NASCAR: Manufacturer and Team News for Watkins Glen

By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net

The Cup series makes it’s final road course stop of the regular season at Watkins Glen, and for defending champion Chris Buescher he hopes to repeat his last lap victory. Buescher needs the win. Teammates Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Preece are in near must wins in the final three races of the regular season. BK has come alive in the last month. Preece still has a chance to point his way into the playoffs and needs a strong finish to improve his chances, or win outright. The manufacturers and teams give us their news going into this weekend’s races.

SVG SEEKS FOUR-STRAIGHT STREAK Chevrolet will head to upstate New York with an active streak of three-straight road racing triumphs in the NASCAR Cup Series – all courtesy of Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. The road course ace went from outside the playoff bubble to a guaranteed spot in the title chase with a dominating victory in the series’ inaugural appearance in Mexico City. The 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native went on to make back-to-back trips to victory lane at the Chicago Street Course and Sonoma Raceway just a few weeks later. Van Gisbergen left Sonoma making yet another mark in NASCAR history – becoming just the seventh different driver to win three consecutive road course races in the division. Extending his streak to four-straight is a very attainable task for the Trackhouse Racing driver, with his first and only appearance at Watkins Glen International ending with a runner-up result (Sept. 2024). Only two drivers in series’ history have racked up four-straight road course victories – 2020 Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Jeff Gordon.

FIRST-TIME WINNER On Aug. 5, 2018, at Watkins Glen International, Chase Elliott etched his name into history as a NASCAR Cup Series winner. Now competing in his 10th full-time season, the 29-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native is a champion and 20-time winner in NASCAR’s top division. Despite still seeking his first road course win in the Next Gen era, Elliott has proven to know his way around left- and right-hand turns. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has tallied seven road course victories in his Cup Series career – the most of all active drivers. The record is enough to place Elliott third on the series’ all-time road course wins list behind a pair of NASCAR Hall of Famers –  Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight). Elliott’s road course resume sees victories at five different road course circuits, which also happens to be a series’ record.

A GLEN REPEAT FOR BUESCHER?Chris Buescher took advantage of a mistake by Shane Van Gisbergen on the final lap to pass him and win last year’s Go Bowling at the Glen, giving Ford its fourth straight NASCAR Cup Series victory. The race came down to an overtime restart that saw Van Gisbergen get past Buescher after a physical turn one. He held that advantage all the way until the two cars got to the track’s iconic “Bus Stop” corner on the final lap, but that’s when Van Gisbergen clipped the inside retaining barrier and slowed his momentum enough to allow Buescher to squeeze to his inside and make the decisive pass. For Buescher, it marked his first Cup Series triumph on a road course.

LOGANO AT THE GLENJoey Logano comes into this weekend with seven career top-10 NASCAR Cup Series finishes at Watkins Glen International, including a victory in 2015.  That win made him the first driver to sweep a race weekend at the track after he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race the day before.  In addition, it marked Roger Penske’s first Cup victory at the historic track.KESELOWSKI AND CINDRIC AT WGIBrad Keselowski and Austin Cindric have also been to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International with both getting their checkered flags in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.  Keselowski, who has three second-place finishes and one third on the Cup side, posted his victory in 2013 while Cindric passed AJ Allmendinger with two laps to go for his win in 2019. Keselowski will also have a chance to extend his 2025 top-five streak to three races.BLANEY’S STRONG FORMFor the first time in 2025, Ryan Blaney has secured top-ten finishes in three consecutive races, scoring 8th and 7th place finishes at Dover and Indianapolis before improving further to a 4th place finish at Iowa last weekend. His top-five finish at Iowa marked his eighth of 2025, leading all Ford drivers. This run has also propelled him to seventh place in the points.

In 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Spire Motorsports has logged two top-five and three top-10 finishes. Carson Hocevar earned a team-best third-place result in last season’s Go Bowling at The Glen. He led the charge in what marked the first triple top-10 day for the team, as teammates Zane Smith and Corey LaJoie crossed the line in fifth and eighth, respectively. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet ZL1s in the Cup Series for Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Hocevar, respectively. The Go Bowling at The Glen will be televised live on USA Sunday, Aug. 10 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 23rd of 36 points-paying races on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

Justin Haley – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1Justin Haley will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.Haley has made four NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen, earning a venue-best 18th-place finish in August 2022. He’s logged an average starting position of 24.8 and an average finish of 25.0.Watkins Glen marks the fifth of six road-course events on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Haley finished 16th at Circuit of the Americas, 17th at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, 22nd at the Chicago Street Race and 15th at Sonoma Raceway.Last weekend at Iowa Speedway, Haley qualified 10th and raced inside the top 10 for much of the race, including a 10th-place finish in Stage 1. However, tire wear proved to be the team’s nemesis in the late goings, leaving the No. 7 team with a 23rd-place finish.Founded in 2018, Gainbridge® is an insurtech subsidiary of Group 1001 that empowers consumers to take control of their financial future with solutions that are accessible to everyone, no matter their budget or financial knowledge. Its platform provides access to financial products that are simple, intuitive, and backed by smart technology with no complexity or hidden fees. Gainbridge® is headquartered in Zionsville, Ind. For more information, visit www.gainbridge.io or follow and connect with Gainbridge on X and LinkedIn. In NASCAR Xfinity Series competition, the 26-year-old driver has three starts, including one top-10 and one top-15 finish.Haley has a pair of ARCA Menards Series East starts at “The Glen,” with a pair of top fives to show for his efforts. He finished second in 2016 and third in 2015.Haley is one of 41 drivers to have won races in all three of NASCAR’s National Touring Series. The driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevy has collected one win in the NASCAR Cup Series, four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and three in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.The Indiana native is a veteran of 167 Cup Series starts and has notched one win, five top fives, 16 top 10s and led 118 laps in NASCAR’s premier division.In total, Haley has made 67 Cup Series starts for Spire Motorsports, including his first start in NASCAR’s premier division at Talladega Superspeedway on his 20th birthday.Justin Haley Quote This will be your fifth road-course of the season. How do you feel about going into Watkins Glen? “I feel like our Chevy has had speed at road-courses this year, we had two top-20s and a top-15 finish. Watkins Glen is always packed with campers and race fans and that makes it so much more exciting as a driver! I’ve always enjoyed how the track flows and am looking forward to this weekend.”Atop the No. 7 Box – Crew Chief Ryan Sparks Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports Competition Director and crew chief for driver Justin Haley and the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet ZL1. He was first paired with Haley at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2024.The Winston Salem, N.C., native has called 189 NASCAR Cup Series races where he’s earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes.In total, Sparks has called four Watkins Glen races and calls a 10th-place finish a venue best after leading Corey LaJoie to a 10th-place showing in August 2023.Michael McDowell – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1Michael McDowell will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Go Bowling Chevrolet ZL1 in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.In last season’s NASCAR Cup Series event at “The Glen,” McDowell scored a seventh-place result in his 15th start at the venue.The father-of-five has earned top-10 finishes in two of his last three Cup Series races at Watkins Glen. He paced the field for 38 laps over the span.The Glendale, Ariz., native tallied five Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series starts at the famed upstate New York race course, collecting two top fives and three top 10s, highlighted by an average starting position of 3.8 while earning back-to-back fourth-place finishes in 2004 and 2005.The two-time Cup Series winner will make his first Xfinity Series start in almost a decade and drive the No. 11 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing in Saturday’s Mission 200 at The Glen. In his last Xfinity Series start in 2016, McDowell qualified Richard Childress Racing’s No. 2 Chevrolet second at Road America, led 24 of 48 laps en route to his lone win on NASCAR’s junior circuit. McDowell has made three Xfinity Series starts at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile circuit, picking up a 10th-place finish in 2010.Go Bowling will return as the primary partner for the No. 71 Chevrolet ZL1, the organization’s first primary since the Daytona 500.Saturday, August 8 will mark National Bowling Day as Watkins Glen celebrates with a host of at-track activations across the weekend.GoBowling.com is the destination for bowling consumers and enthusiasts seeking news and information about one of America’s favorite pastimes and the nation’s number one participatory sport. Consumers visit GoBowling.com every day to find bowling centers in their communities, learn new tips and techniques to improve their game, and to access bowling promotions available at more than 1,700+ family-friendly bowling centers across the country.The 2021 Daytona 500 Champion will have a familiar voice on the spotter stand this week where McDowell’s cousin, Jason Noll, will assist primary spotter Michael Fisher during the Cup Series’ visit to the newly repaved road course.The No. 71 team earned a $100,000 payday and a trip to Victory Lane after winning the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge during May’s NASCAR All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. The crew’s blazing 12.587-second stop topped all entries for both the NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race, earning the title of the fastest team on pit road.The 40-year-old has claimed three Xfinity Fastest Lap awards this season, clocking the fastest lap in the Daytona 500, Phoenix Raceway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The team is one of three in the series to tally three or more bonus points via the program.The No. 71 team secured Spire Motorsports’ first Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. The 28.833-second lap marks the fastest lap in NASCAR’s seventh-generation Cup Series car (2022-present) at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval. Three weekends ago, the team also earned the first stage win in team history during the Grant Park 165 on the streets of downtown Chicago.Michael McDowell Quote How does Watkins Glen compare to the other road courses on the Cup Series schedule? “Watkins Glen is a momentum track. It’s long, has a lot of lateral loading, and it flows very differently. It’s different than Sonoma. You have quick switchbacks when you think about Mexico City or Chicago, and it’s just so different. Obviously, it’s higher speeds and higher loading. The easiest way to describe it is like racing on a mile-and-a-half oval, but on a road course. Chicago is similar to Martinsville, and Sonoma is probably like Bristol. It’s just that different of a feel when it comes to those tracks. Your fundamentals are still the same, but the way you attack Watkins Glen is different than how you attack Sonoma. There’s no doubt about it. It fits my style well. From an overall speed standpoint, it’s probably my best track. We don’t really have the results to show for it, but in qualifying the last few years, we’ve started in the top five or close to it. I’ve won a few stages and led a bunch of laps, but it just hasn’t come together, whether it was an engine failure two years ago, or whatever happened last year. We’ve just had some missed opportunities there. But overall, from a speed perspective, Watkins Glen is probably one of my best tracks. I’m excited to have the Go Bowling at The Glen race outside the playoffs this year, just because I feel like it’s another opportunity and another shot for us to try to get a win.”Atop the No. 71 Box – Crew Chief Travis PetersonOn Sunday, crew chief Travis Peterson will surpass 100 NASCAR Cup Series races from atop the pitbox. He celebrated 100 starts last weekend at Iowa Speedway.Peterson has two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile course, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes while working as a race engineer at JR Motorsports.The 34-year-old has been part of two NASCAR Cup Series top 10s the track—first as a race engineer for Chris Buescher and RFK Racing in 2022, then as a crew chief for Michael McDowell in 2024.Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet ZL1Carson Hocevar will be behind the wheel of the No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet ZL1 for his second NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen International. In his first trip to the 2.45-mile race course in upstate New York in NASCAR’s premier series last season, the 22-year-old earned a then career-best third-place finishHocevar made his first and only NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at The Glen in 2021. He started ninth, finished Stage 2 in seventh and claimed a 10th-place effort in the regular-season finale.One day prior, Hocevar competed in the ARCA Menards Series race at Watkins Glen, starting and finishing in the fourth position.The Delaware Life team is coming off an eighth-place showing in last Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway. Hocevar qualified sixth and earned stage points in Stage 1 before a spin midway through Stage 2 sent him to the back of the pack. The Portage, Mich., native rallied for his best finish in two appearances at the 0.875-mile D-shaped oval and his second top-10 finish in as many races.With 23 races complete in the 2025 season, Hocevar has two top-five results and has led 80 laps – an improvement in both categories over his total from the entire 2024 campaign. With his finish of eighth at Iowa, he matched his top-10 total from 2024.Carson Hocevar Quote  At Watkins Glen last year, we saw you battle for a win and ultimately earn your first top-five finish in the Cup Series. Was that the race that set the No. 77 on the path its on now, and how do you feel heading back to that track? “I think it was probably the first time that people really got to see Spire cars running up front and holding our own. Since then it’s only been improvement for the whole organization. We have up and down weeks, but that’s part of building a consistently successful program. Every weekend we have at least two cars running in the top 10, if not all three right there together. I just think Watkins Glen last year was a race where people started to pay attention. That’s definitely continued this season and I feel like the last two races are a really good example of that. At Indy we had two cars finish within the first 11 spots and Iowa we had a car in the top-10 all day and probably would’ve had similar results without the way the cautions fell in the middle of the race. I’m excited to get back to The Glen. We’ve got a lot of momentum heading into this race and we’ve done a really good job of continuing to improve at tracks where we’ve done well in the past.”