NASCAR Xfinity Series News & Notes – Watkins Glen International

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Next Race: Mission 200 at The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International
Track Length: 2.45 Mile Asphalt Road Course
The Date: Saturday, August 9
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,651,939
TV: CW, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 200.9 miles (82 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 82)

Where To Watch NASCAR This Weekend:

Friday, August 8

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS2 at 11:30 a.m. ET)
ARCA Race: General Tire 200 at The Glen (FS2, MRN at 2 p.m. ET)
NCTS Race: Mission 176 at The Glen (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM at 5 p.m. ET)

Saturday, August 9

NASCAR Xfinity Series Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (CW App at 9:30 a.m. ET)
NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM at Noon ET)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race: Mission 200 at The Glen (CW, MRN, SiriusXM at 3 p.m. ET)

Sunday, August 10

NCS Race: Go Bowling at The Glen (USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)

Watkins Glen International Storylines and Insights:

• This weekend marks the 31st running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International (1991-2001, 2005-2019, 2021-2025).
• The NASCAR Xfinity Series did not run at Watkins Glen from 2002-2004 or in 2020.
• Austin Hill returns from his one-race suspension at Iowa; if granted a waiver, he will remain Playoff eligible but will enter the Playoffs with zero Playoff points.
• Sam Mayer snapped 25-race winless streak at Iowa Speedway with his win.
• Sam Mayer had been the highest winless driver in standings since Las Vegas in March.
• This will be the fifth of seven road course races this season.
• JR Motorsports won all four road course races this season with three different drivers.
• There are four races left in the regular season and four Playoff spots remain open.
• Harrison Burton gained 27 points to the Playoff cut line with a fifth-place finish at Iowa and now sits +17.
• Harrison Burton has been within 17 points of the Playoff cutoff after every race this season; his high is +17 after Iowa and his low was -16 after Sonoma.
• Jeb Burton lost 29 points to the Playoff cut line with a 29th-place finish at Iowa and now sits -19.
• Ryan Sieg gained 33 points to the Playoff cut line in the last three races and now sits -17.
• Sheldon Creed gained 82 points to the Playoff cut line in the last five races and now sits +82.
• Shane van Gisbergen will drive JR Motorsports’ #9, his third start of the season.
• In two head-to-head road course starts this season, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch have each won once.
• Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch won seven of the last nine road course races.
• Shane van Gisbergen needs one win to tie Marcos Ambrose for most NXS wins by a foreign-born driver.
• Shane van Gisbergen’s eight total NASCAR national series wins are the most by a foreign-born driver (4 Cup, 4 NXS).
• Connor Zilisch’s 10 straight top fives since returning from back injury is the longest top-five finish streak of the season; Zilisch is the youngest driver with more than five straight top fives.
• Connor Zilisch will be doing triple duty: Cup – #87 Trackhouse Racing, Xfinity – #88 JR Motorsports, Trucks – #45 Niece Motorsports.
• JR Motorsports had at least one car finish inside the top-five in a record 24 straight races.
• JR Motorsports won 12 races this season with a series-record six different drivers, all six drivers won in the last 13 races.
• JR Motorsports won seven of the last nine races this season with four different drivers.
• JR Motorsports won the last six road course races and the last three races at Watkins Glen.
• Michael McDowell will drive Kaulig Racing’s #11, his first Xfinity Series start since his win at Road America in 2016.
• Two active drivers have won in NASCAR Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen – Sam Mayer 2023 & Connor Zilisch 2024.
• The last seven Watkins Glen races were won by seven different drivers.
• Five drivers earned their first career NXS win at Watkins Glen – Bill Elliott (1993), Ron Fellows (1998), Marcos Ambrose (2008), Austin Cindric (2019), and Connor Zilisch (2024).
• Connor Zilisch leads the series with five wins and four poles this season.
• Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier lead the series with 11 top fives.
• Justin Allgaier leads the series with 686 laps led this season.
• Jesse Love leads the series with 15 top 10s this season.
• Sam Mayer leads the series with an average finish of 9.86 this season.
• Justin Allgaier won the Fastest Lap Award five times this season, no other driver has more than two.
• Justin Allgaier’s 28 career wins are ninth on the all-time wins list and one away from tying Matt Kenseth.
• Justin Allgaier is five top 10s away from becoming the first driver to reach 300 NXS top-10 finishes.
• Chevrolet led 2,721 of 3,577 laps this season (76.1%).
•  Chevrolet won 19 of 22 races, the most all time by a manufacturer through 22 races in series history.
• Toyota is winless in the last 14 races, their longest winless streak since the first NXS win in 2007.
• Two teams reached 100 career NASCAR Xfinity Series wins this season: Richard Childress Racing at Martinsville and JR Motorsports at Indianapolis.
• Five crew chiefs got their first NASCAR Xfinity Series win in 2025: Chad Haney at Atlanta, Sam McAulay at Darlington, Adam Wall at Bristol, Cory Shea at Mexico City & Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Pocono.
• There hasn’t been an overtime finish in the last nine races, the longest streak without an OT since Aug- Oct 2020.
• Five races this year ended with a last lap pass.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Clinch Scenarios Following Iowa Speedway:

Already Clinched

• The following 4 drivers have clinched a spot in the 12-driver postseason field: Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill.

Can Clinch Via Previous Wins

• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Nicholas Sanchez or Kyle Sieg (or anyone lower in the standings):
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch regardless of finish
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed or Taylor Gray, Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg or Jeb Burton:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch with 48 points
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Christian Eckes:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch with 5 points
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Dean Thompson:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Daniel Dye:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch with 55 points
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Brennan Poole:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch with 26 points
  • Sammy Smith: Could only clinch with help
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by William Sawalich:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 49 points
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Jeremy Clements:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 47 points
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Anthony Alfredo:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 3 points
  • Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch with 35 points
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Matt DiBenedetto:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 2 points
  • Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch with 34 points
• The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Parker Retzlaff:
  • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
  • Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch with 12 points

Can clinch via win

• The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:
• Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Nicholas Sanchez

NASCAR & Watkins Glen, Etc.

Historical and Significant Events at Watkins Glen International:

• ‘The Glen’ was constructed at its current location in 1956 but had its real beginning in 1948 when a Cornell University law student from Ohio, Cameron Argetsinger, acquired a sports car but had no place to race it. He designed a 6.6 mile circuit comprised of public roads in the Village of Watkins Glen where his family owned a cottage.
• He convinced the Chamber of Commerce of the Village of Watkins Glen and nine other agencies to hold the first post-war street race in the country. The annual race on the public roads at the tip of Lake Seneca was hugely successful from 1948-1951 drawing a large field of cars, large crowds and premier drivers.
• The race came to an abrupt halt when the 1952 running was canceled midrace after a car brushed the crowd fatally injuring a spectator and hurting several others.
• After a few years of racing at a temporary course a permanent facility was built in the town of Dix which borders Watkins Glen.
• Engineering professors from Cornell designed the 2.3 mile layout and specified the pavement. The first professional race was a NASCAR Grand National (Cup Series) race held on 8/4/1957. Buck Baker led all 44 laps in the caution-free race beating Fireball Roberts by nearly ½ mile.
• NASCAR returned in 1964 and 1965 on the annual ‘Northern Tour”.  Billy Wade won 1964, Marvin Panch 1965.
• In the 1960s and continuing to the present, Watkins Glen has hosted nearly every major United States sanctioning body and professional racing series: NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Can-AM, Trans-AM, NASCAR Busch North and K&N, NASCAR Modified, NASCAR Trucks, IMSA and Camel GTO, CART, IndyCar, NASCAR Grand-Am, Formula 1, Formula 5000, IMSA and others.
• In 1961, the track ran the first of 19 Formula One races that ended after 1980 due to deteriorating track conditions not meeting F1 standards.
• The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen was a 1973 rock festival that once held the record as the largest audience at a pop festival. An estimated 600,000 people attended the event held at the raceway. The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead and The Band performed. In 2013, a maintenance crew from Watkins Glen found abandoned cars from the event on track property.
• After 1980, the track was bankrupt and fell into disrepair. In 1983 Corning purchased the track then partnered with International Speedway Corporation (ISC) to form Watkins Glen International. The track reopened in 1984 to sports car racing and in 1986 the Cup Series returned to The Glen to a huge crowd estimated at 88,000.
• In 1992, the Inner Loop Chicane was added giving the track its 2.45 distance.
• In 1997, the International Speedway Corporation (now NASCAR) became the sole owner of the facility.
• Since 2001, the track has undergone continuous capital improvements. By the end of 2012 more than $30 million were invested in The Glen; including replacement of old wooden grandstands, the Glen Club, adding SAFER barriers, upgrades to the garage and pit road areas. In 2008, the new Media Center replaced a press box that had been used since 1971.
• In April 2012, the five new grandstands were renamed to recognize the history of Watkins Glen International: SENECA (Lake Seneca can be seen from the track); ARGETSINGER (the man responsible for establishing street and road course racing in Watkins Glen); STEWART (three-time F1 champion); RIESBECK (the Corning executive who was the driving force behind Corning’s purchase and revival of the bankrupt track); and, BODINE (the local family of racers representing the track’s recent history).
• The town of Watkins Glen can be found at the base of Seneca Lake, the largest of the Finger lakes. At a max depth of 618 ft it is the deepest of the Finger Lakes and at 38 miles long it is the second longest Finger Lakes.
• For the 2016 season the track was fully repaved it was the first complete repave since 1989.
• New in 2024, large curbing was added outside of the ruble strips in the bus stop.

Latest Track News at Watkins Glen International:

• Busch Light, Saratoga Eagle and Watkins Glen International have united in a new partnership for The Bog, Watkins Glen’s premium hospitality area. Busch Light will hold naming rights to the Bog hospitality, now known as Busch Light at the Bog, where fans can experience exclusive trackside views, access multiple motorsports Q&A sessions, enjoy upgrades on food and beverage items, and earn free souvenir gifts to enjoy the ride at the race.
• NASCAR Cup Series drivers Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece spent the day yesterday in the Finger Lakes, taking in all the region has to offer ahead of the upcoming Go Bowling at The Glen NASCAR race weekend at Watkins Glen International. Keselowski enjoyed an afternoon at Sheriff’s Summer Camp, interacting with campers then taking a fishing excursion out on Keuka Lake, while Preece toured Bully Hill Vineyards just down the road, learning about the art of wine making and experiencing all the beauty of Finger Lakes Wine Country. Video Link
• NASCAR Cup Series driver and Buffalo Bills fan Zane Smith joined the NFL team during training camp today ahead of the upcoming Go Bowling at The Glen NASCAR race weekend at Watkins Glen International. Smith stopped by St. John Fisher College in Rochester, where the Bills hold their training camp, and spent some time with the team as they prepare for the upcoming football season. Smith also paid a visit to the Bills Youth Football Program to interact with young Bills fans, and spoke with motorsports enthusiast and Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins. Dawkins previously served as Grand Marshal for the IMSA Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen earlier this summer at Watkins Glen International. Video Link