PREVIEW: Road ringers and Cup regulars set to do battle at Watkins Glen
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport, @JARnascar
Saturday, September 14, 2024 (3:00 P.M. ET, USA)
XFINITY Race 25 of 33
Mission 200 at the Glen at Watkins Glen
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Blaine Perkins
ENTRY LIST
With the XFINITY Series regular season finale coming next week in Bristol, there are 41 drivers entered for 38 spots, meaning three will fail to qualify.
RETURNING: #13-Motorsports Business Management
First among the “road ringer” contingent for Saturday’s race is Kyle Keller, who runs a plain white #13 Ford for Carl Long. This would be Keller’s NASCAR national series debut following three ARCA Menards Series starts, all in the last three spring Phoenix races with a best finish of 5th in 2023. He also ranks 5th in the current standings for the ARCA Menards Series West, most recently earning his second-straight 5th-place showing at the Tri-City Raceway in Washington state.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
IndyCar Series competitor R.C. Enerson returns to NASCAR for the first time since his 28th-place showing at COTA this past spring, when he drove for this same team with the same sponsorship from the Lucas Oil School of Racing. Enerson made his lone Cup start at this same Watkins Glen track three years ago, when he finished 34th for Rick Ware.
DRIVER CHANGE: #15-AM Racing
In what is the final XFINITY Series race of the season where Cup Series drivers can enter, last Sunday’s Atlanta winner Joey Logano is the first of four inexplicably competing in Saturday’s race. Logano teams up with AM Racing for the first time since Darlington two races ago, where engine trouble left him in last place. He takes the place of Lawless Alan, who nearly finished in the Top Five in Atlanta before contact dropped him to 13th. Logano has won this race at The Glen three times, including his most recent in 2018, and has finished no worse than 3rd in his last five attempts. So, you know, he needs the extra track time.
RETURNING: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron, who utterly dominated the Cup race at Watkins Glen last summer, is the next Cup driver in the show, bringing back the Hendrick #17 for the first time since Darlington earlier this month, when Elliott finished 4th. Byron’s latest XFINITY Series start came in Pocono last month, where he finished 3rd.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Still in pursuit of his first Cup Series win as he hangs onto a spot in the Playoffs, Ty Gibbs will likewise pull double-duty for his 65th XFINITY Series start, his sixth of the year, and first since his runner-up finish to Shane van Gisbergen on the Chicago Street Course. Gibbs takes the place of Taylor Gray, who finished 28th after late-race suspension issues following a crash.
DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Joe Gibbs Racing
Aric Almirola once again carries race sponsor Go Bowling at Watkins Glen, this time taking the place of 10th-place Atlanta finisher Ryan Truex in the JGR #20. This will be just the third XFINITY Series start at The Glen for Almirola, his first since a track-best 5th for the Biagi team in 2018. In 12 Cup starts at the track dating back to 2008, he didn’t score a single top-ten finish with a best of 12th in 2019.
DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
Another IndyCar competitor in the field is a returning Ed Jones, who seeks to make his fourth XFINITY Series start of the year and first since a 15th-place showing in Sonoma. Jones takes the place of Corey Heim, who was in position to challenge for the win last Saturday in Atlanta before late-race contact dropped him to 5th. While Heim ran an unsponsored flat black #26, Jones carries backing from Toyota Genuine Parts.
RETURNING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing / Peterson Racing Group
NEW TEAM: #87-Jordan Anderson Racing / Peterson Racing Group
Expanding their road course partnership with the Peterson Racing Group, the Jordan Anderson team is making a full-on assault on The Glen with no fewer than four entries – full-timers Jeb Burton and Parker Retzlaff along with the two yellow Peterson cars. Back in the #32 is a returning Austin Green, who has yet to finish worse than 15th in his four impressive series starts this year, capped by a 4th at Sonoma. Alongside him, the team brings the #87 from their originally planned stand-alone entry, a number they also campaign in Trans-Am. Driving this car is Green’s teammate in Trans-Am TA2, Mike Skeen, who carries backing from the Navy Seal Foundation. Skeen hasn’t started a XFINITY Series race since his series debut in 2018, when he finished 28th at this same track for the now-shuttered JD Motorsports. He also has a pair of Truck Series starts, but none since 2020. He’s remained busy in the world of endurance racing, and just this past June at The Glen steered his Mercedes AMG GT3 around the track.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Racing
After driving the final JD Motorsports entry around Pocono to a 28th-place finish, Thomas Annunziata will make his first attempt since, this time with Joey Gase and returning sponsorship from the NFPA. Annunziata’s most recent ARCA Menards Series start also came on a road course, where he finished 4th at Mid-Ohio. He takes the place of Mason Maggio, who finished 18th last Saturday in Atlanta.
RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #36-DGM Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing
Josh Bilicki returns to the XFINITY Series for the first time since his 30th-place showing in Daytona last month, and for the first time this year drives Mario Gosselin’s #91 entry, which this year has been Kyle Weatherman’s ride. Weatherman is entered as well, but in the team’s part-time #36 entry. Bilicki will carry sponsorship from Chemung Supply Corporation.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
Looking to rebound after a disappointing practice accident at the Chicago Street Course is Alon Day, who climbs back aboard Alpha Prime’s #45 JSSI Chevrolet. Day once again seeks his first XFINITY Series start since 2016 at Road America, when he finished 30th for Carl Long. He takes the place of Garrett Smithley, who finished 23rd in Atlanta.
PAINT SCHEME: #48-Big Machine Racing
Just before Thursday’s announcement that he’d be stepping away from full-time competition at the end of this season, Parker Kligerman and the Big Machine team unveiled a new paint scheme for Saturday with sponsor Borchetta Bourbon. The design is a tribute to A.J. Foyt, whose likeness is on a limited edition bottle of the product.
MISSING: #53-Joey Gase Racing
Not among the entries this week – unlike at Chicago – is the second Gase entry with which Morge Baird finished 33rd in his series debut at Atlanta.
RETURNING: #88-JR Motorsports
This Saturday marks the highly anticipated XFINITY Series debut of Connor Zilisch, a four-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series and already a polesitter in his Truck Series debut at COTA earlier this year, where he recovered from an early miscue to finish 4th. Zilisch brings back the high-powered part-time #88 entry from JRM with Carolina Carports as sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #92-DGM Racing
Also among the Cup regulars in the field is Ross Chastain, who takes the place of 20th-place Atlanta finisher Nick Leitz. Chastain makes his fourth series start of the year an first since a 12th earlier this month in Darlington.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Former Big Machine Racing driver Jade Buford seeks his first XFINITY Series start since last year at Talladega, where he finished 36th in a second Big Machine entry. He this time drives the flagship SS-Green Light entry, taking the place of 34th-place Atlanta finisher C.J. McLaughlin, who had engine trouble in the late stages of that race. Buford finished 21st in this race three years ago, his only series start at The Glen.
CUP INVADERS: #15-Joey Logano, #17-William Byron, #19-Ty Gibbs, #92-Ross Chastain
Sunday, September 15, 2024 (3:00 P.M. ET, USA)
CUP Race 28 of 36
Round of 16: Race 2 of 3
Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Michael McDowell
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 40 spots, so all will qualify. This remains the 24th short field in 28 races this season.
RETURNING: #13-Kaulig Racing
As Shane van Gisbergen pulls double-duty by staying in the #16 following his 32nd-place finish last Sunday in Atlanta, the Kaulig team brings back its part-time #13 entry for 2014 race winner A.J. Allmendinger, who like Almirola on Saturday carries sponsorship from Go Bowling. This will be Allmendinger’s first series start since Michigan, where his 30th-place finish was his fourth in a row of 21st or worse.
DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Racing
RWR has elected to run Kaz Grala in the #15 once more this week, swapping out Cody Ware, who finished 30th after the last-lap chaos in Atlanta. Grala welcomes returning sponsor Meat ‘n Bone for what will be his 25th series start and first since his 34th-place effort in the Southern 500. This will be Grala’s first Cup start at The Glen, where he’s made three XFINITY starts with a best of 5th in 2022.
MISSING: #44-NY Racing Team
Curiously, J.J. Yeley and the NY Racing Team are not making the trip to upstate New York following a 23rd-place finish last week in Atlanta.
RETURNING: #50-23XI Racing
After much anticipation, 23XI Racing has brought back 2010 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya to run their part-time entry with sponsorship from Mobil 1. This will be Montoya’s first Cup start since July 27, 2014, when he finished 23rd for Roger Penske in the Brickyard 400. When he last competed at Watkins Glen in 2013, he finished 5th. He also led a lap that day, having led in five of his seven series starts at The Glen.
MISSING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
B.J. McLeod is not entered this week following a 25th-place finish in Atlanta.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
TRUCKS Race 18 of 23
Round of 10: Race 2 of 3
UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Jack Wood
Next Thursday, the Truck Series returns to continue the Round of 10 in Bristol.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (September 13, 1959): Dick Getty picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in a 100-lap race at the California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento when his #4 1959 Chevrolet lost the engine after 6 laps. Getty made 26 starts in Cup with a best finish of 5th three times in 1957.
