NASCAR playoffs have arrived at Watkins Glen International. It’s the first time the 2.45-mile road course will be a part of the Cup Series postseason.
“We’ve had pretty good road course stuff for like a little less than a decade, and I feel like it just builds on itself,” said William Byron, the 2023 Go Bowling at the Glen winner.
He joined the recent Hendrick Motorsports domination at Watkins Glen International, as the team has won the last five races.
“Watkins Glen is just a faster place. So it probably takes a little bit of everything,” Byron said ahead of the race. “Engine is probably really important. So we have always had great engines. So I feel like we were just able to make the straightaways good, and get through the braking zones and everything.”
But Byron and the No. 24 team will enter the race this year with some work to do. Byron is fifth in the playoffs after one race. He’ll start 11th on Sunday.
And if a road course for the postseason wasn’t enough of a curveball, teams will also be dealing with a new tire compound this weekend. It features a tire tread expected to create about three seconds worth of lap-time fall-off from the start of a run through its conclusion.
“We’re in a good position with the points. But I’m trying just to focus in the race, calculating the car, how can I maximize the potential over the weekend,” said Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 99 car.
“Big weekend here. This is a great place for me. I love coming up here, and we put a lot of effort in,” said Martin Truex Jr., who drives the No. 19 car. “So we’ll see how it turns out this weekend.”
Truex, the last non-Hendrick Motorsports driver to win the cup series at the Glen, is set to retire from full-time racing after this season. He sits on the playoff bubble and will start second.
As one driver plans his exit, another is making a return. Juan Pablo Montoya will run in a Cup Series race for the first time since 2014 on Sunday. He’ll start 34th on the grid.
“I’m going to go out there and go, ‘Oh it’s not too bad,’ or I’m going to go ‘Oh [expletives],’” said Montoya, who will drive the No. 50 car. “But we’ll see.”
Ross Chastain won the pole and will start first. Go Bowling at the Glen will get underway 3 p.m. Sunday.