Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin and 9 other drivers who could win Go Bowling at The Glen
Hendrick Motorsports' dominance at Watkins Glen International in recent years provides a contrast to 2023 NASCAR Cup Series race results that have seen four different winners capture the four races at road or street courses.
Kyle Larson has claimed the last two Go Bowling at The Glen races at Schuyler County's track, but Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott is the betting favorite to capture Sunday's 90-lap, 220.5-mile race, set for a 3 p.m. start and televised live on USA Network. Elliott's first career Cup win came at The Glen in 2018 and he repeated in 2019.
Denny Hamlin paced Saturday's qualifying with a top final-round qualifying lap of 1 minute, 10.392 seconds for the 40th pole of his Cup Series career. William Byron qualified second.
The evolution of road-course racing has come with the addition of more road races beyond Watkins Glen and Sonoma, the introduction of the playoff format and updates to the stock cars, most recently the Next Gen car used since last year.
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"I think road-course racing in general has become a different animal just because everybody taking it more seriously over the last decade," said 2006 WGI Cup winner Kevin Harvick, in his last season as a full-time driver. "As you look at that, the time and preparation that goes into it is a lot higher than it used to be. You used to find the oldest engine and oldest transmission and just take a car out of the shop that you really didn’t know or care for and take that to the road course.
"I think going to this particular car has leaned toward racing guys being able to come in and adapt to the style of car."
With the evolving nature of Watkins Glen's race in mind, here are 10 drivers with a strong chance to take the checkered flag Sunday.
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Chase Elliott
Along with wins in 2018 and 2019 at WGI, Elliott had finishes of second and fourth in the last two races at Watkins Glen. The 2020 series points champion is without a win this season and almost certainly needs a victory at Watkins Glen or Daytona next week to make the 16-driver playoff field.
When asked about the possibility of helping Elliott or fellow Hendrick driver Alex Bowman get into the playoff field, Larson responded, "Chase is going to be really fast this weekend, so I imagine he’s just going to dominate anyways and probably not need anybody’s help."
Saturday did not go as planned for Elliott. He qualified 15th and was visibly frustrated to not make it to the final round.
Kyle Larson
Larson is trying to become the third driver in history to win three consecutive Cup Series races at the track, matching the achievements of Mark Martin (1993-1995) and Jeff Gordon (1997-1999). He has three top-10 finishes in four tries this season at road/street courses, though he has finished no higher than eighth.
Larson's fifth-place qualifying effort puts him in good shape for Sunday's race. He credited the setups from Hendrick Motorsports in contributing to his results and those of Elliott at Watkins Glen.
"Things just kind of worked out for us the last couple of years to get the win," Larson said before qualifying.
Martin Truex Jr.
Truex leads the regular-season points standings by a sizeable 60 points over William Byron and has one road-course victory this year, that coming at Sonoma.
Last year's 23rd-place finish at WGI stalled a stretch of strong finishes since 2016 for Truex, who won there in 2017, took second twice, third once and seventh. Truex has four other top-six finishes at the track since his Cup debut there in 2006.
"Just hoping to come out of here this weekend with a really good position in points," Truex said. "There's a chance we could clinch the regular season in points this weekend. That would be great, but I think we're in a pretty good spot.
"I like the track. That's always a positive. When you go somewhere you enjoy racing at, it always seems to come a bit easier, but last year was a bit of a struggle here."
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin has now earned the top starting spot in three of the five road/street races this season. He qualified first at Sonoma and the Chicago Street Race.
Hamlin is No. 2 to Truex in points and has a strong resume at The Glen highlighted by his victory in 2016, his only win at a road course. He had three top-five finishes in four races there after that before settling for 20th last season. Last month Hamlin picked up his 50th career Cup victory at Pocono.
"It suits me well," Hamlin said of WGI. "I think it's probably the least technical of all the road courses. Kind of the superspeedway of road courses. ... I've got so many laps here that I certainly feel comfortable and obviously my car today's got speed."
AJ Allmendinger
Somewhat lost in Larson's late pass of Elliott in last year's Go Bowling at The Glen was the fact Allmendinger ended up as the runner-up, continuing a string of success at the track for the road-course ace. He won the race in 2014 and delivered fourth-place finishes in 2010 and 2014.
There are 13 drivers in the playoff field based on wins and Allmendinger has the potential to leave only two open spots heading into next week's regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
Allmendinger, who set the practice pace Saturday, will start sixth.
Kyle Busch
Busch has 16 Cup races at Watkins Glen and only four times has he finished out of the top 10, including an 11th-place finish. He won in 2008 and 2013 and has been in contention often. Busch has also been a force in his first season at Richard Childress Racing, posting three victories.
He said his confidence remains high despite finishing 37th and 36th in the last two races and outside the top-20 in four of the last five. The exception was third at Richmond.
"It's just a matter of putting it all together and having it run smooth," Busch said. "And that's not due to anybody's fault. It's all a lot of circumstances.
Tyler Reddick
Reddick fits the profile of a first-time winner at Watkins Glen based on finishes of 10th and seventh in his first two Cup races at the track, along with his triumph at the Circuit of Americas road course earlier this season. Reddick's first career Cup win came last season at Road America.
He will start eighth Sunday.
Michael McDowell
McDowell is a driver to watch for reasons beyond being the most recent race winner, that coming last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
He posted his best WGI Cup finish last year, taking sixth. Prior to that, McDowell's best showing in eight previous WGI races was 12th.
McDowell qualified third Saturday and said afterward he again feels he has a winning car.
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Christopher Bell
Bell has driven his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to finishes of seventh and eighth in his first two Cup appearances at Watkins Glen.
Bell's first win came at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in 2021 and he owns a victory this year at the Bristol Dirt Race.
He was fast Saturday, qualifying seventh.
William Byron
It's hard to discount Byron, whose four wins this season lead the series.
He has had hit-and-miss results at Watkins Glen, finishing eighth in 2018 and sixth in 2021 but outside the top-10 in his other two starts there. Byron has a fifth-place finish this year at Circuit of Americas but has finished no better than 13th in the other three road/street races.
Byron's front-row qualifying effort Saturday was a good start to his weekend.
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: 10 drivers who could win 2023 Go Bowling at The Glen
