For the second time this season, William Byron found himself in Victory Lane. The driver of the #24 saved enough fuel at Iowa to secure another checkered flag. Now, NASCAR heads to Watkins Glen International for the 2025 Go Bowling at the Glen.
NASCAR returns to a road course for the first time since Sonoma, where Shane Van Gisbergen claimed his third straight road course win over the course of this season. Can someone step up to challenge SVG for the win at the Glen, or will we see the Kiwi claim four straight at road courses in the Cup Series?
Let’s dive in.
2025 Go Bowling at the Glen Entry List
NASCAR has a full field for the Glen this year, with 40 entries on the list. Among the part-time Cup drivers I’m most excited to see is Connor Zilisch. The young phenom has been on a heater in the Xfinity Series and finds himself tied at the top of the points picture. Zilisch will run the #87 for Trackhouse.
Along with Zilisch will be Katherine Legge in the #78, J.J. Yeley in the #44, and Josh Bilicki in the #66 will start at Watkins Glen. Legge had an impressive run a couple of weeks back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and looks to run well again this week at the Glen.
"WHAT DID WE JUST SEE?!" 🗣️
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 6, 2025
An instant classic was made at @WGI with this last-lap pass from @Chris_Buescher. pic.twitter.com/ncp7Uf3Vsh
Watkins Glen has featured some incredible races over the years. Last year featured a magnificent battle between Chris Buescher and Shane Van Gisbergen. However, the Glen can also turn into a strategy race. The track is an extremely high-speed road course compared to the slower, more technical Sonoma. Fans ought to be excited about this one.
Playoff Picture Heading into the Glen
We still sit at just 13 drivers currently locked into the postseason as three more races remain in the regular season. Byron’s win at Iowa improved his standing slightly. The Glen could see another driver below the cut line punch their ticket. Let’s take a look at the standings.
- Denny Hamlin – Four Wins
- Kyle Larson – Three Wins
- Christopher Bell – Three Wins
- Shane Van Gisbergen – Three Wins
- William Byron – Two Wins
- Chase Elliott – One Win
- Ryan Blaney – One Win
- Chase Briscoe – One Win
- Bubba Wallace – One Win
- Joey Logano – One Win
- Ross Chastain – One Win
- Austin Cindric – One Win
- Josh Berry – One Win
- Tyler Reddick +122
- Alex Bowman +63
- Chris Buescher +23
- Ryan Preece -23
- Kyle Busch -73
- Ty Gibbs -87
- AJ Allmendinger -118
Chris Buescher did not show a ton of speed at Iowa, while his RFK teammate Ryan Preece had an excellent day. That shrank the gap from 42 points to 23 points on the cutoff line. The next two drivers in line, Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs, also made up a bit of ground on Buescher.
The first one is always special.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 7, 2025
Care to run it back on Sunday, @AJDinger? 😉 pic.twitter.com/Py3XKkkMVG
Meanwhile, Watkins Glen represents a massive chance for drivers below the cutline to win and punch a playoff ticket. Guys like Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger excel on road courses and might secure a playoff spot here. The strategy element could impact the race as well, though stage breaks have lessened that impact.
The good news for Buescher? He definitely has the potential to make up some points in a race that he won last year.
2025 Go Bowling at the Glen Race Predictions
No suspense here. Shane Van Gisbergen coming into Watkins Glen with three straight road course wins makes him my pick for this Sunday. The rest of the field hopes to unseat SVG.
AJ Allmendinger has history at Watkins Glen and should factor into the race as a top ten car on Sunday but I haven’t seen the speed needed out of Kaulig this year for Dinger to compete for the win. I feel similarly about Michael McDowell in the #71 for Spire.
As mentioned above, Chris Buescher won this race last year – beating Shane Van Gisbergen to do it. Expect Buescher to run up front once again. The Hendrick Motorsports cars all figure to factor into the race as well.
A wild ride at @WGI. 😳 pic.twitter.com/Pj4MxQ62Pe
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 7, 2025
Though I don’t think he’ll be able to win with limited seat time in the Cup Series, I fully expect Connor Zilisch to run extremely well on Sunday also. In fact, if an incident doesn’t take Zilisch out early – I foresee a top five finish for the young Trackhouse prospect.
Finally, Ty Gibbs has consistently run well at road courses in 2025. With pressure to make the playoffs mounting – I expect the #54 to be aggressive on Sunday considering this might be his best chance to reach the postseason.
Check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action this weekend.
Friday 08/08
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying – 11:40 a.m. CT on FS2
General Tire 100 at the Glen (ARCA Menards Series) – 1:00 p.m. CT on FS2
Mission 176 at the Glen (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) – 4:00 p.m. CT on FS1
Saturday 08/09
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 9:35 a.m. CT on the CW App
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 12:10 p.m. CT on TruTV
Mission 200 at the Glen (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 2:00 p.m. CT on the CW
Sunday 08/10
Go Bowling at the Glen (NASCAR Cup Series) – 1:00 p.m. CT on USA and HBO Max
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