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NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
What to watch for in today's NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — While Shane van Gisbergen seeks to win his fourth consecutive road course race of the season today at Watkins Glen, there are others who could thwart his attempt, including a former champion seeking his first victory of the season. Coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. Here is what to watch for in today's race: Can anyone beat SVG? In an era of parity where there's so much data drivers can examine on their competitors, Shane van Gisbergen's three-race winning streak on road courses stands out. So, how does he keep doing it? 'What I see with him is he looks like us on ovals,' said points leader William Byron, who won last weekend's race at Iowa. 'You know, he's just comfortable from lap one. He has a good understanding of what to achieve in his car. He's smooth. He's not sliding the tire to make speed, so he's not out there out of control. When he makes a good lap time, it's repeatable, and he learns from it. He makes it another good one.' Dustin Long, Van Gisbergen starts second today — the fourth consecutive road course race he's started on the front row. Michael McDowell, who needs a win to make the playoffs, acknowledges van Gisbergen's talent but doesn't think he's unbeatable. 'I just don't think he's that far ahead,' said McDowell, who starts sixth today. 'I know everybody else does.' Why? 'Because in Cup racing you're talking about a tenth of a second is the difference between first and fifth,' McDowell said. 'I just feel like it's small. Everything is just details and execution. He does a phenomenal job of all those things, but a lot of people come into these races beat. I don't get it. I don't understand it. Can't. How could you come to the race track feeling like you're already beat? Yeah, I just don't take that mindset.' Is today the day for Kyle Busch? Both of Kyle Busch's top-five finishes this season have come on road courses — he placed fifth at Circuit of the Americas and was fifth at the Chicago Street Race. Busch, who has two Cup wins at Watkins Glen, starts today's race fifth. It has been 80 races since his last Cup victory. He needs a victory to make the playoffs. Nate Ryan, Saturday's qualifying effort was a nice bounce back after last week's struggles at Iowa. Busch crashed in practice and had to go to backup car. He placed 20th. 'Last was certainly difficult, obviously with losing the car in practice and all that,' crew chief Randall Burnett told NBC Sports on Saturday at Watkins Glen. 'It was going to be a struggle from then on the rest of the weekend. I didn't call a great race last weekend. 'We just had some things stacked against us, so we had some meetings about it, myself, Kyle, several of our people internally, we sat down and talked through some things and trying to figure out what we need to do better with communication on all of our parts.' As for those talks this week, Burnett said: 'We're just talking about our communication in general, not anything based off of last weekend. Just how we're talking about the cars, how I'm making adjustments based off of what he's saying about the cars. Just trying to improve internally all together. Get him better, what he needs out of the car.' Restarts NASCAR moved the restart before the final turn instead of having it on the frontstretch. That's what the series has done at other road courses in an effort to prevent the field from stacking up in the first corner and creating the potential of a multi-car crash. A key question is what lane does a driver want to be in for the restart. At many tracks, there is a preferred lane, but at Watkins Glen, that's not so, according to Christopher Bell. 'They each have their strengths,' said Bell, who ran in Friday's truck race. 'It's not a clear-cut lane winner. If you pick the right (lane), it's just mission critical to clear the guy on the left because … if you don't clear that guy, they get the side draft all the way down the straightaway. The outside lane or the left lane gets the side draft on the straightaway and then they're positioned into Turn 1. I don't think there's a clear-cut favorite.' Looking for more Road courses are not Denny Hamlin's forte — he has one win 56 road course starts — but today could be a meaningful day that could help him in the playoffs at the Charlotte Roval. 'I'm going to use what I learned, studying some of the better road course drivers, and I'm going to try to drive (Sunday) a little differently. 'It's very, very small, minute changes, but I came into the weekend I wanted to change two particular things about my race craft for (Sunday) when I get in traffic. So I will try to execute that. Wherever the results are, the results are, but I'm trying toward a bigger goal of getting better in the long term.'
NBC Sports
7 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Who will be next to win and claim a NASCAR Cup playoff spot before regular season ends?
So who is next to break through with a victory in the final three races of the regular season and secure a Cup playoff spot? Four of the last five years a driver won in the last three races of the regular season to claim a playoff spot. It happened twice last year with Harrison Burton's dramatic victory at Daytona and Chase Briscoe winning the regular season finale at Darlington. In 2023, Michael McDowell won on the road course at Indianapolis to secure a playoff spot. Austin Dillon's win in the 2022 regular season finale at Daytona moved him into the playoffs. In 2020, William Byron entered the regular season finale at Daytona holding the final playoff spot and scored his first series win to secure his spot. The final three races of this season take the Cup Series to Watkins Glen (coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on USA Network), Richmond and Daytona. Dustin Long, Eight drivers already have clinched playoff spots. They are Byron, Briscoe, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and Shane van Gisbergen. The five other drivers with at least a win and in position to clinch a playoff spot as early as this weekend are Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric and Josh Berry. So, who could take a playoff spot at either Watkins Glen, Richmond or Daytona? Watkins Glen — AJ Allmemdinger is one of the first names that comes to mind since he has won at this track (2014) and has placed in the top five in two of the last three years. But the team hasn't been as strong on road courses this season, scoring only a top 10 in the Chicago Street Race in four road course events. Said Allmendinger: 'We'll go do our homework and be ready to go.' — Michael McDowell has two top-five finishes in the four road course races this year, placing fourth at Sonoma and fifth at Mexico. He has led laps each of the last three years at Watkins Glen, scoring two top-10 finishes in that span. — Chris Buescher won last year's race at Watkins Glen, passing Shane van Gisbergen on the final lap. Buescher enters this weekend holding the final playoff spot. That could play into his team's race strategy. Buescher is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all three Cup races at Watkins Glen in the Next Gen era. Nate Ryan, — Ty Gibbs seeks his first career Cup victory. He challenged van Gisbergen at Mexico until a caution came out before he had pitted, ending any hopes of a win there. Gibbs finished 11th at Mexico and followed that with a runner-up result in the Chicago Street Race and a seventh-place finish at Sonoma. He finished fifth at Watkins Glen in 2023. — Kyle Busch has scored both of his top-five finishes this season at a road courses, placing fifth at Circuit of the Americas and fifth at the Chicago Street Race. — Tyler Reddick — While he could clinch a playoff spot this weekend via points, he still looks for his first victory of the season. Reddick finished in the top six in three of the four road course races this year, scoring third-place results at COTA and the Chicago Street Race and finishing sixth at Sonoma. — Alex Bowman — His most recent victory came in the 2024 Chicago Street Race and he's placed in the top 10 in three of the four road course races this season. Richmond — Austin Dillon won this race a year ago but the victory didn't count toward playoff eligibility due to a penalty for wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap. Overlooked is that Dillon was in position to win that race until a late caution sent the race into overtime. Dillon is coming off a 10th-place finish at Iowa in the most recent short track race. — Alex Bowman is a former winner at Richmond, taking the checkered flag there in April 2021. Bowman has six top-10 finishes in the last eight races this season, heading into Sunday's race at Watkins Glen, so the team is making progress. He was seventh at Iowa, matching his seventh-place result at Phoenix in another short track race. — Brad Keselowski is on a roll. After having no top 10s in the first 12 races of the season, he's scored seven top-10 finishes in the last 11 races, including a third-place result last weekend at Iowa. — Ryan Preece enters Watkins Glen outside a playoff spot but has had a pair of top-five finishes. He finished seventh at Martinsville and was fifth last weekend at Iowa. The challenge is that he's not started in the top 20 at a short track this season. — Carson Hocevar has had speed this season but it's a matter of execution for a full race. He has started in the top 10 in three short track races. He started third at Phoenix, ninth at Bristol and seventh at Iowa. Daytona — Everybody has a shot at Daytona on Aug. 23. Three of the last five winners of the summer Daytona race claimed a playoff spot with a victory.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Connor Zilisch Called a Generational Talent, Receives Praise from Denny Hamlin
Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch is widely recognized by many in the industry as a future superstar of the sport. While some fans might view the teenage driver as being overhyped, even amid his historic success, Denny Hamlin believes he's one of the best prospects in decades. On the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin called Zilisch one of the most impressive rookies he's seen in NASCAR in decades. While everyone knew Zilisch would be great on road courses, Hamlin highlighted what he's doing on ovals as just as remarkable. 'Might be the most impressive rookie I've seen in decades. What he's doing on ovals, considering the amount of experience he has and the age that he is. Can't say I've seen anything more impressive, I truthfully cannot. He's already really good, he's gonna be great.' Denny Hamlin on Connor Zilisch Related: Connor Zilisch stats (): 674 points, 4 wins, 11 top-10s, 9 top-5s, 4 poles, 406 laps led, 7.421 average starting position, 10.684 average finishing position in 19 races Zilisch, who turned 19 years old on Tuesday, became a full-time Xfinity Series driver this year with JR Motorsports. He started slow, placing 27th and 34th in his first two races at Daytona and Atlanta. He immediately followed that up with a win at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). With a playoff spot in the Xfinity Series already locked up, Zilisch then went to work climbing the NASCAR standings and improving on ovals. He placed ninth at Las Vegas, 12th at Homestead-Miami, and then sixth at Darlington. Still 18 years old at the time, he then went three consecutive weeks without a top-10 finish. Related: However, Zilisch has been the best driver in the Xfinity Series for two months now. Over the last eight races, he has three wins and a 2.25 average finishing position with 17 playoff points. One of those wins came at Sonoma in a head-to-head battle against Shane van Gisbergen, with another coming on the 'Monster Mile' at Dover Motor Speedway. Some might point to Ty Gibbs' Xfinity Series success in 2022 (7 wins and 16 top 5s) as proof that success at the lower level doesn't guarantee Zilisch will perform well in the Cup Series. While that is true, it is also worth noting that Gibbs was 19 years old during his breakout year, while Zilisch's success has come at 18 years old. At the very least, Zilisch has earned the opportunity to replace Daniel Suarez in the No. 99 car with Trackhouse Racing next season. He can use his rookie Cup season to learn how to handle the Next Gen car on ovals while competing with Shane van Gisbergen as teammates for wins on road courses. At a minimum, he'll have a very good chance to win one of the five-plus road course races next season, which would likely mean making the playoffs in his age-19 season.
Hindustan Times
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Corey Heim nearly leads wire-to-wire in winning at Lime Rock Park
Corey Heim's victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series' debut at Lime Rock Park wasn't just a case of domination. It was an eyelash away from perfection. HT Image Heim led 99 of 100 laps at the 1.478-mile road course in bucolic Lakeville, Connecticut, to win the LiUNA! 150 his fifth victory of the season and the 16th of his career. The only lap Heim failed to lead came on a restart with five laps left, after Matt Mills ran off course and stalled near Turn 1 on Lap 90. Layne Riggs beat Heim to the start/finish line on Lap 96 but drove hard into the first corner and stacked up the field behind him, scrambling positions two through five. Aside from the one lap he didn't lead, Heim's performance was the model of consistent excellence. The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota posted the fastest lap of the race on his second circuit , swept both stages, and posted dramatic margins over his closest pursuers in each of the first two segments. Heim is the first driver in Truck Series history to win three-straight road- course races, having triumphed at Mid-Ohio in 2023 and Circuit of the Americas last year. "Yeah, that was nothing short of incredible," Heim acknowledged. "These road courses-I really look forward to them, pre-event and whatnot, and I really prepare for them, so to see all that pay off with Safelite, TRICON, Toyota, it's super special. "Obviously, the truck was so good today. I can't complain one bit about that. A flawless day and we will take that and move forward and try and collect some wins that we should have had this year." Reigning series champion Ty Majeski was the beneficiary of Riggs' aggressive charge into Turn 1 on the final restart. Majeski inherited the runner-up position and crossed the finish line 1.381 seconds behind Heim. "Honestly, we struggled with the truck a little bit to fire off," Majeski said. "We kept getting it better progressively each and every run. So, got it close at the end, had a shot at Corey and probably got a little over-zealous in Turn 4, hit the curb and kind of ruined my shot to make him a least a little nervous and try to force him into a mistake. "From there, he just got too much breathing room and was kind of able to do his thing. Overall, really good day. This is the point when I want to turn our season around-going to IRP , Watkins Glen and Richmond next. Three really good tracks for us, so I'm excited for this Playoff stretch." Rookie Giovanni Ruggiero ran third, followed by Ben Rhodes and Australian Cam Waters, as ThorSport Racing put three drivers in the top five . Riggs fell to 12th during the Turn 1 melee and finished 13th. Road course ace Jordan Taylor, who finished third in the first two stages, dropped to 20th at the finish. Heim started from the pole and led all 35 laps in Stage 1, building an advantage of 7.065 seconds over second-place Riggs at the first green/checkered flag. Third-place Taylor, a star in the sportscar ranks, was 14.051 seconds in arrears at the first stage break. After Lap 37, the race trucks came to pit road for a controlled stop under red-flag conditions. The restart on Lap 40 brought no changes at the front of the field. Heim cleared Riggs through the first two corners and quickly expanded his advantage over the second-place truck. The second stage mirrored the first. Heim beat Riggs to the finish line by 7.281 seconds, with Taylor in third trailing by 14.286 seconds. The two stage wins were the 13th and 14th for Heim this season. NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race - LIUNA 150 1. Corey Heim, Toyota, 100. 2. Ty Majeski, Ford, 100. 3. Giovanni Ruggiero #, Toyota, 100. 4. Ben Rhodes, Ford, 100. 5. Cam Waters, Ford, 100. 6. Chandler Smith, Ford, 100. 7. Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 100. 8. Brent Crews, Toyota, 100. 9. Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 100. 10. Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 100. 11. Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 100. 12. Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 100. 13. Layne Riggs, Ford, 100. 14. Tanner Gray, Toyota, 100. 15. Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, 100. 16. Connor Mosack #, Chevrolet, 100. 17. Andres Perez De Lara #, Chevrolet, 100. 18. Ben Maier, Chevrolet, 100. 19. Matt Crafton, Ford, 100. 20. Jordan Taylor, Chevrolet, 100. 21. Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 100. 22. Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 100. 23. Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 100. 24. Jake Garcia, Ford, 99. 25. Timmy Hill, Toyota, 98. 26. Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 98. 27. William Lambros, Ford, 98. 28. Frankie Muniz #, Ford, 98. 29. Toni Breidinger #, Toyota, 98. 30. Dawson Sutton #, Chevrolet, 96. 31. Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 92. 32. Dale Quarterley, Chevrolet, Electrical, 91. 33. Wesley Slimp, Toyota, Ignition, 90. 34. Alex Labbe, Ford, Rear Gear, 34. Average Speed of Race Winner: 71.651 mph. Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 3 Mins, 46 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.381 Seconds. Caution Flags: 3 for 13 laps. Lead Changes: 2 among 2 drivers. Lap Leaders: C. Heim 1-94;L. Riggs 95;C. Heim 96-100. Leaders Summary : Corey Heim 2 times for 99 laps; Layne Riggs 1 time for 1 lap. Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,34,7,1,81,45,38,71,98,07 Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,34,7,81,38,45,98,07,71,9 By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Newsweek
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Denny Hamlin Joins NASCAR Penalty Debate: "Boxed In So Many Areas"
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing and driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, has revealed his stance on the current debate about the amount of penalties being given in NASCAR. There have been a large amount of disqualifications just twelve races into the season. Just this week Chris Buescher and RFK Racing were hit with a hefty $75,000 fine, docked 60 championship points, 5 playoff points, and his crew chief Scott Graves was suspended for two races. When asked about the ongoing debate about whether there are too many penalties, Hamlin explained: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, enters his car during the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Pit Road Qualifying Entry/Exit Practice (Open) at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 16, 2025 in North Wilkesboro, North... Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, enters his car during the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Pit Road Qualifying Entry/Exit Practice (Open) at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 16, 2025 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. More"I mean, certainly gotta be fair to everyone. Had a race win taken away. We won for all for sure. And whatever it is, whatever the infraction, whatever says in the book. The penalty should be level. It shouldn't be negotiated up or down or anything like that, just by the book. "Teams are trying to find any edge that they can with the Next-Gen car because you're boxed in so many areas... It's just a game of can you get caught or not." "They don't bolster it as much."@dennyhamlin shares his opinion on how #NASCAR promotes the All-Star Race and the $1 million dollar prize. He also discusses the development of 23XI Racing's pit crews and the rise in disqualifications. — Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) May 17, 2025 What penalties have been given in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series so far? Daytona 500 Pre-Qualifying Inspection: #34 Todd Gilliland – Improperly Installed Ballast (Loss of 10 points; Crew Chief Ejected) #47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Multiple inspection failures (Sent to rear) #51 Cody Ware – Improperly Installed Ballast (Loss of 10 points; Crew Chief Ejected) Unapproved Modifications: #5 Kyle Larson – Backup Car (Sent to rear) #6 Brad Keselowski – Backup Car #7 Justin Haley – Backup Car #35 Riley Herbst – Backup Car #48 Alex Bowman – Backup Car #54 Ty Gibbs – Backup Car #88 Shane van Gisbergen – Backup Car #91 Hélio Castroneves – Engine Change #99 Daniel Suarez – Backup Car Post-Race Penalty: #19 Chase Briscoe – L2 penalty (100 points, 10 playoff points, $100,000 fine; Crew Chief James Small suspended 4 races) (Overturned) Atlanta Other: #51 Cody Ware – Improper Dual Role COTA (Circuit of the Americas) Unapproved Modifications: #38 Zane Smith – Sent to rear Post-Race Penalties: #2 Austin Cindric – Intentional wreck on Ty Dillon (Fined $50,000; docked 50 points) #5 Kyle Larson – Lost wheel (Crew members suspended) Phoenix Pre-Qualifying Inspection: #71 Michael McDowell – Multiple inspection failures (Car Chief ejected, loss of pit selection) Unapproved Modifications: #71 Michael McDowell – Sent to rear Post-Race Penalty: #22 Joey Logano – Went below yellow line before finish (Warning) Las Vegas Unapproved Modifications: #12 Ryan Blaney – Sent to rear #20 Christopher Bell – Sent to rear #35 Riley Herbst – Sent to rear #42 John Hunter Nemechek – Sent to rear #47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Sent to rear Post-Race Penalties: #19 Chase Briscoe – Lost wheel (Crew members suspended) #8 Kyle Busch – Lost wheel (Crew members suspended) Homestead-Miami Speedway Unapproved Modifications: #43 Erik Jones – Sent to rear Martinsville Post-Race Penalties: #88 Shane van Gisbergen – Lost wheel (Crew members suspended) #43 Erik Jones – Disqualified (Failed minimum weight inspection) Darlington No reported pre-race or post-race penalties. Bristol Unapproved Modifications: #22 Joey Logano – Sent to rear #42 John Hunter Nemechek – Sent to rear Talladega Unapproved Modifications: #44 J.J. Yeley – Sent to rear Post-Race Penalties: #22 Joey Logano – Disqualified (Post-race inspection failure) #41 Ryan Preece – Disqualified (Post-race inspection failure) Kansas Unapproved Modifications: #6 Brad Keselowski – Sent to rear #10 Ty Dillon – Sent to rear #19 Chase Briscoe – Sent to rear #21 Josh Berry – Sent to rear #38 Zane Smith – Sent to rear #54 Ty Gibbs – Sent to rear #88 Shane van Gisbergen – Sent to rear Post-Race Penalty:
