WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Three-peat at Watkins Glen? Not on Chase Elliott's radar.
OK, maybe a little bit.
“I’m just excited to be going back. I’m looking forward to the challenge," Elliott, the reigning NASCAR Cup champion, said this week on a Zoom call. "Every time you go to the track, look, it’s always going to be tough. As I’ve said many times before, past success doesn’t equal future success and I don’t think that’s any different this weekend. I anticipate everybody else will be better than they were last time we were up there. And we just try to make sure we match it ourselves to have another shot.”
The NASCAR Cup Series resumes at Watkins Glen International on Sunday after a two-week break for the Tokyo Olympics, and Elliott will be chasing a little history.
He's won the past two races at the natural terrain road course in the Finger Lakes region of New York — last year's race was moved to the road course at Daytona International Speedway because of the pandemic and Elliott won that one, too — and another victory would put him in select company. Only Mark Martin (1993-95) and Jeff Gordon (1997-99) have won three in a row at The Glen since NASCAR began racing there annually in 1986.
Brad Keselowski starts on pole alongside Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney is third, giving Team Penske the top three spots. Kyle Larson will go off fourth, Kevin Harvick fifth, points leader Denny Hamlin sixth, and Elliott 11th. There was no practice or qualifying.
Elliott will be making his 17th Cup road course start for Hendrick Motorsports. What he, crew chief Alan Gustafson and the rest of the team have accomplished with the No. 9 Chevrolet on the circuitous layouts is remarkable: seven wins across five different tracks, nine top-five finishes and 326 laps led. He's one victory shy of tying Tony Stewart for second all-time in road course wins and two behind Gordon.
And it all began at Watkins Glen in 2018, when he started third and led the final 33 laps to score his first career Cup victory after finishing second eight times.
“I think, for me, it’s a great honor to be even on the same page as Tony or Jeff,” said Elliott, who had to hold off Martin Truex, Jr. in both his wins at The Glen. "Whether we can ever get there or not, to even be in the same sentence, or ... on the same page, I think is very cool. While I appreciate it and I think it’s a very cool achievement, it’s not at the forefront of my focus.”
Gordon figures his record will soon fall given that NASCAR has switched the schedule to include seven road courses instead of the customary two.
“I know this record’s going down. Chase has been dominant,” said Gordon, now second in command at Hendrick Motorsports. "I know what kind of equipment he has and I’ve seen how good he is on these types of tracks. Now you’re going to give him more opportunity, so it’s going down.”
VETERAN EDGE
With no track time, drivers have been relegated to simulators to knock off the rust.
Hamlin figures that gives the veterans an edge.
“Cup drivers are so good at being presented with a challenge and stepping up and being extremely good at it,” he said. “I expect some of the first laps of the race will be some of the fastest laps of the race because these guys are so tuned in. Although it will be different because it has been two years, for most drivers who have been doing it for 10-plus years, it will be a quick adjustment.”
THE GLEN REBOUND
Weather is a major factor that drives big attendance at WGI, and track president Michael Printup was holding out hope for a sellout on a tripleheader weekend with the Xfinity Series and the first Truck Series race since 2000. WGI announced five straight sellouts (over 90,000) before the coronavirus halted the streak. The forecast for Sunday is for cloudy skies with a 51% chance of scattered thundershowers and temperatures in the mid-80s.
“We got a late start, but we’re going to come real close if not make it," Printup said. "I’m glad that we’re up and running and racing. When you’re short in your sales cycle, you can’t expect miracles. We’re just happy that we’re open and running, back to normal.”
ODDS AND ENDS
Elliott is a 9-5 choice to win, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. ... Hendrick Motorsports has won eight of the past 12 road course races and 10 of 24 stages, led 475 of 1,050 laps (45%), and posted three 1-2 finishes. Hendrick also holds the Cup record for all-time road-course victories with 23, 10 more than Joe Gibbs Racing.
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen from Watkins Glen International at 2 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY
Go Bowling at The Glen – August 8, 2021
Sunday’s Starting Line Up
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 2 Brad Keselowski Wabash National Ford 0.000 0.000
2. 22 Joey Logano Verizon 5G Ford 0.000 0.000
3. 12 Ryan Blaney DEX Imaging Ford 0.000 0.000
4. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
5. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Apple Ford 0.000 0.000
6. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 0.000 0.000
7. 20 Christopher Bell STANLEY Toyota 0.000 0.000
8. 10 Aric Almirola Go Bowling Ford 0.000 0.000
9. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota 0.000 0.000
10. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
11. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
12. 42 Ross Chastain MyMcDonald’s Rewards Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
13. 8 Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
14. 21 Matt DiBenedetto Menards/Moen Ford 0.000 0.000
15. 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
16. 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
17. 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
18. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Bush’s Beans Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
19. 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 0.000 0.000
20. 18 Kyle Busch Snickers Toyota 0.000 0.000
21. 99 Daniel Suarez Good Sam Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
22. 43 Erik Jones Clean Harbors Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
23. 37 Ryan Preece Kleenex Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
24. 17 Chris Buescher Ford 0.000 0.000
25. 34 Michael McDowell CarParts.com Ford 0.000 0.000
26. 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota Toyota 0.000 0.000
27. 14 Chase Briscoe # HighPoint.com Ford 0.000 0.000
28. 6 Ryan Newman Ford 0.000 0.000
29. 7 Corey LaJoie Nations Guard Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
30. 77 Justin Haley(i) Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
31. 38 Anthony Alfredo # Bence Motor Sales Ford 0.000 0.000
32. 53 Garrett Smithley(i) Skip Barber Racing Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
33. 78 Kyle Tilley Bremont Chronometers Ford 0.000 0.000
34. 52 Josh Bilicki Ford 0.000 0.000
35. 00 Quin Houff Fare/Share Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
36. 51 James Davison Nurtec ODT Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
37. 15 R.C. Enerson(i) Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
