This Week in Motorsports: August 14-20, 2023
· NCS/NXS/ARCA: Watkins Glen International – August 18-20
· ARCA WEST: Evergreen Speedway – August 19
· ARCA: Springfield Mile at Illinois State Fairgrounds – August 20
· NHRA: Brainerd International Raceway – August 20
PLANO, Texas (August 16, 2023) – NASCAR continues road racing action with a visit to Watkins Glen International, while NHRA makes its annual stop in Minnesota this weekend.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS
Truex looks to clinch regular season title… Martin Truex Jr. comes into Watkins Glen 60 points ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin heading into the NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend. If Truex departs Watkins Glen with a 61-point advantage, the New Jersey-native will clinch the regular season title, regardless of what happens in Daytona the following weekend. Truex has one win at Watkins Glen – 2017 – and top-three finishes in four of the last five races at the upstate New York road course.
Wallace battling for final Playoff berth… Bubba Wallace sits in 16th – the final playoff spot coming into the second-to-last race of the Cup Series regular season. Wallace, who is trying to make the Playoffs for the first time, holds a 28-point advantage over Daniel Suarez. Wallace will be looking for his first top-10 finish at Watkins Glen this weekend.
Smith back at first Xfinity top-five… Sammy Smith is beginning to see some tracks which he raced at in his limited schedule last season. The 19-year-old driver was very impressive at Watkins Glen a season ago, earning his first stage win and his first top-five finish in third place. The Iowa-native has had several strong runs on road courses this season – including a top-five in COTA in March and top-10 runs in Sonoma and Chicago.
Grala plans to continue top-10 road course streak… Kaz Grala continues to run strong on the road courses. On Saturday in Indianapolis, Grala finished ninth – his third consecutive top-10 run on a road course. Now Grala turns to Watkins Glen, where the Boston-native earned a top-five finish one season ago.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA
Love closes in on 100-point lead… Jesse Love is closing in on leading the ARCA standings by 100 points after his seventh victory of the season at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday night. With eight races to go, Love is up by 98 points heading into two races this weekend. The Toyota Development Driver finished third at Watkins Glen one year ago and led every lap on his way to victory at Springfield last season.
Debuting drivers… Brent Crews and Taylor Reimer will both make their ARCA debuts this weekend. Crews, 15, has been impressive from the early start of his racing career as he is the youngest winner in Trans Am history. Crews will run both ARCA national series races on the weekend, while Toyota midget driver Reimer will see her first laps in an ARCA race on Sunday on the dirt in Illinois. The Oklahoma graduate was impressive in recent midget starts, including a second-place run last week.
NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car
Torrence looks for back-to-back in Brainerd… Steve Torrence scored his first victory with Toyota at Brainerd last season – his second consecutive win at the track. The multi-time champion continues to be in contention for another title as he battles fellow Toyota driver Justin Ashley for the top spot in the standings as they close in on the point reset following Indianapolis.
Capps battling for points lead… Ron Capps continues to battle for his third consecutive Funny Car championship as he heads to Brainerd International Raceway. Capps has several victories at the track, most recently in 2019.
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