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In The Know – Watkins Glen

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  Go Bowling at The Glen (Round 25 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 20

●  Location:  Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International

●  Layout:  2.45-mile, seven-turn road course

●  Laps/Miles:  90 laps / 220.5 miles

●  Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 20 laps / Stage 2: 20 laps / Final Stage: 50 laps

●  TV/Radio:  USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

When Harvick scored his first road-course victory at Watkins Glen in 2006, he had to beat his current team owner to do it. Tony Stewart – the “Stewart” in Stewart-Haas Racing – had won the previous two NASCAR Cup Series races at The Glen and was poised to capture a third straight win as he was leading Harvick with four laps to go in the 90-lap race. But Harvick, who had already led once for 24 laps, passed Stewart on lap 87 as the two drag-raced down the frontstretch and into turn one. Harvick held onto the lead despite Stewart in his rearview mirror, earning a margin of victory of .892 of a second.

Aric Almirola:

Almirola has 38 road-course starts in the NASCAR Cup Series with two top-10 finishes and a best of eighth at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in 2018. His road-course results include five top-20s at Watkins Glen with a best finish of 12th in 2019, three top-20s on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval with a best of 14th in 2019, and a 12th-place finish in the non-points Busch Clash in 2020 on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course. While Almirola is seeking a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series to catapult him into the 2023 NASCAR Playoffs, he raced his way to victory lane June 10 in the Xfinity Series race at Sonoma.

Chase Briscoe:

Chase Briscoe and the Mahindra Tractors team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International looking for back-to-back top-10 road course results after earning a sixth-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last Sunday. It was Briscoe’s sixth top-10 of the season and first on a road course in the NextGen car.

Ryan Preece:

Sunday’s race will mark Preece’s third start at the road course in the heart of New York’s Finger Lakes Region. His first outing came in 2019 for JTG-Daugherty Racing. He started 29th but had to retire from the race early due to a rear-gear issue on his No. 47 racecar. He returned with JTG-Daugherty in 2021, when he started 23rd and finished 28th. This weekend will mark his first Cup Series start at the track for SHR and his first since the 2021 race. Preece has made three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Watkins Glen, the first in 2016 for JD Motorsports, when he started 21st but was relegated to a 27th-place finish by a suspension issue. He returned in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing entry in 2018, when he started eighth and finished fourth and led eight laps. His third Xfinity Series outing at The Glen came in 2019 with JR Motorsports. He started eighth and finished 10th in that event.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang:

You’re still looking for a win this season. Can Watkins Glen be the place to get that win?

“Watkins Glen is a place where we’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good runs, and I think going there and having a permanent road course and more of a traditional race, for me, is much easier to prepare for because I know the racetrack and I know the curbs and the bumps and the details of everything that goes on, so it makes me more comfortable prepping for the race. Watkins Glen is always a great place to go this time of year. The fans are always packed in there like sardines and it’s just a fun environment. We’re looking forward to it.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 GoBowling Mustang:

You just raced on the Indianapolis road course and now you’re headed to Watkins Glen to make it back-to-back road-course races. Does it seem like the competition is tougher as drivers have more opportunities than ever to hone their road-course skills?

“The Indianapolis road course is such a different feel, but we don’t typically race road courses back-to-back. You can bet the competition is going to be tight this weekend, both from a driver standpoint and teams honing in their road-course program. I think it will be a good weekend for us. I like Watkins Glen, where anything can happen. We had a new winner last weekend with Michael McDowell who is usually the underdog with a smaller team so, with the cars so close, you could see another new winner this weekend.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang:

Was the run at Indy a confidence boost for the No. 14 team?

“For sure. The road courses haven’t been very good to us ever since the NextGen car. We’d find something good – good speed or track position when we needed it – and then something would happen. This is the most competitive that I’ve been and the best feel I’ve had. It’s the closest we’ve been to what it used to feel like for me on the road courses when I ran really well, so I’m really hoping it carries over into this weekend.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang:

What are the challenges of racing at Watkins Glen, and what is the importance of practice and qualifying there?

Practice is really key for us. I didn’t necessarily grow up road racing, so it’s really important. I’ve logged laps at Watkins Glen before, most recently in 2021 in the Cup Series. But track position is always a topic, right? There are some things that we worked on in the Ford Performance sim to be able to prepare. But for a driver, it’s getting out there and doing it – the visuals and a lot of the braking marks that you tend to get. I mean, when you think about it, how many laps are we really going to get in practice? I think nine, 10 laps, maybe, which kind of reminds me of the SRX race when we got five laps. The only difference was that I’ve raced at Stafford all my life. So, it’s going to be extremely important to get everything we have out of the racecar and qualify really well.”