The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kicked off in Atlanta, with Joey Logano taking the first spot in the top 12. Now, NASCAR is heading to the iconic Watkins Glen International. The one to conquer “The Glen” will join Logano in the top 12. However, this won’t be your usual Watkins Glen race. NASCAR has introduced a new tire compound with a three-second wear-off rate.

This is bound to make things interesting. The faster wear-off rate will have the teams struggling to find the best pit-stop strategy to come out and win the race. The race position is important as the drivers will be fighting for the coveted playoff points. Championship contenders, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are currently struggling in points. Both will be looking for a good finish at WGI. However, it won’t be easy! Apart from the tire wear and the unpredictable track, the 16 will be facing the road course masters of the grid, who have nothing to lose!

“Go Bowling at The Glen” is going to be unpredictable

NASCAR has always been about uncertainty. That is what makes the game so popular and entertaining. Watkins Glen, for the first time, has been brought into the playoffs. An additional road course is bound to make the playoffs thrilling, as driving on these tracks is a different ball game altogether. In the grid, we have some drivers who have mastered this race craft.

First up is Chris Buescher. If you see Buescher runs this year, he has two top-10 finishes on three road course races so far. His best finish came at Sonoma where get got a P3. NASCAR analyst Eric Estepp in a recent video talked about the dark horses of the Watkins Glen race. Where he said, “Chris Buescher, the RFK driver has been extremely consistent and has a 7.8 average finish on all road courses besides Chicago since the start of 2022. That is by far the best in the cup series. But he’s still looking for that first win believe me it is coming his racecraft is unbelievable.” What showed Buescher’s road course consistency is that he’s had only one top-10 start in the past eight road course races. However, has managed to finish in the top 10 in seven of those eight races. The RFK driver is out of the playoffs but would be a tough competitor to beat at Watkins Glen.

Next up is Michael McDowell, another force to reckon with when it comes to road courses. Who can forget his victory at the Indianapolis Road Course race last summer? And then the P2 at the 2024 Sonoma race. In the four times that McDowell has driven in Sonoma, he’s always finished in the top 10. Further in the video Estepp said, “In the 13 non- Chicago next gen road races he (McDowell) has eight top 10 finishes. Road racing is in Michael McDowell’s DNA. He grew up racing go-karts and open wheel and eventually transitioned to sports cars. He’s not driving the best Cup Series equipment yet the results consistently stand out.”

Lastly, It’s, A. J. Allmendinger. He wasn’t called the road course king for no reason before Shane Van Gisbergen took the title. Out of Allmendinger’s last six Cup Series races on road courses, five have been top-6 finishes. His last road course victory came at the Charlotte Roval in 2023, taking his total tally of road course wins to 11 at a NASCAR-sanctioned event (3 in Cup Series). About Allmendinger, Estepp said, “Allmendinger has nine top 10 finishes in the 13 non-Chicago next gen road races. He won at the Roval last fall that was his third career Cup Series road course Victory. Another driver who’s rarely in top equipment but gets the most out of what he has. When AJ has been in top 10 equipment in the Xfinity series he’s racked up by my count 11 Career Road Course victories.”

All three drivers would be a threat to our top 16, as they try to gather as many points as they can. Besides them, the drivers will also have to carefully manage the new tire compound. Ahead of the race, drivers have voiced their concerns about the tire component.

New tire compound in Watkins Glen race

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The tire wear is expected to be about 3 seconds at the race. This is massive, as the team with the best tire management will win the race. Regardless, this is bound to make the race thrilling and entertaining, as is NASCAR’s goal. And according to NASCAR’s senior vice president, Elton Sawyer, they have managed to do so. Ahead of the Watkins Glen race, he said, “So that technology and that innovation, if you will, and evolution of where the tire is today is a credit to them. And we will continue to push the boundaries there. Ultimately, our goal is to have great racing, but what gives us that is tire fall-off. So, continuing to work on it, but we’re excited to see exactly what we’ll have up there this weekend.”

However, the new tire has drivers concerned. Denny Hamlin, who is currently +2 points above the cutoff line in the 11th position, expressed his concerns. The #11 driver said, “Watkins Glen, with the tire that we did have, there was no detriment to running multiple times. Now, this will be the X factor, is that with this new tire, if it truly does wear out as quick as they’re talking about, you’re going to have one shot at it, because if you have to go out and re-run again. The lap time likely it’s just going to be so far off.”

On the other hand, the Atlanta race winner is relaxed about the tire wear. He doesn’t think they are going to wear off at the claimed rate. In the pre-race interview, he said, “I would think it’s (tire wear) going to be less than what it was, just going off of experience of what I kind of predict. But yeah, it’s just going to be which is still a lot more than what we used is have. So I think that’s exciting, and it will adjust the strategy kind of depending on what we see for fall-off tomorrow in practice. It’s too hard to call the race right now and saying that this is gonna be the fastest way to run the race but you know we’ll see.”

No matter what happens, a thrilling race is guaranteed! Who do you think will win? How many problems will the dark horses cause? Let us know in the comments below.