Race leader Austin Hill was declared the winner of Saturday’s United Rentals 176 at the famed Watkins Glen International road course after lightning in the immediate area forced the field to stop on pit road 11 laps from the scheduled race finish.
Hill had taken a 1.023-second lead over John Hunter Nemechek before the trucks headed to pit road where they waited under red-flag conditions for nearly an hour before the race was officially called.
The race marked the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular-season finale, officially setting the 10-driver 2021 playoff field. And while there were no impactful moves in the standings as far as playoff eligibility, it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying in the Truck Series’ first race at the 2.45-mile vintage road course in 21 years.
Hill, who had previously only led two laps in his career on road courses, led a race-best 36 of the 61 laps in the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota to take his second win of the season – and second straight after claiming the trophy in the previous race, July 9 on the Knoxville Raceway dirt track in Iowa.
“It was nerve-wracking that’s for sure, I didn’t know if we were going to go back to green or not,” said Hill, 27, of Winston, Georgia. “It feels so good to win on a road course.
“I was really biting my nails a little bit when that rain came, I didn’t know what was going to happen with the lightning and all that. But they gave me a really great piece today and we were able to go out there and get it done. It’s really special to get a win at Watkins Glen.”
Nemechek’s runner-up effort was his series-best ninth top five. His five wins in the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota are most in the series this season and a personal-high mark for the 23-year-old second-generation star who also receives a 15-point bonus for winning the regular-season title.
The victory was especially big for Hill, moving him into second place in the standings, 28 points behind Nemechek to start the playoff run. Another two-race winner Ben Rhodes, who finished 15th Saturday, is ranked third.
The remainder of the 10-driver playoff field includes Todd Gilliland, 2020 series champion Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, three-time series champion Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen as well as first-time playoff contenders rookies Carson Hocevar and Chandler Smith.
Derek Kraus, the popular 19-year-old Wisconsin driver, was officially eliminated from playoff contention after spinning out with 19 laps remaining. Kraus had run in the top five early in the race, placing third in Stage 1. He started the race ranked 11th – 40 points from the playoff cutline. But he and Tyler Ankrum, who started the race 12th in points, essentially needed a victory to secure that playoff position. Ankrum finished seventh.
In many ways, Saturday’s race was a playoff preview. Gilliland won Stage 1 and Hill took the Stage 2 victory, both fending off runs by fellow championship-eligible drivers. Creed, who boasts the series all-time best average finish (3.0) on road courses, finished third. Gilliland was fourth, and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top five – his first top-five showing of the season.
The first three-race round of the 2021 playoffs begins Aug. 20 with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Gateway 200 (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at World Wide Technology Park at Gateway. The next two races of the round are are at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 5 and then Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 16.
Note: Inspection confirmed Hill’s No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota as the race winner. Chandler Smith’s 18th-place finish in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota was disqualified as his vehicle failed post-race heights. The infraction doesn’t impact Smith’s spot in the playoffs.
Austin Hill won Saturday’s regular-season finale — the United Rentals 176 — at Watkins Glen International, solidifying the postseason picture. The race was called with 11 laps remaining due to weather.
The Round of 10 begins Aug. 20 at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It’ll then continue at Darlington Raceway (Sept. 5) and Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 16), where two drivers will be eliminated. The Round of 8 consists of races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Raceway and will see four drivers eliminated following the Martinsville race. The title race will be held at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 5
The 10 drivers listed below make up the playoff field. The field includes two former champions in Sheldon Creed and Matt Crafton.
A familiar face graced Victory Lane once again at Stafford Motor Speedway.
For the ninth time in his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career, Ryan Preece was the victor at Stafford, outlasting points leader and defending champion Justin Bonsignore for his second consecutive and overall victory of the 2021 season.
“Gotta pull the ‘ole razzle dazzle,” Preece joked on NBC Sports’ TrackPass following the 30th annual GAF Roofing 150 Presented by Riverhead Building Supply. “We had a really good race car, that’s what it takes to win races.”
Preece led the opening 107 circuits from the pole before surrendering the lead to Doug Coby. Six laps later, a long-but-strategic pit stop relegated him to seventh. After a few more cautions and subsequent restarts, Preece found himself ready to pounce on eventual second-place finisher Bonsignore for the lead and completed the pass for the win with eight laps remaining.
The win comes just over two weeks following the Berlin, Connecticut, native’s triumph at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first of his career at The Magic Mile in the Modified Tour, and is pleased to see the speed in his No. 6 machine resulting in victories after some early season mishaps.
“We started off the year and had a lot of speed,” he said. “Due to my poor decisions, cost us a few races. But I’m glad to see we’re getting some victories now.”
Bonsignore’s runner-up result marks his third straight this season, dating back to New Hampshire and Lancaster. It’s also his third top-three result in his last four trips to Stafford and his fifth career second-place finish at the Connecticut short-track. After finishing 13th at Stafford earlier this season, the driver of the No. 51 now sits 0-for-40 at the famed half-mile in his career.
Jon McKennedy came home a season-best third. Entering the evening a distant third in the points standings, the Chelmsford, Massachusetts, native earned his third top five in 13 career starts at Stafford.
Doug Coby and Ron Silk rounded out the top five finishers, with Woody Pitkat, Patrick Emerling, Ronnie Williams, Eric Goodale and Tommy Catalano completing the top 10.
With another runner-up result, Bonsignore extended his points lead over Emerling with just five races remaining in the season.
Up next for the Whelen Modified Tour is a trip to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway on Aug. 21 for the Rumble at the Ridge 200, the first time in 16 years that the tour has visited the Scarborough, Massachusetts, 1/3-mile.
Pembelton, a rookie late model driver who has raced at several NASCAR-sanctioned tracks this season including South Boston and Langley Speedways and Dominion Raceway in Virginia, wanted to try to win state rookie of the year, “and if it all played out, regional and national, we could try to go for that.”
It’s worked out, and larger rookie of the year titles have come into Pembelton’s sights. He’s currently eighth in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I standings, the highest ranking rookie. He’s also the highest ranking rookie, and third overall, in the Virginia state rankings.
“This season has been, I’ve found it very, very good for us,” Pembelton said. “I did not expect to do as well as we’re doing.”
Pembelton has 10 top-5s and 14 top-10 finishes in 20 starts this season.
The 16-year-old began racing go-karts when he was about eight or nine, and switched to racing cars two years ago in South Boston’s limited late model series. He raced a limited at Dominion last season.
Racing at South Boston is about more than just trying to pick up rookie points for Pembelton. His dad, Brian, raced at the southern Virginia track and even won a track championship in the limited sportsman division in 2009.
Pembelton said his dad is the one who got him started in the sport, and is a still a “big factor” in his racing.
The Pembeltons consider South Boston their home track. It’s just over an hour from their home in Amelia, Virginia, the place Pembelton used to go to watch races every weekend, and where he’s run the most laps in his own young career.
“It’s definitely a big deal going there every week. Knowing that my dad raced there, we’ve both raced there now,” Pembelton said of South Boston. “It’s pretty cool. I definitely don’t remember as much as I needed to, of course. It’s a lot different watching than racing. Racing is definitely more fun in my opinion.
“The people are always very nice. it’s always very welcoming. Everyone always welcomes you to the race track. You never have anyone that’s picking and choosing. It’s always very equal. Everyone loves each other there. It’s just a family. A big family.”
Southern Virginia has also allowed Pembelton to run with and against some of the best late model drivers in the country and learn a lot from them on the track.
“Mike Looney, Peyton [Sellers], all the CARS tour guys when they came to the July 4th race (at South Boston), I learned a lot from those guys,” he said. “They race clean, they race respectful, they race hard though. It’s tooth and nail fighting every lap.”
Pembelton races out of Peyton Sellers’ shop, giving him a former NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion as a teammate. Sellers’ brother and crew chief, HC Sellers, has been friends with Brian Pembelton for more than two decades, and helped on the elder Pembelton’s car when he was racing at South Boston.
“I told him ever since Landon started racing go-karts, ‘If Landon wants to move up into cars, I want you to be his guy,’” Brian Pembelton said. “And it all came full-circle. And we plan to be there for a long time. It’s not a short term program for us. It’s a long term program for us to be there with those guys.”
The Sellers maintain Landon Pembelton’s car every week and have taught him a lot about racing.
“Just learning how to get the feedback on the car, what I needed to learn about the car to make it drive good, and they just helped me out on communication. I’ve learned a lot from those two,” Landon Pembelton said.
“They don’t get no better than that,” Brian Pembelton said of the Sellers brothers. “Everybody in their shop is a huge part of what we’re doing. For your teammate to be Peyton and have HC’s guidance, that’s probably what’s propelled him (Landon) to be as good as he is right now. The preparation of our equipment from them and their coaching, really, in all honesty, has kind of set Landon on fire this year, in my opinion.”
Landon Pembelton thanked the Sellers, crew members Chris Carroll, Stanley Pope, and Eric Winslow, and Brian Tanner with Tanner Race Engines for helping him every week and teaching him so much in his rookie late model season.
The rookie – who is sponsored by GXS Wraps, Pembelton Forest Products, Pembelton Realty, Williams Logging, Rheem, RPM Group, Easter Design, Solid Rock Carriers, and Sailor’s Creek Construction – isn’t running for points at any of the three tracks where he’s competed this year. The team is more just picking and choosing where they go every week, and trying to overcome the learning curve of adapting to each track.
His hope is to continue running in the top five wherever he goes. If he can, all of his big goals for his rookie season could continue to be in reach.
“I think we just need to keep running good. Running top five is our main focus here,” Landon Pembelton said. “Top fives are pretty big in the national and regional points. If you run top-5 it’s good points all the way across the board.
“It’s a lot more competition in a late model. It’s just a big deal racing against the best and running good with them. That’s what the main learning curve has been.”
Racing will return to South Boston Speedway this Saturday for the Davenport Energy Night At The Races, which will feature two heats of limited sportsman, two heats of late model, Budweiser Pure Stock, and Budweiser Hornets. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.
After COVID-19 restrictions eliminated its 2020 event, Watkins Glen International is back on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule as the sport returns from its two-week hiatus.
The 35th annual Go Bowling at The Glen is set for Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), so spare us a few minutes to preview all the Cup action ahead.
Brad Keselowski will lead the field to its first green flag since July 18, starting from the pole to begin a stretch of 14 consecutive weeks of racing. The starting top three at Watkins Glen will be a Team Penske party as Keselowski will be followed by teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney on the grid.
— The first road course in Watkins Glen was crafted by Cornell University law student Cameron Argetsinger via public roads through the village in 1948. Argetsinger had nowhere to race his sports car and convinced the Chamber of Commerce of the Village of Watkins Glen to host the first post-World War II street race in America on the 6.6-mile circuit.
— The course we know today was constructed in 1956 and opened in 1957, its first major event being a NASCAR Grand National (now Cup) Series race on Aug. 4 won by Buck Baker. The series returned in 1964 (Billy Wade) and in 1965 (Marvin Panch) but didn’t come back again until 1986.
— The Inner Loop section was added to the course’s backstretch in 1992, lengthening the track from 2.3 miles to 2.45 miles.
— The course was completely repaved in 2016, eliminating concrete patches that had previously dotted the track.
— This week’s race marks the 38th time the series will race at Watkins Glen.
Source: Racing Insights
RULES PACKAGE
NASCAR teams will utilize the low-downforce, high-horsepower package this weekend at Watkins Glen. As at all road courses on this year’s schedule, the cars will be trimmed with shorter spoilers and splitter lengths to lessen the impact of downforce around this seven-turn road course while also having more available power under the drivers’ right foot courtesy of 750 HP.
GOODYEAR TIRES
Watkins Glen is a unique road course for the pure speed element the layout brings. That speed combined with left and right turns — as well as how grippy the pavement is following the 2016 repave — creates a challenge for Goodyear to prepare the proper tire.
“In racing, speed means that there is a lot of heat generated in the tire, and that is the chief concern at The Glen,” Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, said. “For that reason, we bring a different tread compound than we have at other road courses, and one that is more heat resistant.“
Teams will use the same tire utilized in 2019 and will have five sets to use in the race.
Fans will be back in full force for this weekend’s event, the first time NASCAR will race in New York since 2019. Tickets remain available and can be purchased here or at the racetrack.
STORY LINES
— Chase Elliott has won each of the last two races at Watkins Glen, including his first career victory in 2018 and three of the four stages.
— Three of the last nine Watkins Glen races have produced first time winners (Marcos Ambrose 2011, AJ Allmendinger 2014, Elliott 2018).
— Only Ambrose (2011-12) and Elliott (2018-19) have repeated as winners in the last 11 Watkins Glen events.
— Only four drivers led laps at The Glen in 2019, the fewest number in the past 26 events there.
— Elliott has won six of the past eight road-course races and has seven such victories overall, trailing only Tony Stewart (eight) and Jeff Gordon (nine) for most all-time.
— There have been a total of five cautions for incident in the past three WGI races and only two instances ever of overtime, the most recent coming in 2011.
— There have been two last-lap passes at The Glen.
— There has not been a green-flag stretch over 20 laps in four of the past five road course races.
Source: Racing Insights
IF I WAS A BETTING MAN…
In all ways unsurprising, Chase Elliott is listed by BetMGM as the landslide favorite to win Sunday’s race at 9-5 (+180) odds. His teammate, Kyle Larson, slots in with the second-best chances at 9-2 (+450) with Martin Truex Jr. (13-2, +650) next.
While Elliott’s listing is as expected, perhaps Larson’s should come as a surprise. In six starts at The Glen, Larson has three top 10s and one lone top five, a fourth-place finish in his 2014 track debut. However, Larson has performed well on road courses this year, winning at Sonoma Raceway in June while turning in a runner-up finish at Circuit of the Americas.
Looking for a sleeper? Ross Chastain may be one to keep an eye on this weekend. Coming off Tuesday’s announcement that Chastain will drive the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing Team for the next seasons, Chastain has three top 10s in four road course events this year — fourth at COTA and seventh at both Sonoma and Road America. BetMGM lists Chastain at 40-1 (+4000) odds for The Glen, so consider him a possible play for cash this week.
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts. It’s not too late to join in on the competition.
The 2021 Fantasy Live points leaders are Denny Hamlin (870), Kyle Larson (847) and William Byron (740).
ALSO ON NASCAR.COM
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
New for this season, NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
While competing teams have been chipping away at Hendrick Motorsports’ superiority in recent weeks, the betting market expects the top Hendrick drivers to reassert their dominance when the Cup Series returns from its two-week break Sunday at Watkins Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Chase Elliott, winner of the two most recent races on the famed road course in upstate New York, is priced as the obvious favorite, with sportsbooks around the country dealing 2/1 odds on the No. 9 Chevrolet making it three in a row. Those are tight odds for a NASCAR outright market (betting on a driver to win the race), but it’s familiar territory for Elliott on a road course.
At Road America on July 4, Elliott claimed the checkers at +250 (5/2 odds, or bet $100 to win $250), a price bettors would relish on the No. 9 this week. Elliott was +200 (2/1) when he finished second on the Sonoma road course in June, +180 when he won at Austin’s Circuit Of The Americas in May, and +250 for his anomalous 21st-place finish on the Daytona Road Course in February.
Over the last nine road course races dating back to 2019, Elliott has six wins and two seconds. While this analysis is an oversimplification, that 66.67% win rate makes +200 odds (which imply a 33.33% chance to win) look awfully enticing.
Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen is the first of two consecutive road course stops for the Cup Series, with the road layout at Indianapolis Motor Speedway set for Aug. 15. In other words, expect a similar skinny price on Elliott next week.
Next on the Watkins Glen oddsboard is Elliott’s Hendrick teammate, Kyle Larson, who looked nearly untouchable during a nine-race stretch earlier this season in which he tallied four wins and four seconds (including the All-Star Race). That run included a win at Sonoma and a second in Austin, and the current favorite to win the 2021 Cup title has the market’s respect this week, priced at a consensus +450.
Looking for value among other contenders
Team Penske occupies the first three spots on Sunday’s starting grid, but Joe Gibbs Racing is the greatest threat to Hendrick, per the betting numbers. More specifically, it’s Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.
Truex’s road-course record is stellar, second only to Elliott’s, and while he hasn’t won a race since Darlington in May, there’s still plenty of confidence in the No. 19. In the 12 road course races since 2018, Truex has finished in the top 10 nine times, including a pair of wins and six top fives. With an 8.0 average finish and 114.1 rating over those dozen runs, he’s offered at +650 at BetMGM and Barstool, an attractive number when comparing it to the +500 being dealt at the market-making SuperBook USA in Las Vegas.
Busch has four wins in 38 career road-course races but none in his last 12. He has five top-five finishes on road courses since 2018, and his 97.1 driver rating during that stretch ranks fourth in the series.
And the No. 18 is in the best form of any team in the JGR garage, putting together six top fives over the eight most recent races, including a fifth at Sonoma and a third at Road America. Bettors buying into Busch but hesitant to back him to win the race at +800 odds have these among their other options at BetMGM: -105 for a top-five finish, +105 in a matchup prop vs. Truex, and -125 vs. Joey Logano.
Speaking of Logano, the No. 22 is offered at a fat +1500 at BetMGM and +1400 at Barstool to visit Victory Lane on Sunday, numbers that scream value when considering the +1000 posted at the SuperBook.
A pick to consider
Media personality Todd Fuhrman, a former Vegas oddsmaker, chimed in with a pick for NASCAR bettors to consider Sunday.
Ross Chastain has found some mid-season momentum, finishing in the top eight in five of the last nine races, including a fourth-place finish in Austin and a seventh at Road America. While the Chip Ganassi Racing driver is a long +4000 to win the race, per consensus pricing, Fuhrman likes the No. 42 Chevy to finish in the top 10 at +125, a number available at Barstool as of Friday.
While Larson is the clear favorite to win the 2021 NASCAR Cup Championship, one bettor in Las Vegas got down a substantial amount of money on Larson futures just before the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, the first of three straight points race victories for the No. 5.
Per an email NASCAR.com received from Michael Ranftle, a Sports Trader at BetMGM, that’s when a $20,000 wager was placed at the Bellagio on Larson at +550, a potential $110,000 payout.
“Smart time to get onboard,” Ranftle wrote.
Three weeks later, another bettor at Beau Rivage in Mississippi bet $10,000 Larson at +275, hoping to cash $27,500.
Ahead of Watkins Glen, BetMGM is on the low end of the Larson futures market, dealing +225, while Vegas bettors can find +300 at the SuperBook.
In the two races preceding the two-week break, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola disrupted a streak of 19 races won by a driver from either the Hendrick, Gibbs or Penske garage, slipping into the playoff field. While Busch can be had at +2500 and Almirola for +4000 at BetMGM, neither has drawn much betting interest, according to Ranftle, as Larson, Ellliott and Kurt’s brother, Kyle, have seen the bulk of futures action.
Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.
Going to a NASCAR race is like partaking of a meal in a fancy restaurant: you’re there for the main course, but it’s the a la carte add-ons and appetizers that help enhance the overall experience.
With NASCAR, the main course is, of course, the race. But it’s the extras that add increased value to your enjoyment.
Those extras can come in the manner of at-track events or activities at nearby locations. We like to call them “under-the-radar” experiences.
As part of NASCAR’s Summer Family Fun initiative, here are 10 categories that if you haven’t already done so, check them out the next time you head to your favorite track.
1) “Hands-on” pedal to the metal: If you can’t be a race car driver in real life, you can pretend to be one for at least a few laps – under the watchful eyes of trained and safety-conscious instructors, of course. Among some of the best NASCAR-themed racing schools that operate around the country, including many NASCAR tracks (search for them in your favorite online browser) are the Richard Petty Driving Experience, the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience, Seat Time Racing School, Radford Racing School, and even the Mario Andretti Racing Experience for those of you who feel the need for speed Indy car-style.
2) Channel your inner Michael Waltrip: One of the things Michael Waltrip has become best known for on NASCAR on FOX telecasts is his pre-race “grid walk,” where he talks to drivers on pit road. You can have your own version of the grid walk, as many tracks have pre-race track walks and track tours (some operate almost every day of the year, in-season or out-of-season, but check because during the COVID-19 pandemic their schedules/tour policies may have changed). Among key tracks: Daytona International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
3) Racing museums have a different kind of “art collection”: Many race tracks play host to museums – either on the actual grounds of the track or nearby – that focus on various forms of racing, most notably NASCAR. Among some of the best: NASCAR Hall of Fame (Charlotte, N.C.), International Motorsports Hall of Fame (Talladega, Ala.), Richard Childress Racing Museum (Welcome, N.C.), Darlington Raceway Stock Car Museum and the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (Darlington, S.C.), Wood Brothers Racing Museum and the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame (Stuart, Va.), Petty Museum (Randleman, N.C.), Penske Racing Museum (Phoenix, Az.), Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (Daytona Beach, Fla.), North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame (Mooresville, N.C.) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (Speedway, Ind.).
4) It’s not sacrilegious to pay homage to other sports (and even Rock & Roll): If you’re looking for something else in addition to attending a NASCAR race, you won’t upset the racing gods if you tie in activities associated with other sports. For example, if you go to Michigan International Speedway for a NASCAR race, you can visit nearby locations like the Henry Ford Museum (Dearborn, Mich.), the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Canton, Ohio) and even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland, Ohio). If you find yourself at Watkins Glen International, you would also have a great time at the Baseball Hall of Fame in legendary Cooperstown, N.Y. If you go to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, head over to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Your choice of racing “add-ons” is only limited by your imagination.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
5) Play me a tune, will you? For nearly its entire existence, NASCAR has practically been joined at the hip by the world of music. Regardless of the genre, be it country or rock or pop, soul or hip-hop, NASCAR fans love ‘em some tunes. Over the years, numerous NASCAR tracks have played host to some of the biggest names in the music business, often times offering a value-added pre-race concert that is part of your ticket price. And many continue that practice today. Among some of the best that have played the NASCAR circuit over the years: REO Speedwagon, Def Leppard, Sammy Hagar (formerly of Van Halen), Loverboy, Pitbull, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs (pictured), Zac Brown Band, Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Kansas and many others.
6) What comes after racin’ and music? Food, of course! Fans aren’t just hungry for racing, they’re also hungry for food, with many of those same race fans having acquired some favorite places to visit to indulge their tummies at all points in-between from Loudon to Los Angeles. One of the most notable places is In-N-Out Burger, which has locations in many states including California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas and Colorado. In fact, it’s a NASCAR tradition for hundreds of NASCAR team members, drivers and officials to immediately go from landing at the airport to the nearest In-N-Out location for famous Double-Double burgers, fries and the like. Other places that highlight race fans’ palates include Indianapolis (St. Elmo’s Steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse), Loudon (the Weathervane seafood restaurant), Talladega (Sonny’s BBQ), and many more.
7) Don’t forget your swimsuit: When you’re tired from a long day at the track and want to cool off or work on your tan, one of the nice things about NASCAR is how many tracks are close to beaches, oceans and/or lakes. Among the more notable: Daytona Beach, Miami Beach (near Homestead-Miami Speedway); Venice Beach in Los Angeles; beaches along the eastern shore in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts; the Atlantic Ocean near Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, and, of course, the home to many drivers and teams: Lake Norman, north of Charlotte.
8) Let’s play – err, let’s race – two (or more) today: Baseball Hall of Famer, the late Ernie Banks, had one of the greatest sayings in baseball. “Let’s play two today,” Banks enthusiastically uttered hundreds of times during his career, essentially calling for a doubleheader so fans could see twice the amount of baseball in a day for the price of just one ticket. NASCAR racing has something similar to that: a number of tracks like to hold additional events on NASCAR race weekends. Places like Charlotte Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, in particular, oftentimes host undercard race events on Cup weekends that feature sprint cars, late models and modifieds at the short tracks adjacent to the parent facilities. But there’s other racing to be had, as well: visit some of the nearly one-thousand grassroots tracks around the country where many of NASCAR’s greatest drivers got their racing career starts. It’s rare that you can’t find an open short track within an hour or so from a NASCAR track.
9) A “shop-ing” we will go: One of the best parts of attending NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway are the literally dozens of race shops (across the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series), souvenir stores and racing-related businesses that call the Charlotte area home and also where you can take tours and shop for souvenirs. At present, most shops are closed for tours to the public as a precaution from COVID-19, but some team stores are open. One big tip: shops are typically less crowded around the October ROVAL race at CMS than the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend.
10) Last but not least: Two other bits of extracurricular activities that have grown significantly in recent years are gambling/betting and visits to wineries. With more states legalizing sports gambling, fans can get even closer to all the race action by betting on their favorite drivers to beat the odds. And some tracks are particularly close to casinos including Michigan, Dover, New Hampshire, Kansas, Las Vegas and Indianapolis. And if you’re thirsty, there are several wineries within close proximity to a number of tracks, including places like Richard Childress’ Vineyards near Lexington, N.C., as well as “wine country” near Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, and other grapes of race (not wrath) in states that host NASCAR events.
This article was originally published on Aug. 1, 2018.
NASCAR Cup Series drivers are set to take on the fifth road course of the season — the 2.45-mile, seven-turn Watkins Glen International located in the Finger Lakes region of central New York.
Drivers will see higher speeds compared to other road courses on the schedule. Mark Martin, three-time winner at The Glen, once said Watkins Glen is the “superspeedway of road courses.”
Ahead of Sunday’s GoBowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), we analyze each turn the competitors will need to master for 90 laps to have a shot at victory.
Turn 1: Once drivers take the green flag, they are immediately faced with a downhill trek into the first corner. Carrying a ton of speed down the straightaway, this is a heavy braking zone in order to get the car slowed down enough to make the right-hand turn. This is one of the best opportunities to make a pass, and Turn 1 can get chaotic very quickly, especially on restarts.
Turn 2: After making it through the first turn, the drivers hop on a short straight which leads them gradually uphill and into the second right-hand corner. This turn begins the ascent through the “esses” portion of the road course.
Turn 3: Continuing the uphill climb through the esses, this sweeping left-hander can be treacherous as drivers begin to carry some speed up the slope.
Turn 4: This corner is the final portion of the esses. Drivers complete the uphill climb and the corner starts to level off, building up more speed as they enter the backstretch of the road course.
Inner Loop: The backstretch allows the drivers to gain a ton of momentum, which leads them into another heavy braking zone and into the bus stop, or the inner loop section of the course. Hot on the brakes upon entry, this is a great place to overtake someone before making a quick series of right- and left-hand turns. Lots of slipping, sliding and spinning is bound to occur here.
Turn 5: Also referred to as the carousel, drivers approach this long, sweeping right-hander. With a banking of 10 degrees, the steepest turn of the road course, it allows drivers to build up speed as they make their way onto the straightaway leading into Turn 6.
Turn 6: After gaining speed while traveling down the 2,040-foot chute, drivers are approached with another heavy braking zone at the entrance of this left-hand corner. Competitors use this turn to either make a quick pass, or to set themselves up for a pass heading into Turn 7.
Turn 7: Once they are through Turn 6, a short chute gives the drivers just enough time to adjust to make a good angle through the final corner. This is another chance to make a quality pass as the right-hand bend trickles drivers onto the frontstretch and down to the start-finish line.
The 2021 NASCAR Champion’s Week will return to Nashville, Tennessee, taking “Music City” by storm from Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The annual postseason celebration that sees drivers, industry luminaries and celebrities alike help formally crown the series champion will be held Dec. 2 at the Music City Center in downtown Nashville.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion will be crowned once again in Tennessee after the awards were last held in person in the city in 2019 and met with amazing support from some of the most passionate fans in the industry. All three national series will be lauded this time, with the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series champions set to be celebrated as well.
Other Champion’s Week events will be announced at a later date.
Photo credit: Music City Center
The formal postseason Awards is a tradition that stretches back to 1981, when the event was held in New York City. It relocated to Las Vegas in 2009 and Nashville in 2019 before a virtual show in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NASCAR and Nashville have a history, too.
A long-awaited and successful return to Nashville Superspeedway happened this year, seeing championship hopeful Kyle Larson take home the Cup win in a national series tripleheader weekend. The 1.33-mile concrete track sat dormant since the final NASCAR-sanctioned event — an Xfinity Series race won by now-retired driver Carl Edwards on July 23, 2011. Under the guidance of new track president Erik Moses, a multi-million dollar transformation saw a multitude of improvements and developments bring the track up to date and ready for the full capacity crowds it saw back in June.
In addition, Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville hosted 42 Cup Series races from 1958-84, with the circuit visiting twice a year from 1973-84.
NASCAR will continue to work in accordance with local and state government and health officials, using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization’s guidelines to ensure a safe event.
NASCAR is launching a pair of initiatives this week aimed at educating race fans about sports betting.
“Education is a top one, two or three priority for me,” Joe Solosky, NASCAR’s managing director of sports betting, said in April, about a month into his new job. “It’s something that I’m working on … to teach fans how to bet on NASCAR or what the advantages and differences are of NASCAR against other sports.”
Ahead of Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), NASCAR will roll out the first in a series of five short videos featuring media personality and former Las Vegas oddsmaker Todd Fuhrman. The videos feature Fuhrman offering 90-second tutorials on a variety of NASCAR betting markets.
The first episode focuses on the outright market (the race winner) and is set to be followed by episodes covering the winning team; winning manufacturer; odds to finish in the top three, five and 10; and head-to-head matchup props.
“The best part about NASCAR is that the market changes week to week, and you’re going to have ample opportunity to shop around for the best prices,” Fuhrman tells viewers.
“It’s not just going to the window for a ticket on the favorite at 3-to-1 hoping for the best-case scenario,” he continues, “but shopping around through a variety of our NASCAR partners and identifying not only the favorite but some of the value propositions that are available and maybe even that long shot you think has an excellent chance to grab the checkered flag,”
While Cup Series races are typically won by drivers with short odds, the video highlights the fact that multiple races this season have been won by long shots, including Aric Almirola (at 75-1) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 18.
Plans call for one video to be shown each week through the rest of the season. The end roll of the videos have branding from NASCAR’s three betting partners – BetMGM, Barstool Sportsbook, and Wynn BET – as well as “Have a Game Plan,” the American Gaming Association’s responsible gambling program.
Odds Ticker
Beginning with this weekend’s Cup race at Watkins Glen, viewers of NASCAR Drive, the NASCAR.com live streaming product featuring in-car cameras, will see a crawl across the top of the screen presenting live odds.
Fans will have the ability to opt-out of the odds ticker as Solosky stressed the ticker is an educational initiative, not a revenue driver. The odds viewers will see are consensus numbers aggregated by SharpLink, a gaming technology partner of NASCAR’s, not specific lines from one of the racing organization’s betting sponsors.
There is certainly a revenue opportunity down the road, of course. The ticker could be sponsorable real estate, and functionality could be built to take viewers directly to a betting platform with a simple click.
“We’re taking a crawl before you walk approach with this,” Solosky said. “We’re getting people used to seeing odds on a second-screen experience but having some sort of link to a bookmaker is probably a logical next step.”
Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.
