Posted on by Holly Cain

Editor’s note: Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will both be spotlighted in USA Network’s new unscripted series “Race for the Championship” airing this fall. The first episode is Thursday, Sept. 1, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Watch the trailer here.

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For the second consecutive day, Kyle Larson took his first lead of the race with five laps remaining and held off road-course ace and fellow Californian AJ Allmendinger for a trophy. Larson completed the rare weekend sweep at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Sunday afternoon with a clutch win in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Go Bowling at the Glen.

Larson made a dramatic pass on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on a restart with five laps to go on the historic road course. As the race leader, Elliott got to choose where to line up alongside Larson for the green flag and chose to start on Larson’s outside, setting up the dramatic contest for position.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Larson maneuvered past Elliott in the wide-sweeping first turn with both Allmendinger and Joey Logano able to get around Elliott as well. Allmendinger gave chase to Larson, but for the second day in a row, Larson, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, again proved too much.

It was the second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory for Larson, 30, at Watkins Glen as he finished .882 seconds ahead of Kaulig Racing’s Allmendinger. It’s Larson’s 18th career win and second of the 2022 season for the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Team Penske’s Logano finished third just ahead of Elliott, who could take some considerable consolation in officially securing the 2022 Regular Season Championship – his first – at the end of Stage 1 on Sunday.

Larson immediately addressed the winning move.

That was really my only opportunity (to go for the lead), I’m not proud of it,’’  Larson said, “But being in the inside lane, the right lane, being the leader, choosing the left lane, it definitely wins out. But when it gets late in the race, it’s definitely risky.

Kyle Larson's No. 5 Chevy leads the way at Watkins Glen.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

“I knew that was my only opportunity to get by him. I feel like our cars were pretty equal today. Had a lot of fun after the green-flag cycle trying to chase him down. Kind of burned my stuff up a little bit.

“But the restarts kept me in it and kept our team in it. I’m proud of my guys. Good to get another win here at Watkins Glen and get some more bonus points going into the Playoffs, we haven’t had a lot here this year.’’

Larson said he anticipated having a conversation with Elliott and reiterated that he was only making a move, he felt necessary, to go for the victory — something he thought Elliott would have done as well.

“We have a competition meeting tomorrow,’’ Larson said. “I think if I was in his shoes, I would understand the risk that I’m taking, taking the left lane also. I’m not proud of it but I did what I felt like I had to do to get the win.’’

For his part after the race, Elliott said only, “Congratulations to Kyle and everybody on the 5 team and at Hendrick Motorsports for getting the win.’’

Elliott — who led a race-high 29 of the 90 laps — again took the company line when asked what he would say to Larson: “Congratulations. … always good to see HMS win. The boss [Rick Hendrick] deserves all the great wins that come for this company.’’

MORE: Elliott bags regular-season title

Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suárez finished fifth, followed by Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, who led 14 laps.

Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher and Petty GMS Motorsports’ Erik Jones rounded out the top 10.

Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen had a solid effort in his NASCAR Cup Series debut – running as high as eighth place in Stage 2 before pitting. His day in the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet came to an early end, however, when he was nudged off-track and into a tire barrier while racing among a large group of cars on the ensuing restart.

MORE: Early exit for Räikkönen’s debut

Räikkönen, 41, of Finland, climbed out of his car and appeared fine physically. Although disappointed with the finish to what looked like a promising day, he said he was still overall happy with his first start in NASCAR’s big leagues.

“It was good fun, you know, and I felt more confident all the time and had some good battles and the car felt like it had a lot of speed in there, but that’s how it goes sometimes,’’ said Räikkönen, who officially finished 37th in the 39-car field.

With one race remaining in the regular season and one spot still to be settled for the 16-driver playoff field, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney holds a 25-point advantage over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. for the final transfer position should no new winner emerge next week. They finished 23rd (Truex) and 24th (Blaney) on Sunday and both drivers are still looking for their first victory of the year.

Blaney heads into the regular-season finale next week at Daytona International Speedway as the defending race winner. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 in Daytona Beach is set for Saturday night (7 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), when the 16 drivers will be locked in for the 10-race playoffs that begin Sept. 4 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Notes: Competition officials indicated that post-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage was completed without major issue, confirming Larson as the winner. … Kevin Harvick’s bid for a third consecutive Cup Series win ended with an 12th-place finish at Watkins Glen. … Sunday’s race began in wet-weather conditions roughly one hour, 40 minutes after its scheduled start, because of a pair of delays for lightning and excessive rain.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Kimi Räikkönen’s NASCAR Cup Series debut ended with a thud.

Räikkönen, the 2007 Formula One World Champion, was the victim of a stack-up exiting the inner loop at Watkins Glen International. Restarting 22nd to begin the final stage of Sunday’s race, Räikkönen found himself behind the contact from Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain to Austin Dillon. Dillon spun, cars slowed and Räikkönen couldn’t avoid the No. 27 Ford of Loris Hezemans, sending the 21-time F1 winner into the outside tire barrier.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“I had a good line there but everybody seemed to come to the left, unfortunately,” Räikkonen told NBC Sports. “I had no time to react. … The first impact, somebody hit the tire or the wheel and the wheel spun and something’s wrong with the wrist, but that’s how it goes.”

The event was Räikkönen’s inaugural Cup experience but not his first time spent in a NASCAR national series race. His first starts came in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series, making one-off starts for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2011.

Now with Trackhouse’s PROJECT91, an endeavor meant specifically for the world’s elite drivers, Räikkönen was able to make his first foray into the United States’ premier motorsport league.

When asked by reporters what he enjoyed most, The Iceman had a simple response: “I think everything.”

“Everything is new and I got the full service with the rain and everything …,” he said.

Kimi Räikkönen waves during driver intros at Watkins Glen
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Räikkönen, who started 27th, spent a significant portion of his race inside the top 20 and even inside the top 10, working to as high as the eighth position. That featured battles with established Cup stars like Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott, who clinched the Regular Season Championship in Sunday’s race.

A veteran racer himself, Räikkönen said he was able to learn plenty despite his shortened stint.

“Yeah, for sure, but it’s always hard to know especially now here like what states (of the pit) stop and you know the tire life on that,” he said. “I felt that we had very good speed and especially after the pit stops but maybe I was a bit too harsh on the tires on the one of the sets.”

Crew chief Darian Grubb beamed with pride through the frustration of a minimized race, noting how well the NASCAR newbie kept pace with seasoned stock-car aces.

“He was learning every lap,” Grubb told NASCAR.com. “You could see how he was racing those guys, how he was able to learn their styles, where they were fast, where they were slow. And he was able to maintain really well with them. So he’s obviously a very quick study.”

Elliott had a particularly spirited battle with Räikkönen down the backstretch that led to an Elliott pass in the carousel. The 2020 Cup champion was left with good impressions from the former F1 star.

“I thought he was doing great,” Elliott said. “He was right in the middle of a mess there and looked like he was right home. So I thought that was really cool.”

Grubb, who led Tony Stewart to a championship in 2011, was saddened to see the race end so early after the effort Räikkönen and the team put forth.

“It was amazing,” Grubb said of Räikkönen’s dedication. “He worked so hard trying to get ready for this. It’s really disappointing to end that way. The way the strategy scenario was working, I think he was gonna have a good chance to go race hard with guys. He had good tires and able to race his way up, he was able to make some passes and stuff already. And I think we had a good shot to be up in the top 10, which is what our goals were for the weekend.

“So disappointing end, but he did an amazing job all week preparing for it, coming in and ready to go.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find USA Network | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App | Watch on USA Network | Get the NBC Sports App | Watch on Peacock | FloRacing

Monday, August 22
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR America Motormouths, Peacock

Tuesday, August 23
4 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire Delivers 100 (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., Best of Radioactive: 2022 season, FS1

Wednesday, August 24
1:38 a.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane (re-air), USA Network
3:30 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire Delivers 100 (re-air), FS1
5 p.m., Best of Radioactive: 2022 season (re-air), FS1
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR America Motormouths, Peacock

Thursday, August 25
7:30 a.m., Best of Radioactive: 2022 season (re-air), FS1
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
9 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane: Horsepower and Baby Shower, USA Network
9:31 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane: It’s a Swan-derful Life, USA Network
10:01 p.m., Race for the Championship Sneak Preview, USA Network

Friday, August 26
12:03 a.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane: Horsepower and Baby Shower (re-air), USA Network
12:33 a.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane: It’s a Swan-derful Life (re-air), USA Network
1 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (re-air), USA Network
2 p.m., ARCA Menards Series West (re-air), USA Network
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying at Daytona International Speedway, USA Network (CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER) | STORY
4:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download: Ty Gibbs, USA Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying at Daytona International Speedway, USA Network (CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER) | STORY
6:30 p.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane: It’s a Swan-derful Life (re-air), USA Network
7 p.m., Countdown to Green, USA Network
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola from Daytona International Speedway, USA Network
10 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series post-race show, USA Network
10:30 p.m., Race for the Championship Sneak Preview, USA Network

On MRN:
5 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Pole Qualifying
7 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona

Saturday, August 27
3 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
7:15 p.m., Countdown to Green, NBC
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, NBC, Peacock POSTPONED UNTIL SUNDAY
9:30 p.m., Race for the Championship Sneak Preview, USA Network

Sunday, August 28
1:32 a.m., Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane: Horsepower and Baby Shower (re-air), USA Network
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, CNBC, Peacock
2 p.m., IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, CNBC
2 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: Sprecher 150 from the Milwaukee Mile, MAVTV, FloRacing

On Peacock:
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway
2 p.m., IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway

On MRN:
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR Cup Series points leader Chase Elliott clinched the Regular Season Championship at Sunday’s event at Watkins Glen International.

Elliott — pole-starter for Sunday’s race — finished the first stage of the Go Bowling at The Glen with an insurmountable lead in the Cup Series standings. He secured a bonus of 15 playoff points, which will be added to his total once the standings are reset for the 10-race postseason.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

Elliott went on to finish fourth, leading 29 of the 90 laps. He was in front for the final restart with five laps remaining, but was carried wide in Turn 1 in a contest with teammate Kyle Larson, who went on to notch his second victory of the season.

Elliott sealed the No. 1 seed with one event left in the 26-race regular season. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is the Cup Series’ only four-time winner this year. He grabbed the points lead in March at Atlanta Motor Speedway after the fifth race of the season and has not relinquished it.

Elliott is the second consecutive Hendrick Motorsports driver to claim the regular season crown. Teammate Kyle Larson took those laurels last year on the way to his first Cup Series title.

Elliott has made the cut for the Championship 4 field in the last two seasons. The first of those bids yielded his first Cup Series title in 2020.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials have delayed the start of Sunday’s Cup Series race because of excessive rain at Watkins Glen International.

RELATED: Rainy races in NASCAR history

Cup Series drivers fired the engines at 4:12 p.m. ET, nearly an hour after the scheduled start time for Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen (USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM). After a handful of pace laps through standing water and poor visibility, competition officials stopped the 39-car field on pit road to get the 2.45-mile road course in a race-ready condition.

When the race does get going, Chase Elliott will lead the pack to the green flag from the Busch Light Pole. Elliott is the Cup Series points leader and has a chance to clinch the Regular Season Championship in the 25th of 26 regular-season races.

Posted on by Tadd Haislop

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — With his No. 83 Modified parked in the middle of the football field at Bowman Gray Stadium, Tim Brown removed his helmet to reveal the emotion.

Amid the shedding of tears, a surprisingly stoic look for somebody who’d just won his record 12th track championship remained on the 51-year-old’s face as he climbed out of his car. There were no screams of joy, hugs with team members or other displays of triumph. Brown immediately knelt to the ground and welcomed his son Cam and daughter Marley into his arms.

This — not what he had accomplished on the legendary quarter-mile oval in 2022 — was what made Brown’s 12th Bowman Gray Stadium Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series championship special.

RELATED: Highlights from championship night at Bowman Gray

“It’s probably the pinnacle of my career right there,” Brown said of the post-race embrace with his kids Saturday. “Since I got married to Megan and knew we were going to have kids, and Cam was born, I couldn’t wait until the day I could win a race and enjoy that with my kids in Victory Lane.

“I didn’t win the race, but I won the championship, and that’s the first time I’ve gotten to celebrate with Cam, Marley and Megan in Victory Lane, along with my brother and all my family of race team members.”

Brown’s unforgettable family moment was the highlight of an otherwise melancholy championship celebration Saturday night. He finished third in the 150-lap Modified feature, meaning he ended the 2022 Bowman Gray season without a win.

Brown’s consistent speed allowed him to clinch the title over the likes of Brandon Ward, Chris Fleming, Jonathan Brown, Burt Myers and Jason Myers. Last season, Tim Brown became the first driver to win 11 Bowman Gray titles with his first championship since 2015. His 12th, though impressive, came with a lack of flair.

Tim Brown
(Photo: Tadd Haislop/NASCAR)

“Twelve championships is impressive, and it does mean a lot to me,” Brown said. “But I already had more than anybody with 11. What’s running in the back of my mind right now, just over and over, is that I did it without winning a race. And that sucks.

“I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll put it behind me and know we’re 12-time champions and forget about this season; come back next year and win a lot of races and another championship.”

Brown’s wide range of emotions Saturday night were not simply the result of his missing out on a win. His personal life had been a whirlwind leading up to championship night.

Brown’s father-in-law suffered a heart attack a week prior to the title race and was scheduled to undergo bypass surgery, all while his sister-in-law and her husband had their first child a few days before the race.

“We pulled through it,” Brown said. “We managed to pull it off. I’m blessed and very proud of all the effort we’ve put in the whole year; not just the races here, but leading up to here working our guts out in the shop all winter to build these cars and coming out here and performing.

“Winning the championship, it’s a huge deal. I just wish I could have won a race or two doing it.”

FloRacing: Breaking down wild season finale at Bowman Gray

Well after Brown’s embrace with his family Saturday, he was still wiping his face. This wasn’t the result of emotion, though. He was trying to get the champagne out of his eyes.

“I don’t drink; never have, never will,” Brown said. “Somebody said I smell like a mimosa. I was like, ‘What is that?'”

Brown was speaking with a smile. And despite the disappointment that comes with a winless season, that smile persisted.

Perhaps Brown under the surface knew the truth many in racing come to realize. The memories of wins and losses pale in comparison to those made with family and friends at the race track.

And he made one hell of a memory with those people Saturday night at Bowman Gray.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

WATKINS GLEN, NY — Rusty Wallace never could escape racing. He never wanted to.

Somehow, someway, the 1989 Cup Series champion needed to stick around the sport after retiring from the series in 2005. He found his path back to the race track in broadcasting, allowing the 11th-most winningest driver in NASCAR Cup Series competition to stay connected thanks to the Motor Racing Network.

After spending nine seasons as a broadcaster with ESPN, Wallace now serves as MRN’s lead analyst for 14-18 races a year for its live radio coverage. This week, although he has a personal off-weekend, Wallace is still on-site, serving as the Grand Marshal for the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Watkins Glen schedule | At-track photos

“I can’t imagine myself ever being away from the sport,” Wallace told NASCAR.com. “And so that was one of the reasons I was really excited to get involved with Motor Racing Network and do things with those guys, because it kept me really involved in the sport. And they’re so smart. That team of people over there know everything about NASCAR. I mean, they live it every single week, and they’re so doggone smart about it. It’s unreal. So that’s one of the reasons I enjoy working with Motor Racing Network a lot.”

Wallace, a 2013 inductee of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, earned two of his 55 career wins at Watkins Glen, but his road-racing prowess should not be forgotten. In 46 road-course starts, Wallace snagged six victories, 19 top fives and 25 top 10s. That was no coincidence for Wallace, who also earned two wins apiece at Sonoma Raceway and the now-defunct Riverside International Raceway.

“Well, I took it serious. We built really good cars,” said Wallace, who turned 66 on Aug. 14. “Number one, back then, guys would take their short-track cars and get them ready to run a road course to make them turn left and right. And they usually took their crappiest car to do that with. Well, we built brand new road-course cars. I went to the Bob Bondurant (School of High Performance Driving) out in, back then it was Sonoma, California. Now they’re in Arizona. But I did that, really a lot of tutoring from him.”

Returning to Watkins Glen brings back plenty of strong memories for Wallace, but perhaps none more thrilling than his victory in 1987. Wallace had dominated the day in the No. 27 Pontiac for car owner Raymond Beadle. But the closing circuits were anything but straightforward.

RELATED: A look back on Wallace’s career

Wallace led Terry Labonte by some 20 seconds in the last two laps. Coming to the white flag to begin the final lap, Wallace saw his fuel pressure light flash on, indicating he was running out of gasoline.

“I told the pit crew in just a millisecond, I said, ‘hit pit road!'” Wallace recalled. “I hit pit road leading the race, pitted and still won the race. I had a lead that was that big. But back then, that was before pit road speed. So I can come down pit road 180 miles an hour. So I mean, you would be coming down pit road as hard as I possibly could, get stopped, throw gas in it and went out and still won. And that’s one of the most dramatic stories I’ve had in my career to be able to do something like that.”

Pit-road speed limits pose just one example of how the sport evolved throughout Wallace’s storied career, which spanned from 1980 through 2005. The young drivers at the tail-end of Wallace’s Cup career are now today’s veteran leaders — Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. At 60 wins apiece, Harvick and Kyle Busch are the only active drivers with more career wins than Wallace. Wallace holds Harvick in high regard as the veteran driver of today, he said.

This season also marks the first of the Next Gen era, with a radically different approach to the concept of a Cup car.

“I really like the car,” Wallace said. “I was really surprised to see how much different it was. But I love the concept of building a real race car — independent rear suspension, sequential shifting, you know, a car that basically took a lot of drivers that I looked at and said, ‘Man, these are up and up and coming drivers, but they’re not veterans,’ and all of a sudden they’re winning. And then the veterans that were mainstays, all of a sudden they’re struggling to keep up with these guys, you know?”

One of the young drivers who has gone to Victory Lane this year is rookie Austin Cindric, who scored the No. 2 Ford’s first Daytona 500 championship for Team Penske in February. Wallace made Penske’s No. 2 car famous throughout the 1990s and early 2000s and offered sincere excitement about the rookie’s Cup future.

“He’s got speed, man,” Wallace said. “Sometimes, it’s really hard to get a driver that just doesn’t have the speed up to speed. Well, he’s already way up to speed and you got to pull him back a little bit. You know, sometimes when it gets wild, you got to get him back on a railroad track, so to speak. And that’s what they’re doing with him. I mean, you turn him loose man, it’s like a racehorse, he’s gonna roll, you know? You just hope he doesn’t roll right into the wall or something.

“But no, he’s got it. He’s got all the talent, you know? And he’ll tell you, ‘I made this mistake. I made that mistake.’ And he’s just a big sponge right now learning from the mistakes he’s made. But he knows he’s got a great team. He’s super fast. He just gotta harness all that right now.”

Posted on by Nick Giffen

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

Sunday’s NASCAR Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET, USA) is the set-up race for next weekend’s regular-season finale at Daytona.

But that doesn’t mean today’s race is unimportant.

First off, there are potential new winners in play with Michael McDowell and Chris Buescher both qualifying inside the top seven.

If there’s no new winner, a points battle could decide the final playoff spot between Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex, Jr.

With so much to keep an eye on, there’s already a lot to follow. Bettors will have even more to monitor as my model is showing plenty of value out there.

Let’s dive into my four best bets for Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen, starting with a trio of manufacturer bets.

RELATED: Updated race-day odds | Breaking down the driver matchups

NASCAR Picks for Watkins Glen

*Odds as of Sunday morning

Chris Buescher Top Ford (+700)

I won’t dive into this one too much since PJ Walsh already wrote this up midweek. But there’s still value here at 7-1. My model gives Buescher a 17.2% chance of finishing as the top Ford, up from 12.5% implied odds at this price at DraftKings.

The Bet: Chris Buescher Top Ford +700 | Bet to: +550

William Byron Top Chevy (+1400)

DraftKings is once again blessing us with a generous line. Byron was the third-fastest Chevrolet in qualifying. More importantly, he was second fastest over five consecutive laps in practice.

Like Buescher, Byron also ran the tire test here in May. Should his Hendrick Motorsports teammates slip up, Byron should be there to pounce.

My model gives him an 8.7% chance to finish as the top Chevy. That beats the 6.7% implied odds by two full percentage points.

The Bet: William Byron Top Chevy +1400 | Bet to: +1200

Christopher Bell Top Toyota (+550)

Bell has been the best Toyota driver this year at road courses, so it’s a bit mind-boggling to see such a long price on him.

Yes, I know he blew an engine in practice, which caused him to miss qualifying and start 38th.

But this is a long race, and strategy and pit stops, as well as speed, will all come into play.

I’m happy to take the fastest Toyota at road courses this year at +550 at DraftKings.

Bell finishes as the top Toyota 25.2% of the time per my model, so even if it’s too high, there’s a ton of wiggle room down to the 15.4% implied odds.

The Bet: Christopher Bell Top Toyota +550 | Bet to: +450

Justin Haley Top 10 (+1000)

To end on a different type of bet, let’s take Haley to finish inside the top 10 at 10-1 odds on FanDuel.

Haley practiced 12th and starts 13th, so his speed is right on the cusp of the top 10 already.

Haley has a road-course win in the Truck Series and several podium finishes at road courses in the Xfinity Series.

His teammate, AJ Allmendinger, can claim Watkins Glen to be one of his best tracks. Allmendinger will be making his 11th Cup Series start at the Glen, bringing a wealth of knowledge on how to set up a car to go fast here.

My model gives Haley an 18.7% chance of finishing in the top 10 compared to 9.1% implied odds.

If Watkins Glen is even half as chaotic as the Indy road course — where I hit both Todd Gilliland (+3000) and Harrison Burton (+3400) to finish in the top 10 — then we could see another driver with double-digit odds to finish in the top 10 actually do so.

The Bet: Justin Haley Top 10 +1000 | Bet to: +800

Posted on by Dustin Albino

By no means has Hendrick Motorsports been out to lunch in the four road-course races this season. However, the team is still looking for its first win of the 2022 season when turning left and right — having won 10 of the previous 13. When the green flag drops in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen, Hendrick cars will occupy three of the top four positions.

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: Chase Elliott
Starter 2: Kyle Larson
Starter 3: William Byron
Starter 4: AJ Allmendinger
Starter 5: Tyler Reddick
Garage pick: Austin Cindric

NEXT IN LINE: Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez.

RISING: The fact Michael McDowell was able to squeeze into the top five in qualifying says all you need to know about his road racing expertise. Even more, he broke up the Hendrick Motorsports trio at the front of the field. His third-place starting position is the best pure qualifying effort of his Cup career.

For the most part, Justin Haley has struggled with raw speed on road courses this season. He has three top-20 efforts in four starts, but the No. 31 Chevrolet has been a non-factor for the top 10. Of the first 25 weekends of the year, Saturday ranks high among best days at the track for the team, with Haley running 12th in practice and 13th in qualifying — his best qualifying effort since April at Talladega (11th).

FALLING: Earlier this week, Ross Chastain was in my lineup. However, I elected to take him out with the No. 1 Chevrolet having to start 18th. While it’s likely Trackhouse will improve on Chastain’s car throughout the race, many drivers believe track position will be key on Sunday.

Toyota’s struggles on road courses in 2022 have been well-documented. However, Christopher Bell showed speed in the series’ last outing at the Indianapolis Road Course, running inside the top five for the majority of the race. The No. 20 car was 16th in practice on Saturday at Watkins Glen and blew an engine and wasn’t able to qualify. Bell will have to start from the rear Sunday, as will Kyle Busch, who was the lone Toyota driver to make the final round of qualifying.

FEATURED MATCHUPS

Ryan Blaney vs. Kevin Harvick: Neither driver had a good Saturday. Harvick turned the 24th quickest qualifying lap, while Blaney was two spots behind in 26th. In practice neither was much better — in fact, Harvick was worse — as Blaney ranked 17th and Harvick 31st. All that to say, it’s a tossup. But based on Blaney needing to score stage points, that might pay off for you in the long run.

Chase Elliott vs. Tyler Reddick: Reddick was one of the drivers who said Hendrick had improved on road courses entering Watkins Glen. With the No. 8 team winning the last two road-course events, it’s understandable to go with Reddick. That would, however, undermine Elliott’s recent track record at The Glen, posting two wins and a runner-up result in his last three tries. The choice here is Elliott.

Chris Buescher vs. Michael McDowell: This, too, is a pairing of equally matched Fords. While McDowell had stellar qualifying speed, Buescher’s race craft has been slightly better in the road courses this year. Either way, both drivers are on a streak of three straight top-10 finishes on road courses.

Harrison Burton vs. Todd Gilliland: Of all the drivers in the Cup field, Gilliland ranks high on the list of underrated drivers on road courses. He cruised to the Truck Series win at COTA last year, which caught the eyes of Front Row Motorsports. The No. 38 car was better than Burton in both practice and qualifying, so Gilliland should finish significantly better.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Ty Gibbs was poised to battle another Cup Series star for a NASCAR Xfinity Series win on a road course.

That was until things went awry in the inner loop at Watkins Glen International on Saturday afternoon.

On a restart with five laps to go, Gibbs wheeled his No. 54 Toyota in a fierce battle with William Byron side by side for half a lap. But the young Gibbs lost traction swinging from right to left, contacting Byron and sending both drivers plummeting from the lead battle to finishes outside the top 20. Byron finished 25th while Gibbs crossed the stripe 27th.

RELATED: Larson grabs Xfinity victory | Official results

“Going into the bus stop two-wide definitely not ever works,” Gibbs said. “But I felt like I had to do it. I didn’t want to pull by and let him win. I felt like that was my only shot because I feel like we were both equally fast and I feel like letting him by, I’m gonna lose that gap in the bus stop and I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get that back for the rest of the race.

“So just trying to go for it. I feel like that was win or lose right there and if you would go back and look at it, we’re all pinched up on that curb and I just got loose and wrecked us both, so it’s my fault.”

Byron had his best restart of the race and kept pace with Gibbs, who battled and beat Kyle Larson for the victory at Road America on July 2. Down the backstretch, Larson — driving a near-identical No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to Byron’s No. 17 for Hendrick Motorsports — gave Byron a helpful shove to help clear Gibbs.

Instead, Gibbs drove deep into the corner, a move that cost both drivers at the checkered flag while Larson won the race. Byron and Gibbs reconvened on pit road, and while Byron was frustrated with the result, came away understanding the circumstances.

“I felt like for as deep as I got into that bus stop, like with his angle, there’s no way he was going to make the corner,” Byron said. “So that’s just what I told him was kind of … he tried to match me into there and I still kind of felt like I gave him a lane on the curb. But he got in the dirt and once he got in the dirt, he was into my door.

“So I don’t know, just kind of two guys going for the win and a little bit of judgment maybe on his end, but, I just wish it wouldn’t have cleaned us out.”

Gibbs, an up-and-comer who will make his fifth Cup Series start Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in place of an injured Kurt Busch, was pleased the conversation didn’t end with hurt feelings or worse.

“I feel like he was very mature in that situation and he could have probably punched me but he didn’t,” Gibbs said.”But you know, he’s a very, very mature and respectable driver as we’ve all saw with him coming through the ranks. But it was my fault and he just came up and asked me and I feel like I respect that. I just was going for the win.”