NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen
Watkins Glen International Track Length: 2.45 Mile Asphalt Road Course
Sunday, May 10 3 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 1:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 245 miles (100 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 50), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 100) The Purse: $11,233,037
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Mission 200 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International Track Length: 2.45 Mile Asphalt Road Course
Saturday, May 9 4 p.m. ET TV: CW, 3:30 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) The Purse: $1,653,590
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International Track Length: 2.45 Mile Asphalt Road Course
Friday, May 8 4:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 4:30 p.m. ET Radio: NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 176.4 miles (72 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 72) The Purse: $789,700
ARCA Menards Series General Tire 100 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International Track Length: 2.45 Mile Asphalt Road Course
Friday, May 8 1:30 p.m. ET TV: FS2 & FOX Sports App, 1:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90) Distance: 100.45 miles (41 Laps)
Quick Track Facts & Insights: Watkins Glen
- ‘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.
- Argetsinger 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.
- 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 Cup Series race held on Aug. 4, 1957. Buck Baker led all 44 laps in the caution-free race beating Fireball Roberts by a half-mile.
- In 1992, the Inner Loop Chicane was added giving the track its 2.45 distance that is raced today.
- In 1997, International Speedway Corp. (now NASCAR) became the sole owner of the Watkins Glen International.
- Did You Know? 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.
NASCAR Cup Series
SHANE VAN GISBERGEN’S ROAD COURSE DOMINANCE
Shane van Gisbergen has won five of the last six road course races with one runner-up finish
He can become the first driver to get their first seven Cup wins on road courses
Will be making his 62nd Cup start this weekend
He has finished in the top-10 in the last nine road course races
Led in 12 of his 13 road course starts
Van Gisbergen’s Historic Road Course Performance
Shane van Gisbergen’s average finish of 7.15 on road courses is second best all time among drivers with 4+ starts, behind
only Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts (2.78)
He has run inside the top 5 for 84% of laps and inside the top 10 for 95% of laps on road course since the start of 2025
Shane van Gisbergen (7.15) and Chris Buescher (9.67) are the only drivers with a Top-10 average finish on road courses in the Next Gen car
CHRISTOPHER BELL’S ROAD COURSE EXCELLENCE
Bell finished in the top-five in seven of the last eight road course races including three runner-ups and a win at COTA in 2025
Christopher Bell is tied with Chase Elliott for most top-five finishes in the Next Gen car on road courses (11)
He finished runner-up at Watkins Glen in 2025
He finished top-10 in four of five starts at Watkins Glen
He is a three-time road course winner Page 2 of 21 2026 ©
CHASE ELLIOTT’S ROAD COURSE STRUGGLES IN NEXT GEN ERA
Chase Elliott is tied with Christopher Bell for most top-five finishes in the Next Gen car on road courses (11) but none of his
seven road course wins came in the Next Gen car
Elliott has won seven total road course wins, third all-time
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS ROAD COURSE EXCELLENCE
Leads all teams in poles, wins, Top-fives, Top-10s, laps led and average finish on road courses all-time
Their drivers won five of the last seven races at Watkins Glen with three different drivers: Chase Elliott (two), Kyle Larson
(two) and William Byron (one)
Their drivers won five of the last 14 road course races with three different drivers winning: Kyle Larson (twice), William Byron
(twice) and Alex Bowman (once)
WATKINS GLEN TRACK MILESTONES AND RECORDS
This weekend’s race is the 43rd race at Watkins Glen, second most all-time for road courses in the Cup Series behind only Riverside (48)
This is the earliest in the year Watkins Glen has hosted a Cup race, all races since NASCAR’s return in 1986 were held in
August with the except of 2024, which was held in September
The 2026 race is 100 laps, 10 laps longer than last year
The stage end laps are lap 20, 50 and 100
HOT 🔥
Shane van Gisbergen
Won at Watkins Glen last year
Won five of the last six road course races, runner up in the other
Led the most laps in four of the last six road course races
Finished in the top-10 in the last nine road course races
Led in 12 of his 13 road course starts
HOT 🔥
Christopher Bell
Runner up at Watkins Glen in 2025
Finished top-10 in four of five starts at Watkins Glen
Finished top-five in seven of the last eight road course races Three-time road course winner
COLD 🥶
Brad Keselowski
Yet to finish in the top-five in 24 starts on a road course in the Next Gen car, only one top 10
Finished 15th or worse in the last five races at Watkins Glen
Three time runner up at Watkins Glen but the last was 2013
COLD 🥶
Kyle Busch
Finished 14th or worse in the four races at Watkins Glen in the Next Gen car Richard Childress Racing only has two top 10 finishes in the last 13 races at Watkins Glen, both by Tyler Reddick Only one top 10 finish this season
SLEEPER 🛏️
Chris Buescher
Finished top-10 in the last four Watkins Glen races
Last Cup win was at Watkins Glen in 2024
Finished top-10 in 17 of the 24 road
course races in the Next Gen car, second most to Tyler Reddick’s 18
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Connor Zilisch returns to JR Motorsports #1:
- Making 5th start of season
- Finished 21st at Texas after winning Stage 2 and flat tire on lap 136
- 1 win, 2 Top 10s in 4 starts this season
- Won 10 of last 22 starts
- Won both career Watkins Glen starts in 2024 & 2025 – only driver with 100% WG win rate
- Broke collarbone in Victory Lane fall after 2025 win
- Won 6 of 9 career road course starts, 2nd-most road course wins all-time (AJ Allmendinger – 11)
WATKINS GLEN ROAD COURSE STATISTICS
This is the 32nd NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Watkins Glen since the inaugural race in 1991
Watkins Glen did not host an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race from 2002-2004 or in 2020
This is the earliest Watkins Glen race in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series history – previous June 25 1994, 1995 & 2000
11 of last 16 Watkins Glen races were won by drivers starting on the front row; seven from pole
The last seven Watkins Glen races had a pass for the win with less than 10 laps to go
There are four road course races this season, the fewest on the schedule since 2020
Two of last six Watkins Glen races were won by first-time winners
Five of last six Watkins Glen winners were 20 years old or younger
JUSTIN ALLGAIER’S CHAMPIONSHIP DOMINANCE
31 career wins are tied for 6th all-time with Jack Ingram
Finished Top 5 in 22 of 24 stages this season
Point lead over second of 121 points is greater than the gap from second to eighth
Leads all drivers with 3 wins, 5 Top 2s, 9 Top 5s and 5 stage wins in 2026
Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed are tied for the most Top 10s this season with 10
JR MOTORSPORTS’ ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Won four straight Watkins Glen races, three of four were won by #88 car
Had at least one car finish in the Top 10 in 69 consecutive races, the second-longest streak all-time
Through 12 races, JR Motorsports is ahead of their 2025 pace in wins, Top 2s, Top 5s, Top 10s, stage wins, laps led and average finish
Won with four of their five cars and four of their ten drivers this season
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
WATKINS GLEN TRUCK SERIES RETURN
This is the third NTS race at Watkins Glen scheduled for 72 laps 2021, 2025-2026
This is the second consecutive season Trucks raced at Watkins Glen, they previous raced there between 1996-2000 and again in 2021
This is the eighth truck race at Watkins Glen, passing CTMP for the most races at a road course
This is the earliest in the season Watkins Glen has hosted a Truck race, and the second time in May (1998 – May 30th)
CURRENT SEASON ROAD COURSE WINNERS
Three drivers entered have a Truck Series road course win: Ben Rhodes, Justin Haley and Layne Riggs
Riggs started 28th en route to winning at St. Petersburg in February, the lowest starting position for any Truck road course winner
Four drivers earned their first Truck win on a road course, the last was Austin Cindric 9/17 CTMP
Connor Zilisch Profile
12 NOS wins , won 10 races in 2025
Six NOS road course wins
Won the pole at COTA in his first NTS start
2024 Daytona 24 hour and Sebring 12 hour LMP2 winner
NASCAR
http://www.nascar.com/
Photos & Graphics Courtesy of NASCAR