WEEKEND HOT LAPS: NASCAR Playoffs Head to The Glen; Charters; Short Track
PLAYOFF MAKEOVER
The new look first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs moves to Watkins Glen International Sunday as a road course race follows last week’s Atlanta superspeedway style opener.
Say this for NASCAR, the push to freshen up the schedule in recent years has brought a welcome variety to the calendar and the opening round of this year’s Playoffs is a prime example. Atlanta, The Glen and Bristol next Saturday night is a far cry from the earlier days of NASCAR’s post-season when the existing calendar was basically just broken into a regular season and the ten-race Playoffs.
The times when Chicagoland, New Hampshire and Dover kicked off the opening trio of post-season races feels like eons ago as the sanctioning body has taken measures to more carefully map out the slate to determine the champion.
Recent trips to The Glen have not exactly been barnburners but there are some interesting variables this weekend that have the potential to spice things up. The layout now features different locations for rumble strips around the 2.45-mile, seven-turn road course, which will alter lines drivers use and in theory bring cars closer together. Add in a new Goodyear tire that featured significantly more falloff when tested earlier this summer and Sunday’s race gets a little more spice thrown into the stew.
IT TAKES TWO
The second race of the Playoffs has produced some intriguing nuggets since 2004:
Three times the winner of the second race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs has gone on to win the overall championship – 2009, 2010 and 2011.
When Dover Motor Speedway hosted the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (2004-2010), twice the winning driver went on to win the series title – Jimmie Johnson (2009 and 2010).
When New Hampshire Motor Speedway moved to the second race in the Playoffs (2011-2017), only one driver won the event and went on to win the title – Tony Stewart (2011). Stewart won five races in the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (a series-record tied with Kyle Larson, 2021) including the first two (Chicago and New Hampshire).
None of the Playoff winners at Richmond Raceway (2018-2021) or Kansas Speedway (2022-2023), when hosting the second race of the Playoffs, went on to win the title in the same season.
PANIC OR PATIENCE?
The four drivers that fell below the Playoff cutline after Atlanta have an opportunity to make up that ground at Watkins Glen. While it might not yet be time for desperation or to throw a “Hail Mary,” there is certainly pressure on that quartet to stay alive.
Brad Keselowski is in the best spot of the four trailing the cutline by a single point. However, the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver hasn’t necessarily been the best on road courses during the NextGen Cup era. Keselowski doesn’t even have a top-10 finish in his last few road course races. He can’t afford to fall back to much further and put all his eggs in the Bristol basket next Saturday night.
Harrison Burton is next 16 behind and even the young driver said the No. 21 team was playing with house money when they raced into the Playoffs with their Daytona win. Last week’s Atlanta superspeedway race was Burton’s best chance to steal a little more thunder, but he wasn’t able to capitalize and faces a tough road ahead at The Glen and Bristol to stay alive.
Martin Truex Jr. is 19 points back and right now he’s the guy if you see getting on to your airplane you get off. If it’s going to happen to anyone, it’s going to happen to Truex Jr. these days who had another frustrating day in Atlanta. There was a time when MTJ was a beast in road racing including at The Glen. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver desperately needs to find that magic again to keep his final full-time season hopes alive.
Chase Briscoe channeled his inner Truex Jr. last week at Atlanta when he was an innocent bystander caught up in Kyle Larson’s violent crash. His day was done on lap 55 and now the Stewart-Haas Racing driver faces a 21-point Playoff deficit. He’ll need a good run and other drivers to suffer misfortune to make up ground at The Glen.
PICKS TO CLICK
There’s an interesting name at the top of the favorites list for Sunday’s race at The Glen and it’s not a Cup regular. Shane Van Gisbergen, the top seed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff grid with three wins – all on road courses – will be in a Kaulig Racing Cup car this week. SVG’s odds are +600 to win tied with Kyle Larson, looking to put last week’s Atlanta disaster behind him.
William Byron and Tyler Reddick are next at +750, both Cup road course winners in their careers. AJ Allmendinger, the other Kaulig road course specialist, has much longer odds than in recent years coming in at +1300 to win. There are a couple of other road course aces in the field also carrying intriguing betting numbers; Michael McDowell (+1600) and Juan Pablo Montoya, making his return to NASCAR with a 23XI Racing entry and listed as +2800 to win the race.
CHARTER DRAMA
It’s been a week since reports of all but two teams signing a new charter agreement with NASCAR. Only 23XI and Front Row did not agree to the terms of the new deal.
Several owners and team presidents have spoken about the deal coming in the aftermath of what has been described by some as being “pressured” or “coerced” in basically a take it or leave if final stance from the sanctioning body.
All but two took it.
“I think we worked really hard for two years and it got down to, you’re not going to make everybody happy,” explained Rick Hendrick at Wednesday’s press conference announcing Kyle Larson’s attempt at running the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 again in 2025.
“And I think it got down to, I was just tired,” Hendrick said. “Not everybody was happy. But in any negotiation, you’re not going to get everything you want, and so I felt it was a fair deal and we protected the charters, which was number one, we got the (revenue) increase, I feel a lot of things we didn’t like we got taken out, so I’m happy with where we were.”
With the other teams more or less agreeing with Hendrick’s perspective, it leaves the two outliers with more questions than answers. And in the case of 23XI it also brings what can easily be an unnecessary distraction to the team’s quest to win a championship with Tyler Reddick. There’s also a shadow of co-owner Denny Hamlin, as he competes for an elusive Cup title driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Unless there’s a change in course, it looks as if the situation is heading into legal waters. While the rest of the garage, sans Front Row for now, can go about its business of competing this year and building their futures, 23XI appears to be ready for a battle both on the track and in the courtroom.
Stand by.
SHORT TRACK ATTACK
The middle weekend of September has a robust slate of short track events around the country.
One of the biggest races in the Midwest has a new home in 2024. The National Short Track Championships, for years a staple at Illinois’ Rockford Speedway, moves to Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin. With Rockford closing its doors after 75 year, three days of NSTC action is set at the 1/3-mile Dells track Friday through Sunday highlighted by the Big 8 Series on Saturday night and the Hugh Deery 150 for super late models Sunday afternoon.
Racing America will carry six live events for subscribers this weekend including the Race of Champions Dirt Sportsman Modified 602 Series at Canada’s Ohsweken Speedway, the PASS late models and modifieds at Star Speedway, The Walls Ford Platinum Late Model Series at White Mountain Motorsports Park, the Race of Champions Sportsman Series at Chemung Speedrome, CRA street stocks, sportsman and the Vores Compact Series at Anderson (IN) Speedway and the Northwest Super Late Model Series in action at Washington’s Wenatchee Valley Speedway.
PETE PISTONE
Pete Pistone is a veteran motorsports and general sports reporter/journalist with nearly 30 years experience. During his career he has worked for media outlets such as WGN Radio, The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicagoland Television (CLTV), CBS Sports, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM. Pistone has been with SiriusXM since 2008 and co-hosts “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) with Mike Bagley, which airs Monday through Friday at 7 am ET. He is also the host of “Fantasy Racing Preview,” a weekend show focusing on NASCAR gambling and fantasy racing, which is part of the channel’s NASCAR Cup Series pre-race programming. Additionally, Pistone is a member of the SiriusXM College Sports team as an on-air personality and contributor on Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372). He is one of the hosts of “Big Ten Today” and can also be heard on “Big Ten Whip Around,” a weekly hour-long program spotlighting a variety of sports around the conference. Pistone is also the host of several specials as well as providing a range of digital content for both the NASCAR and Big Ten channels. A Chicago native, Pistone resides in the northern suburbs of the city with his wife and daughter.