2 months agoRichard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon will start the Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International from the 23rd position after qualifying. This marks the lowest starting position for Dillon at the Glen since 2019 when he started from the 28th position. In nine previous races at WGI, Dillon has three top-20 finishes, including two of the last three Cup events at the site. With 27 races completed so far in the 2024 season, Dillon has one win and 10 top-20 finishes, including five of the last six Cup events. At road courses this year, Dillon failed to capture positive Place Differential in all of them and only finished as high as 19th on the Chicago Street Course. In practice, Dillon ranked last of all drivers in overall lap averages and 37th in five consecutive lap averages. Considering Dillon's inconsistent history at WGI, underwhelming practice speeds, and lackluster results on road courses this year, fantasy players should fade Dillon on Sunday.Source: DriverAverages.com
2 months agoDuring qualifying for this week's Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International, Ross Chastain gained the pole and will start the race first. It is Chastain's second career pole position in the Cup Series and the first on a road course. In five races at Watkins Glen, Chastain's best finish is 12th, but he also has four finishes with positive PD at the site. In 27 races completed in the 2024 season, Chastain has nine top-10 finishes, including finishes of seventh and fifth at the road courses of COTA and Sonoma, respectively. In practice, Chastain was one of the fastest drivers as he ranked sixth in overall lap averages and in the Top 3 of all other categories on speed. Even if Chastain offers no upside since he starts first, his blistering practice speeds and overall history at road courses outside of Watkins Glen make him a favorite to compete for the win and lead laps as an early dominator.Source: DriverAverages.com
2
months
agoFor
the
Go
Bowling
at
the
Glen
at
Watkins
Glen
International,
William
Byron
will
start
the
race
from
the
11th
position,
which
will
be
the
first
time
Byron
will
start
outside
of
the
top
10
at
the
site
since
the
Next-Gen
car's
introduction
in
2022.
In
five
previousread more...
2 months agoChase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing will start 12th in this week's Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International after qualifying. This is the highest starting position to date for Briscoe in the Cup Series at Watkins Glen. In three races at the site, Briscoe's best finish was ninth in 2021, which was his only finish inside the Top 20 in his career at the New York road course. Through 27 races so far this season, Briscoe has one win and seven top-10 finishes. Briscoe's best finish on a road course so far this season was 13th at COTA after starting 32nd. In practice, Briscoe ranked ninth of all drivers in overall and 15 consecutive lap averages. While the No. 14 Ford driver is a usable option for DFS and likely to maintain a position inside the Top 15 based on practice speeds and equipment, there are better alternatives around his price range with more upside to favor this week. This is especially true with Briscoe's inconsistent finishes in the Cup Series at WGI. Source: DriverAverages.com
2
months
agoHendrick
Motorsports
driver
Alex
Bowman
will
start
this
week's
Go
Bowling
at
the
Glen
at
Watkins
Glen
International
from
the
fourth
position.
This
is
the
highest
starting
position
of
Bowman's
Cup
career
at
Watkins
Glen
and
it
will
also
be
the
first
time
he
will
ever
start
inread more...
3 months agoOne playoff driver can now sleep easily over the next two weeks, and that driver is Joey Logano. The Team Penske driver got the win in the first postseason race of the season on Sunday, grabbing the checkered flag after an overtime finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was Logano's second win of the 2024 season and his second at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The previous one came back in 2023. After the race was over on Sunday, Logano addressed his team over the radio, saying, "That's how we start the playoffs, boys! When it is playoff time, it is our time." Logano now locks in at least a 12th-place finish in the points standings no matter what happens the rest of the year. Source: ESPN
3 months agoThere's just something about the "new" Atlanta race track that fits Daniel Suarez well. Since the track was repaved and reconfigured in 2021, Suarez has finished sixth or better in five of the six races, including a pair of second-place results as well as a win over the last three. This past Sunday, Suarez finished runner-up to race-winner, Joey Logano, and although the Trackhouse Racing driver wasn't able to lock himself into the next round of playoffs, he earned a healthy 42 points on the day and now sits 22 points above the cut line with two races remaining in the first round of this year's playoffs. The series now heads to Watkins Glen, where Suarez has finished inside the top five in three of his six career starts at the road course.Source: NASCAR.com
3 months agoThe bad-luck streak for Martin Truex Jr. continued on at Atlanta Motor Speedway this past weekend, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was collected in a wreck with Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher on Lap 205 of the Quaker State 400. Truex ultimately finished 35th when it was all said and done, earning just four points on the day. He now sits below the cut line in the first round of the playoffs -- 19 points behind Ty Gibbs, who is in 12th. Truex now has six straight finishes of 24th or worse and has finished outside of the top 20 in 10 of the last 13 races overall. Now the series heads to Watkins Glen, where Truex has one victory and has finishes of seventh or better in six of the last seven races there. However, the question has to remain: Will this bad-luck bug finally jump off of the No. 19 team? We'll find out on Sunday.Source: NASCAR.com
3 months agoWhen it came to Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team's in-race strategy at Atlanta this past weekend, it left many people scratching their heads. Hamlin had drivetrain issues during qualifying on Saturday and was forced to start dead last for the race, but even after the green flag waves, it appeared as though Hamlin was content with riding around in the back for the entirety of the race. The No. 11 Toyota had an average running position of 30.82 during the race, which was just 33rd-best out of the 38 total cars. Hamlin ended up crossing the finish line in 24th-place, earning just 13 points on the day. After the race, Hamlin said, "I was trying to get 20 points out of the day. That was my goal--just get 20 however we could." The questionable strategy puts Hamlin just two points above the cut line in the playoffs with two races remaining in the first round.Source: SpeedSport
3
months
agoTyler
Reddick
of
23XI
Racing
placed
sixth
at
the
end
of
Sunday's
Quaker
State
400
at
Atlanta
Motor
Speedway.
Starting
the
race
from
the
23rd
position,
Reddick
would
methodically
make
his
way
through
the
pack
as
the
race
progressed.
In
the
first
stage,
Reddick
ascended
a
couple
ofread more...
3 months agoHendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson ended Sunday's Quaker State in a disappointing 36th-place finish. Starting from sixth place, Larson established himself as one of the fastest drivers in the field during the first stage. Larson spent most of the first stage racing in the Top 3 with Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell, trading positions between all three drivers. On lap 57 before the end of the first stage, however, Larson's car ended up getting loose, and he smacked the wall hard, collecting Chase Briscoe in the process. The damage obtained by Larson would be too much to continue, and he ended a race at AMS wrecked for the fourth time in a row. Expect Larson to bounce back at Watkins Glen, where the Cup Series is visiting next, as he has five top-10 finishes in nine starts at the site, including winning two of the last three Cup events there.Source: NASCAR.com
3
months
agoFor
the
Quaker
State
400
at
Atlanta
Motor
Speedway,
Brad
Keselowski
finished
19th
on
Sunday.
Starting
19th
at
the
beginning
of
the
race,
Keselowski
struggled
to
gain
track
position
throughout
the
entire
day.
In
the
first
stage,
Keselowski
fell
back
to
25th
and
failed
to
score
stage
points.read more...
3
months
agoIn
Sunday's
Quaker
State
400
at
Atlanta
Motor
Speedway,
William
Byron
finished
ninth.
Starting
the
race
from
the
same
exact
position,
Byron
drove
a
quiet
race
and
ran
inside
the
Top
10
during
the
first
two
stages.
At
the
end
of
the
first
stage,
Byron
placed
eighth,
capturingread more...
3
months
agoAlex
Bowman
of
Hendrick
Motorsports
placed
fifth
at
the
end
of
the
Quaker
State
400
at
Atlanta
Motor
Speedway.
Beginning
the
race
from
the
11th
position,
Bowman
quickly
established
himself
as
one
of
the
more
competitive
drivers,
ascending
to
fourth
by
lap
25.
Bowman
kept
the
pace
upread more...
3
months
agoChristopher
Bell
finished
fourth
in
Sunday's
Quaker
State
400
at
Atlanta
Motor
Speedway.
The
No.
20
Toyota
driver
started
the
race
in
the
back
half
of
the
pack
from
the
26th
position
right
from
the
first
stage.
Bell
would
go
on
to
finish
19th
by
the
end
ofread more...