Before the Watkins Glen playoff race, NASCAR Cup teams had both good and bad news.
As the NASCAR Cup playoffs head to Watkins Glen (3 p.m. ET on Sunday on USA Network), the tension increases. In the first round of the playoffs, there are three races, this being the second.
Since Joey Logano’s triumph in Atlanta last weekend, only he has secured a spot in the next round. Before Sunday’s race, here’s how things stand for each other organization:
Good news! Juan Pablo Montoya is back in the Cup with 23XI Racing. He hasn’t started in the Cup since 2014.
At Watkins Glen, Tyler Reddick has been among the top 10 in each of his three starts. In both top-10 (19) and top-five (11) finishes, Reddick leads the series. .. In terms of points scored on road courses this season, Reddick is ranked second in the series. On road courses, Reddick has recorded a series-high six straight top 10 finishes. Unfortunately, Bubba Wallace’s best Watkins Glen finish in five starts is 12th. That happened a year ago. Wallace has not placed higher than 23rd in the Cup at Watkins Glen before to that outcome.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland have each finished in the top 10 in the past two races on road courses. … McDowell has finished in the top five in the past two road course events. … All five of McDowell’s career poles have come this season. … Gilliland is making his 100th career Cup start this weekend. Bad news: McDowell has only one top-10 finish in 14 starts at Watkins Glen.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: The organization has won the last five Cup races at Watkins Glen.
Chase Elliott won there in 2018 and ’19. Kyle Larson won there in 2021 and ’22. William Byron won there in 2023. … Hendrick cars have won all three road course races this season. Byron won at COTA, Larson won at Sonoma and Alex Bowman won the Chicago Street Race. …
Bowman has scored the most points in the series on road courses this year. … Byron also is running the Xfinity race at Watkins Glen this weekend.
Bad news: Bowman has not finished better than 14th at Watkins Glen in seven Cup starts.
Good news for Joe Gibbs Racing fans: Christopher Bell has finished in the top ten in each of his three Cup appearances at Watkins Glen.
Bell leads all active drivers in Watkins Glen with an average finish of 6.0.
This weekend, Ty Gibbs will be competing in the Xfinity event at Watkins Glen. In four of the last five road course events, Gibbs has placed in the top five. The bad news is that Denny Hamlin has only finished in the top 10 of 15 road course Next Gen races. In the previous four races, Martin Truex Jr. has been engaged in an incident.
