From Kevin Harvick Getting Final Shot at a Cup Title to Heartbreak for Chase Elliott: 5 Winners and 5 Losers at Watkins Glen

The 2023 NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen has officially concluded. With that, only one race is left in regular season, and the final chance to secure Playoff berths. Before the race, there were three places up for grabs, but heading into the final race at Daytona, only one is left. On the back of this race, there were a number of takeaways from Watkins Glen, and it had major implications.

William Byron went on to win the race, in a day that produced mixed results for Hendrick Motorsports. Behind him were the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. Road course expert, AJ Allmendinger, was fourth, ahead of the other Joe Gibbs Racing pair, of Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. However, one has to wonder who were the big winners and the big losers during the weekend.

Winners at Watkins Glen International

William Byron

Considering that he is the race winner, this should be a no-brainer. However, he was the only bright spark for Hendrick Motorsports at The Glen. This was at a time when none of his teammates performed well, and he was the only one on top of the pile. Championship-wise, this changes nothing for him because he has already qualified for the Playoffs. However, his victory does make things a lot tighter in the Playoff race.

Brad Keselowski

The Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver was in relatively decent form at The Glen. On the racetrack, he finished in 15th place, which looks bad on paper. However, he was one of the few drivers on the playoff bubble, and Byron’s win had a butterfly effect. Since Byron had already qualified, he denied the chance for a new race winner to lock their Playoff berth. Naturally, this meant that Keselowski has officially qualified for the Playoffs, having missed out last year.

Kevin Harvick

2023 is Harvick’s final season in the NASCAR Cup Series before he calls time on his career. Like Keselowski, he was also on the bubble to reach the Playoffs, so Byron’s win was beneficial for him as well. In essence, the Hendrick Motorsports star has facilitated the beginning of a swan song for the 2014 Cup champion. All this is in spite of the Stewart-Haas Racing driver finishing 21st at Watkins Glen.

Denny Hamlin

It was a great day in the office, if you are a Joe Gibbs Racing fan. Admittedly, Hamlin did drop backward a little, despite starting from pole position. Nevertheless, he was able to recover quickly and capitalize on misfortunes from drivers ahead of him.

Fortunately, he did not drop too far down, but remained within the Top 5, and eventually clawed his way up to finish 2nd.

Bubba Wallace

The 23XI Racing driver probably owes William Byron a beer after this race. This was because he currently lies in 16th position in the championship, the last Playoff spot. Had a new driver won the race, he would have been forced to kiss his championship hopes goodbye. So although he finished in 12th place, he scored enough points to keep himself in the running. Now, he will be hoping to either win at Daytona or score enough points to sneak in and hope that there is no new winner.

READ MORE: Chase Elliott Falling Far Behind His Hendrick Motorsports Teammate Could Make Things Uncomfortable

Losers at Watkins Glen International

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Kyle Larson

Watkins Glen International was a nightmare for Hendrick Motorsports, which seems to be happening far too often. This time, it was Byron who spared the team for the blushes. However, the same could not be said about the rest of his teammates.

Kyle Larson could only muster a lowly 26th place. Admittedly, he was running well in the race, but he ruined it with a small tangle with Austin Dillon. That was enough to send him tumbling down the order.

Chase Elliott

This was supposed to be Elliott’s big chance to reach the Playoffs. Considering that he usually performs well on road courses, many thought that he was a shoe-in for the Playoffs. Unfortunately, that chance got squandered in the race, owing to a number of shenanigans. In the end, he was classified in 32nd place after his car ran out of fuel. Considering that there was only one caution all race, he did not have a chance to make up for the lost laps.

Michael McDowell

This was simply a cause of rotten luck marrying Murphy’s Law of anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The Front Row Motorsports driver was on a high, after winning the Cup race at the Indianapolis road course. Straight away, he was right on the money and was firmly challenging for the race win. It looked like he would be the favorite to win when disaster struck during the first round of pit stops.

First and foremost, he committed a pit road violation by going through too many pit stalls. Later on, one of his crew members jumped over the wall too early. Trouble came in threes when McDowell retired with a mechanical issue.

Daniel Suarez

The Trackhouse Racing star was an early casualty in the race at Watkins Glen. Upon exiting the bus stop chicanes, his #99 car spun and kicked up some dust. That resulted in him dropping down the order and he spent the rest of the race trying to play catch up. He did recover to finish in 22nd place, but that was as far as he could get. On the bright side, his spin did not incur any damage, so he could continue unabashed.

Austin Dillon

Finally, there was Austin Dillon, who also had a miserable race. The Richard Childress Racing driver was largely present in the midfield for much of the race, scrounging Playoff points here and there. Unfortunately, he did not help his own case when he had a coming together with Kyle Larson. That late race contact compromised both of their runs and they finished well down the order.

While this list was put out by Yahoo News, who was the winner and loser at The Glen for you?

WATCH THIS STORY: Chase Elliott Calls Out Hendrick Motorsports Revealing What Lost Him the Race