2017 Cup champion was seemingly poised to make the most of a chaotic playoff race at Watkins Glen International. He’d won Stage 1, avoided the many accidents that befell his playoff rivals and was in the running for a top-15 finish in the final laps of Sunday’s race, and then everything went awry.

On a restart with three laps remaining, Todd Gilliland was forced to lift out of a potential overtake of Kyle Larson after a block entering the Esses. The field stacked up behind Gilliland and three sets of drivers crashed.

Included in the chaos was Truex, who washed up into the outside wall with Justin Haley. The damage hampered the handling of the No. 19 Toyota and relegated the New Jersey native to 20th at race’s end.

“We were in the wrong lane, on the short end of the stick as usual,” Truex said of the crash. “We were in a decent spot there. You go into the Esses and they just plow through you, put you in the marbles. This racing is just ridiculous. It’s a joke.”

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After the checkered flag flew, the retiring veteran had some frustrations to get off his chest.

“It’s just crazy that all these races always come down to this,” Truex said. “I just don’t understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of these races.”

Amid his final full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Truex has endured a difficult stretch in recent weeks. Once a contender for the regular season title, he faded to the final playoff spot on points after an awful summer and an embarrassing early crash at Darlington Raceway.

He hoped to turn things around in the postseason, but left Atlanta Motor Speedway below the Round of 12 cutline after getting caught up in a Stage 2 crash. Having races at Watkins Glen and Bristol Motor Speedway, both tracks where Truex has run well in the past, opened the door for the veteran to make up ground.

The odds aren’t looking good after his Watkins Glen setback. He finds himself 15th in the standings heading to Bristol, 14 points below the cutline. It’s going to take another run like his runner-up result in Bristol to turn things around now.

It’s all because he fell victim to the aggression of another late-race restart — something Truex won’t miss when he’s out of the cockpit.

“It’s very frustrating, but it is what it is these days,” Truex said. “I’m outta here.”

Buescher pounces on SVG’s error to win at Watkins Glen

In a largely chaotic race – action-packed literally from the drop of the green flag, it was Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher who prevailed in overtime in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen – passing road course ace Shane van Gisbergen in …

In a largely chaotic race – action-packed literally from the drop of the green flag, it was Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher who prevailed in overtime in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen – passing road course ace Shane van Gisbergen in a bumper-to-bumper last lap duel to claim his first career road course victory at the famed Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Van Gisbergen took the lead from the second row in a daring three-wide move on an overtime restart, but Buescher chased him down. Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Racing Ford and van Gisbergen’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet made contact in the course’s famous Bus Stop, then Buescher slid his Mustang inside van Gisbergen’s Camaro in the Esses and motored off to a 0.979s win over the Kiwi superstar in the second Playoff race of the season.

 

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Spire’s Zane Smith rounded out the top five. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe finished sixth, followed by Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, Spire’s Corey LaJoie, SHR’s Ryan Preece and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric.

Briscoe and Cindric were the only two Playoff drivers to finish among the top 10 in what was a perpetually dramatic day for the 16 Playoff drivers racing for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“Oh man, it was such a good Ford Mustang. Speed was so great and long run speed phenomenal,” said the 31-year-old Texan Buescher, who just missed qualifying for the Playoffs when Briscoe won the regular season finale at Darlington three weeks ago.

“I thought we lost it there on the last one but, man, to stay right there with him… It was a spot he was better than us, but he just missed it so I tried to cross over and just … hard racing. What an awesome finish. To be that good for so much at the end of the race – all race – to get a win is good.

“We came here to be spoilers and we’re going to do that.”

Van Gisbergen, who won the Chicago Street Race last season in his first ever NASCAR Cup Series start, was a factor all day as expected for the former Australian Supercars champion, who will compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series next year in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.

“Driver error, yeah,” van Gisbergen said of his slip in the Bus Stop. “I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there and as I turned back I was a bit loose and clipped the inside wall. Just driver error and I’m gutted.

“The race was really awesome there with Ross [Chastain] and Chris and the others at the end, I’m gutted we couldn’t get it. We had a lot of fun, but I’m pretty angry at myself.”

It was a fitting dramatic ending to a day that shook up the Playoff standings from the opening lap to the final lap (92). Twelve of the 16 Playoff drivers suffered some sort of “challenge” on the day.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney – who led the points standings entering the race — was eliminated from the race on lap one after being innocently caught up in collision that included half a dozen cars, including fellow Playoff competitors Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell.

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It was just the beginning of a long, challenging day for Hamlin who was involved in another accident mid-race. He was part of a three-wide line of Playoff drivers – also including Kyle Larson and Keselowski – trying to make it through the track’s famous Esses. Unfortunately for Hamlin, there wasn’t enough room for three-wide challenges and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota again suffered damage.

Larson and fellow Playoff drivers, regular season champion Tyler Reddick, Bell, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and William Byron were involved in multiple incidents throughout the day.

The high-speed, high-action day ended a streak of five consecutive Hendrick Motorsports wins at the historic 2.45-mile Watkins Glen track. Among the Playoff drivers, Larson finished 12th, followed by Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Bell and Logano rounding out the top 15.

Hendrick’s Alex Bowman was 18th, followed – in order — by teammate Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr.

JGR’s Ty Gibbs was 22nd, followed immediately by his teammate Hamlin and Wood Brothers’ Harrison Burton. Keselowski was 26th and Reddick 27th. Byron ended up 34th and Blaney was 38th, the first car out.

Those results mean that with one race left in this opening three-race Playoff round, Bell holds a three-point edge on Cindric atop the standings with Bowman five points back. Logano’s win at Atlanta two weeks ago scored him an automatic bid into the next round.

Heading into Saturday night’s first round elimination race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Hamlin is now ranked 13th, six points below his JGR teammate Gibbs on the cutoff line. Keselowski is 12 points back, Truex is now 14 points back and Burton is 20 points off the transfer position.

“I thought our Camry was solid, needed to be better on long runs for sure, but worked hard and persevered and had a decent day, but as always you get the cautions at the end and guys just run through you,” said a frustrated but determined Truex, who ran up front early and was – at one point – more than a dozen points above the cutoff line.

“It’s just crazy all these races always come down to this, and I don’t really understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of these races,” Truex added. “It’s very frustrating, but it is what it is these days.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will conclude a triple-header race weekend at the famed Bristol high-banks with Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Denny Hamlin is the defending winner.

RESULTS

Chaotic trip to Watkins Glen shakes up Cup playoffs

It was a bad day to be a playoff driver at Watkins Glen International. On a day when 15 of the 16 title contenders were hoping to avoid trouble and secure their place in the Round of 12, most of the field was caught up in crashes and drama that left …

It was a bad day to be a playoff driver at Watkins Glen International.

On a day when 15 of the 16 title contenders were hoping to avoid trouble and secure their place in the Round of 12, most of the field was caught up in crashes and drama that left their playoff fates uncertain heading to the Round of 16 finale.

A classic battle for the win was settled by drivers outside of the playoff field. No playoff drivers finished in the top five and only two playoff drivers ended the day inside of the top 10. Chase Briscoe led all contenders with a sixth-place run, while Austin Cindric came home 10th.

Ryan Blaney was taken out in a lap 1 crash that also included Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell. Blaney was knocked out in 38th, but that was only the beginning of long days for the other three. Bell was later spun by Austin Dillon while trying to get to pit road.

Keselowski was hit with penalties for speeding and an uncontrolled tire that mired him in traffic and forced him into an alternate strategy. Hamlin had to rally from two laps down to salvage a point with a 10th-place finish in Stage 2.

The pair came together in Stage 3 when a three-wide battle with Kyle Larson went awry in the esses, sending Hamlin slamming into the wall a second time and causing further damage.

Hamlin wound up salvaging a 23rd-place finish from a brutal day that left him below the playoff cutline.

“It’s just a couple races where things out of your control didn’t go well,” Hamlin said of his Round of 16 run thus far. “(It started on) the first lap. I’ve got to take responsibility for what I did on Saturday, which is not qualify well. That’s on me. Certainly, that put us right in the middle of where wrecks usually happen and we got shoved into it.”

Keselowski soldiered on but was caught up in a third crash when Joey Logano lost control of his No. 22 Ford and turned him up into the wall in the esses again.

That last incident sent Keselowski into the path of William Byron, who climbed up the guardrail and put his right-front tire on top of Keselowski’s left-rear window. Thankfully neither driver was hurt, Byron didn’t get into the catch fence and they were each able to continue on after coming unlatched.

Keselowski’s Mustang had a lot of wear and tear. Motorsport Images

Keselowski limped home in 26th. Byron got the worst of the damage and finished two laps down in 34th.

“It’s really a shame,” Keselowski said of the final crash that ruined his comeback. “We had brand-new tires on. … I feel like we were going to salvage a really good day with everybody having old tires. Drive up to a top 10. Who knows? Maybe have a shot at a top five after everything we’ve been through. Didn’t make it through the first lap. Just a tough way to go.”

While those drivers got the worst of the damage, they were far from the only playoff drivers to endure difficult days. Larson, Daniel Suarez and Tyler Reddick were caught up in an accident that send Reddick spinning. Suarez later spun by himself and got trapped in the gravel with two laps left in Stage 2, throwing off the planned strategy for leading Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain and future teammate Shane van Gisbergen.

Larson and Suarez emerged relatively unscathed from the mayhem, coming home 12th and 13th at race’s end. Bell and Logano followed in 14th and 15th.

Reddick was less fortunate. Todd Gilliland was forced to lift after contact with Larson heading into the esses on a late restart and the field stacked up behind him. Two pairs of drivers made contact and washed up into the wall, including playoff contenders Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. Reddick was behind them and spun off the nose of Kyle Busch.

The accidents significantly hampered the runs of all three drivers. Elliott and Truex had to settle for 19th and 20th. Reddick faded to 27th.

None of the other playoff contenders fared much better. Harrison Burton avoided crashes, but blew a tire with 11th to go and came home 24th. Alex Bowman ended up 18th, with Ty Gibbs four spots back in 22nd.

Sunday’s chaos sets up a dramatic ending to the Round of 16 at Bristol, with many expected title contenders at risk of elimination.

Logano is locked into the Round of 12 with a win. Bell is in the best position of all other drivers, up 46 points on the cutline. Cindric (+43), Bowman (+41) and Suarez (+36) are also in good position to advance heading to the “Last Great Coliseum.”

Just behind them are many of the championship favorites. Reddick (+30), Elliott (+30), Blaney (+29), Larson (+26) and Byron (+25) can advance without any further issues, but run the risk of a shocking elimination with any issues.

Briscoe’s solid day turned his playoff hopes around, lifting him from last among contenders to six points above the cutline. Gibbs is tied with Briscoe in the final provisional Round of 12 spot.

The most shocking of the drivers below the cutline is Hamlin, who sits six points back heading to Bristol courtesy to his misfortune and lost playoff points from the penalties tied to his win at Bristol in the spring. The Virginian was a regular season title contender a month ago, but now sits at risk of an early postseason exit.

Despite the risk, Hamlin isn’t worried. “We’ll be fine,” he said. “I have no doubts that we’re going to be good, up front and control our own destiny.”

Keselowski sits 12 points out after his crash-filled day in New York. The retiring Truex (-14) will need a strong Bristol run to keep his final playoff run alive, while longshot Burton (-20) heads to Bristol in need of a win or some chaos to shock the field and advance to the Round of 12.

Blaney out on lap one at the Glen in crushing playoff blow

Watkins Glen didn’t even need a full lap to shake up the NASCAR Cup Series standings in its playoff debut, not least for Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Drivers were working their way through the new-look bus stop chicane on the opening lap of Sunday’s …

Watkins Glen didn’t even need a full lap to shake up the NASCAR Cup Series standings in its playoff debut, not least for Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney.

Drivers were working their way through the new-look bus stop chicane on the opening lap of Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen when contact between Corey LaJoie and Kyle Busch sent Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet spinning around. The field behind them scattered every which way to avoid the accident, but not everyone was able to.

 

Christopher Bell was spun around after Busch backed into the side of his No. 20 Toyota and received minimal damage and continued. Denny Hamlin was less fortunate, slamming into the left-rear corner of Busch’s car with the right-front of his own No. 11 Toyota and sliding into the outside wall, getting heavy damage in the process. Hamlin continued in the race, but he and Busch fell two laps down while making repairs.

Blaney got the worst of it after running into the back of fellow Ford playoff contender Brad Keselowski as the field stacked up. The incident looked minor but caused significant damage. He brought his No. 12 Ford to a stop and was towed to garage.

Per the rule book, that meant his day was over. Blaney was relegated to a 38th-place finish that gave him just a single point in the standings.

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The third-generation racer entered Sunday atop the playoff standings with a 45-point edge on the cutline that should cushion the blow, but he’ll go to Bristol Motor Speedway at risk of elimination.

Afterward Blaney was seen arguing with NASCAR officials. He later vented his frustrations over not having a chance to get his No. 12 Ford on track.

“Give us a chance to fix it,” Blaney told NBC Sports’ broadcast. “How are they going to dictate if we’re done or not? They have no idea of the damage. They said because I couldn’t drive it back to the pit box, we’re done. But if you have four flats, you get towed back to the pit box. You can’t drive it back.

“I don’t know what’s going on, why they wouldn’t even give us a shot to work on it, but I don’t agree with it. I don’t even know what happened, honestly. … That’s the frustrating part. [They] just don’t even give us a chance.”

Blaney admitted that he might not have made it back to the race even if given the chance. The contact with Keselowski broke his car’s steering.

“You just end our day without even letting us get to look at it before it’s in the garage,” he said. “That stinks.”

Zilisch gives a masterclass en route to first Xfinity victory at the Glen

Introducing … Connor Zilisch. The 18-year-old North Carolina native made his formal entree into big time NASCAR racing with a major statement holding off the field on a pair of thrilling overtime restarts at the historic 2.45-mile Watkins Glen …

Introducing … Connor Zilisch.

The 18-year-old North Carolina native made his formal entree into big time NASCAR racing with a major statement holding off the field on a pair of thrilling overtime restarts at the historic 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course to claim his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in his first career start.

The Mission 200 at The Glen finished under caution with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed finishing runner-up – for a record 12th time – emerging from a three-wide battle for second place with a multi-car accident farther behind in the field bringing out the yellow flag that ultimately froze the field.

“I worked so hard for this one,” a smiling Zilisch said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I’ve been working for this one for months and it’s so special to me, man. I don’t even have words.

“I don’t know how I saved enough, I sputtered up the hill,” he said of having to save fuel in the closing laps which included a restart with two laps remaining and then two more in overtime.

“With two to go, I didn’t think I was going to make it back to the line, even. I’m going to enjoy this one for a while. I can’t say enough about JR Motorsports and everyone who supports me.”

 

Zilisch, who also won in class in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona IMSA race, is the seventh driver to win in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start – a list that includes the legendary Dale Earnhardt and current NASCAR Cup Series standout Ty Gibbs. He also becomes the second youngest race winner — to Joey Logano — in series history at 18 years, one month and 23 days.

It was that kind of weekend for the young driver, who led a race best 45 of the 90 laps after earning his first career Xfinity Series pole position earlier Saturday. On Friday, he claimed his fifth ARCA Menards Series victory in seven starts.

His work Saturday wasn’t necessarily an “easy” win, however. He really had to earn it — rallying from a mid-race penalty and managing fuel in the closing laps.

In an unusual situation during a caution, Zilisch received a penalty while running among the top-three late in the race. NASCAR ruled the top-running trio – also including Gibbs and Sammy Smith – cut the course and the penalty sent them all to the rear for the restart. Zilisch rallied from 31st-place and was top five 20 laps later.

Creed, who is still competing for that first series victory after so many close calls, smiled on pit road Saturday, conceding this time his second-place finish was one he could actually be pleased with instead of seeing it as a near-miss. His rally on the final lap getting the best of some of the best road course drivers was a small victory in and of itself.

“Just trying to keep the nose on it there, actually really fun,” Creed said of the last lap battle. “I felt like that was the battle for the win probably there if the No. 88 [Zilisch] ran out [of fuel]. I thought I put myself in really good positions to end up second again. I’m actually happy for how my day was going.”

He finished just ahead of Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ all-time road course best, JGR teammate Chandler Smith and Kaulig’s Shane van Gisbergen, who had won the season’s previous three road course races.

Van Gisbergen was so impressed with Zilisch that when he congratulated the teenager in Victory Lane, he smiled and suggested some team should put Zilisch in a NASCAR Cup Series car for Sunday’s race.

Zilisch’s took a call from team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. during his winner’s press conference.

“Enjoy this; you never win your first again,” Earnhardt told him.

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Ross Chastain, who won the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the track earlier Saturday, finished sixth in the DGM Racing Chevrolet with Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman scoring a seventh-place finish. Richard Childress Racing rookie Jesse Love was eighth, followed by Joey Logano in the AM Racing car and MBM Motorsports’ Josh Bilicki.

The race was impactful with only a single event now left in the regular season to determine the 12-driver Playoff field. JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier finished 17th after an eventful day when the veteran was collected in multiple multi-car incidents. He still emerged as the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship leader by 43-points over defending series champion, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, who finished 21st Saturday after also being caught up in incidents on track.

At the other end of the standings, JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith was able to slightly extend his advantage over RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg for the 12th and final Playoff position. Despite a mechanical issue from his first green flag pit stop, Smith was able to rally to a 19th-place finish. Sieg, who collected points during the second stage, is now 44 points behind Smith heading to Bristol.

The regular season finale concludes with Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Current NASCAR Cup Series driver Noah Gragson is the defending race winner.

RESULTS

Chastain rockets to second career Cup Series pole at Watkins Glen

All eyes are on the Cup Series playoff field at Watkins Glen, but it’ll be the first driver outside that group that leads the field to green Sunday. Ross Chastain set a top time of 72.130s (122.279mph) to secure the second pole of his Cup Series …

All eyes are on the Cup Series playoff field at Watkins Glen, but it’ll be the first driver outside that group that leads the field to green Sunday.

Ross Chastain set a top time of 72.130s (122.279mph) to secure the second pole of his Cup Series career. The first came on the weekend of his last win, in 2023’s summer trip to Nashville Superspeedway. Chastain currently sits 17th in points, first among those that failed to make the playoffs after his winless regular season.

Martin Truex Jr. was quickest among playoff drivers, qualifying second with a speed of 122.052mph. The 2017 Cup champion needs a good run to keep his title hopes alive in his final playoff run, having entered Watkins Glen 19 points below the Round of 12 cutline.

Shane van Gisbergen (121.864mph) slotted in third for Kaulig Racing, with Chicago winner Alex Bowman (121.843mph) leading Hendrick Motorsports in fourth. It was a surprisingly difficult session for Hendrick, winners of the past five Cup races at Watkins Glen. Bowman was the only team driver to make the final round of qualifying.

Austin Cindric (121.779mph) wrapped up the top five. AJ Allmendinger (121.685mph), Joey Logano (121.391mph), Daniel Suarez (121.225mph), Noah Gragson (120.852mph) and Michael McDowell (120.736mph) completed the top 10.

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Van Gisbergen was quickest in Group A’s session with a speed of 122.115mph. Chastain, Logano, Gragson and McDowell followed to advance to the final round. It was a surprising top five, with seven of the eight playoff drivers in the group failing to advance.

Chase Briscoe failed to advance, but jumped up to sixth in the final lap of the session to qualify 12th overall and give himself a shot at much-needed stage points in Sunday’s race. Briscoe currently sits last in the playoff field after crashing out at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 21 points below the Round of 12 cutline.

Playoff drivers fared much better in Group B. Truex was quickest with a speed of 122.82mph. Fellow playoff contenders Bowman, Cindric and Suarez advanced, with Xfinity Series regular Allmendinger following suit.

The session ended with a slight scare as rookie Carson Hocevar missed the exit of the carousel and rolled into the Boot section typically used in sports car races. Hocevar turned his car around and waited just off-track at the exit of the carousel as others completed their final runs, putting race control and those still qualifying in a difficult position.

 

Defending race winner William Byron narrowly missed the final round and will start 1tth. Two-time Watkins Glen winner Chase Elliott will roll off 14th, followed by Ty Gibbs in 15th. Tyler Reddick was surprisingly slow after pacing practice and will start 16th, with Christopher Bell slotting in 17th and the Next Gen’s first Watkins Glen winner, Kyle Larson, qualifying 20th.

Other playoff drivers include Denny Hamlin in 22nd, Brad Keselowski in 28th, Ryan Blaney in 30th and Harrison Burton in 33rd. Both Keselowski and Burton are currently below the Round of 12 cutline, with Hamlin only two points to the good in 11th.

Juan Pablo Montoya will start 34th in his first Cup Series appearance since the 2014 Brickyard 400. He previously won at Watkins Glen in 2010.

Coverage of the Go Bowling at the Glen will kick off Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA and MRN.

RESULTS

Montoya coming into one-off NASCAR return with an open mind after years of change

Much has changed since the last time Juan Pablo Montoya was in the NASCAR Cup Series, not least his workout routine. “When I was driving [full-time], I didn’t do anything,” he joked on Saturday. “I go to the gym now.” Montoya is making a one-off run …

Much has changed since the last time Juan Pablo Montoya was in the NASCAR Cup Series, not least his workout routine.

“When I was driving [full-time], I didn’t do anything,” he joked on Saturday. “I go to the gym now.”

Montoya is making a one-off run this weekend at Watkins Glen International, piloting the No 50 Toyota for 23XI Racing. It’s the first time the Columbian has competed in the Cup Series since the 2014 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was the first year of NASCAR’s elimination playoff era – a championship format that would be tweaked with the addition of stages and playoff points in 2017. The schedule has changed drastically, too. NASCAR’s competing with a completely different car and the style of racing has evolved into a more aggressive, take-no-prisoners type of competition.

Given all the change, Montoya isn’t sure how his Cup return will go.

“No idea what to expect,” Montoya said. “I think I should run pretty good, but that’s about all I can tell you right now.

“It’s so difficult [to say]. I drove the car at [Virginia International Raceway], did about 40 laps in the morning just to get comfortable, make sure the seat and everything was working. I felt pretty good with the car. I actually felt it was easier to drive than the last car.”

The one-off wasn’t something Montoya was angling for. At 48 years old and with a proven resume that includes wins from Formula 1 to sports cars and the Indy 500, he has nothing left to prove. His main focus in recent weeks has been helping his son, Sebastian, who at age 19 is working to launch his own racing career in open wheel competition.

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A May phone call from 23XI Racing president Steve Lauletta, who was president of Chip Ganassi Racing when Montoya ran for the team, opened the door for the veteran to make a surprise return.

Montoya ultimately decided to give it a go.

“Why not? I really don’t have a reason not to do it,” he said. “I feel I can still do a good job. This year I wasn’t racing full-time, but I do a lot of karting, a lot of shifter karts with my kid. I’m still involved in racing fully.”

Perhaps the biggest change upon his NASCAR return isn’t the car, new faces or intensity of the playoffs — it’s the lack of track time.

“They’ll want to see the tire deg, so you’re going to go out and do a long run,” Montoya said, adding that he was thankful to have two practices. “You’re never really going to do a qualifying sim or anything.

“Back in the day you’d really prepare for qualifying. Now we just go there and drive it. With the tire deg they’re talking about, you’re probably going to get a lap.

“It’s kind of tough, because if you overdo it, you screw up. If you underdo it, you screw up. Great.”

Drivers making one-off appearances have noted the level of aggression in the Cup Series in recent years. Montoya isn’t as worried about it as others in his position, particularly with the tire falloff at play.

“Everybody I talked to says the give-and-take that there used to be back in the day is a lot less,” Montoya said. “People seem to race more for every position. But it’s what it is.

“I think if you have 3-4s of tire deg, if somebody starts racing [hard], they’re going to blow the tires off, so knock themselves out. I’m okay with it.”

When all is said and done, it’s possible Montoya could be offered another start in the future. He has a good relationship with Lauletta and a deep history with sponsor Mobil 1, but for now, the veteran is just hoping to enjoy his unexpected return to the NASCAR garage.

“Let’s do this weekend and then we’ll see,” he said. “Honestly, if someone comes to me one day and asks if I want to do a one-off, I would probably say yes, but it’s Saturday morning, so we’ll see.”

Reddick paces Watkins Glen Cup practice

Regular season champion Tyler Reddick led the way in an extended NASCAR Cup Series practice from Watkins Glen International. Reddck laid down a quick time of 72.018 seconds (122.469 mph) early in the opening session for Group A. Given this weekend’s …

Regular season champion Tyler Reddick led the way in an extended NASCAR Cup Series practice from Watkins Glen International.

Reddck laid down a quick time of 72.018 seconds (122.469 mph) early in the opening session for Group A. Given this weekend’s tire falloff, that time stood as the quickest for the full 80 minutes of practice.

Ross Chastain was second fastest at 122.337mph. Kyle Larson followed at 122.296mph, with Shane van Gisbergen (122.267mph) and Denny Hamlin (122.015mph) capping off the top five. Joey Logano (121.963mph), Austin Cindric (121.778mph), Ryan Blaney (121.764mph), Corey LaJoie (121.759mph) and Noah Gragson (121.620mph) completed the top 10.

Road courses have been a specialty for Reddick, who earned his two wins at Road America and on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course in 2022. The 23XI Racing ace entered the weekend third in the playoff standings, 12 points behind points leader Blaney. He’ll be one of many drivers looking to end Hendrick Motorsports’ streak of five straight wins at The Glen.

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Cindric was the quickest driver in Group B. He was followed by Kyle Busch, who ended up 12th with a speed of 121.519mph. Playoff newcomer Ty Gibbs (121.280mp.) was third in the group and 17th overall, followed by teammate Martin Truex Jr. (121.219mph) in 18th. Rookie Zane Smith (121.172mph) rounded out the top-five in Group B and ended the session 20th overall.

Other playoff drivers included Brad Keselowski (121.217mph) in 19th, William Byron (121.088 mph) in 21st, Daniel Suarez (121.037mph) in 24th, Christopher Bell (120.855mph) in 25th, Alex Bowman (120.73mph) in 28th and Harrison Burton (120.595mph) in 30th.

Multi-disciplinary motorsports star Juan Pablo Montoya completed his first practice run in the Next Gen car to kick off a one-off run with 23XI Racing. The 2010 Watkin Glen winner ended the session in 15th, with a speed of 121.362mph.

Drivers were given extra practice time to test the new tire brought by Goodyear, which was anticipated to yield significant falloff. Each practice group was offered two 20-minute sessions. Reddick ran 16 laps and saw a difference of 2.568 seconds from his best lap to his final one in the opening session. Cindric fell off 3.061 seconds over his 15 laps in group B.

Both groups saw a lone incident in their opening sessions. Hamlin looped his No. 11 Toyota around at the entrance to Turn 1 in Group A, while Busch lost control of his No. 8 Chevrolet after crossing over the curbing at the exit of the Bus Stop. Neither driver hit anything or sustained damage in the accidents.

AJ Allmendinger went off-track through the esses just as the final practice session wrapped up.

Qualifying is up next.