Hendrick Motorsports’ dominance at Watkins Glen International in recent years provides a contrast to 2023 NASCAR Cup Series race results that have seen four different winners capture the four races at road or street courses.
Kyle Larson has claimed the last two Go Bowling at The Glen races at Schuyler County’s track, but Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott is the betting favorite to capture Sunday’s 90-lap, 220.5-mile race, set for a 3 p.m. start and televised live on USA Network. Elliott’s first career Cup win came at The Glen in 2018 and he repeated in 2019.
Denny Hamlin paced Saturday’s qualifying with a top final-round qualifying lap of 1 minute, 10.392 seconds for the 40th pole of his Cup Series career. William Byron qualified second.
The evolution of road-course racing has come with the addition of more road races beyond Watkins Glen and Sonoma, the introduction of the playoff format and updates to the stock cars, most recently the Next Gen car used since last year.
More:NASCAR Go Bowling at The Glen 2023 starting lineup
“I think road-course racing in general has become a different animal just because everybody taking it more seriously over the last decade,” said 2006 WGI Cup winner Kevin Harvick, in his last season as a full-time driver. “As you look at that, the time and preparation that goes into it is a lot higher than it used to be. You used to find the oldest engine and oldest transmission and just take a car out of the shop that you really didn’t know or care for and take that to the road course.
“I think going to this particular car has leaned toward racing guys being able to come in and adapt to the style of car.”
With the evolving nature of Watkins Glen’s race in mind, here are 10 drivers with a strong chance to take the checkered flag Sunday.
More:Watkins Glen Day 1 Recap: ARCA race comes down to final turn; tough day for Frankie Muniz
Chase Elliott
Along with wins in 2018 and 2019 at WGI, Elliott had finishes of second and fourth in the last two races at…
Read the full article here
