WATKINS GLEN
Saturday, September 14 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 3 p.m. ET (USA)
Sunday, September 15 — NASCAR Cup Series, 3 p.m. ET (USA)
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs got off on a good note for Ford as Joey Logano won last week’s opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway to clinch a spot in the Round of 12. The circuit now heads to Watkins Glen International for the first Cup postseason race at that facility on Sunday. Prior to that, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will conduct its penultimate event of the regular season on Saturday.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP PLAYOFFS
Joey Logano – Atlanta Winner (Clinched Round of 12)
Ryan Blaney – 2nd (+45 above the cut line)
Austin Cindric – 7th (+27)
Brad Keselowski – 13th (-1 below the cut line)
Harrison Burton – 14th (-16)
Chase Briscoe – 16th (-21)
FORD’S SECOND HALF HOT STREAK
Ever since Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race in May, Ford has been on a roll. The Blue Oval has won eight times in the last 15 races, including the current three-race streak that has seen Harrison Burton (Daytona), Chase Briscoe (Darlington) and Logano (Atlanta) all find Victory Lane. The last time Ford won at least four in a row was in 2018 when Kevin Harvick (Michigan), Kurt Busch (Bristol) and Brad Keselowski (Darlington, Indianapolis and Las Vegas) combined to win five straight.
CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME FORD WIN LIST
Logano’s victory was the 34th of his NASCAR Cup Series career and 32nd with Ford, which is fourth on the all-time Blue Oval win list. The only three drivers ahead of him are Ned Jarrett (43), Bill Elliott (40) and Mark Martin (35).
CLOSING IN ON 100
In addition to being fourth on Ford’s all-time win list, Logano has also won more races for Team Penske with Ford than any other driver. His win on Sunday marked the organization’s 98th with the manufacturer. Rusty Wallace scored the first win when he won at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, NC, in 1994. Team Penske won 27 races from 1994-2002 and then returned to Ford in 2013 with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Since then, they’ve added a third car with Ryan Blaney and have won 71 times. Seven different drivers have won at least one race with Team Penske and Ford with Logano leading the way (32).
TEAM PENSKE ALL-TIME FORD WINNERS
32 – Joey Logano
26 – Brad Keselowski
23 – Rusty Wallace
11 – Ryan Blaney
3 – Jeremy Mayfield
2 – Austin Cindric
1 – Ryan Newman
LOGANO AT THE GLEN
Joey Logano comes into this weekend with consecutive top-10 finishes at Watkins Glen International and is the only current Ford driver with a Cup victory at the famed road course. He also has three NASCAR Xfinity victories and became the first driver to sweep a Cup/Xfinity weekend when he did it in 2015. That also marked Roger Penske’s first Cup victory at the historic track.
KESELOWSKI AND CINDRIC AT WGI
Playoff drivers Brad Keselowski and Austin Cindric have also been to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International, both getting there in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Keselowski, who has three second-place finishes and one third on the Cup side, posted his victory in 2013 while Cindric passed AJ Allmendinger with two laps to go and took the checkered flag in 2019.
BUESCHER ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Chris Buescher may not be in the Playoffs, but he is definitely a driver to watch this weekend at Watkins Glen International. That’s because the Texas native has finished 10th or better in 12 of the last 14 road/street races, including a streak of eight straight at one point.
YEAR/RACE – FINISH
2024 Chicago – P20
2024 Sonoma – P3
2024 COTA – P8
2023 Roval – P7
2023 Watkins Glen – P7
2023 Indy – P11
2023 Chicago – P10
2023 Sonoma – P4
2023 COTA – P8
2022 Roval – P6
2022 Watkins Glen – P9
2022 Indy – P10
2022 Road America – P6
2022 Sonoma – P2
JOEY LOGANO: “Watkins Glen isn’t the typical Watkins Glen that we’ve seen in the past. They’ve changed some things to the track. They’ve added rumble strips off of turn one that prevents us from dropping way outside of the curb. They’ve changed the curbing to the bus stop itself to where you won’t be launching them into the corner as much, and then they also added rumble strips on the exit of the carousel to keep us from dropping way out there, so the track will race differently. The cars will want something different from a setup perspective and they’re also changing the tire, too. It sounds like there will be a lot more tire wear, so there are a lot of unknowns for sure.”
RYAN BLANEY: “I don’t know what to expect. We have some idea from the tire test that went on there and what the fall off is gonna be. I think there’s gonna be a lot of fall off, which is good. You’ll see some comers and goers unlike that place last year when we really struggled with tire fall off, so I think that’s gonna be good. The changes to the track are not crazy. The bus stop entry curb is gone, so that’s gonna be different. Some of the rumbles they’ve got on the exit of the carousel in turn one will change a little bit, which I think is positive for the racing. You won’t be able to just blow turn one and bail out to the apron and still have speed, so it will take a little more precision. I try not to overthink before I go into the weekends because you can never predict these things, especially when it’s something new. Even if it’s the same tire and same everything it’s like, ‘Well, the track could be different. Your setup is gonna be a little different.’ So, I try not to spin myself out on that side of it. I just see what it’s like in practice and then see where we need to get better and how I as a driver need to be better through practice and into qualifying and the race. It’ll be an exciting one that’s for sure, but I’m happy they made changes to the tire. I think that’s gonna help the racing.”
HARRISON BURTON: “It’s probably the road course I have the most laps on. As you come up through the ranks you get a lot of laps at a lot of different tracks and similar racetracks, but you go to all these road courses and even in my Cup career my first race at Sonoma was in a Cup car. It’s really kind of nice to go somewhere I have a lot of laps at. I’ve run a lot of different race cars there and now they’re gonna change some of the configuration with the curbing. The tires are gonna be a lot softer, so they’re gonna fall off more. It’s a little bit more to manage and a little bit more complicated than just go drive as fast as you can for as many laps as you can, which is fun for me. As a driver, I enjoy those kinds of races, so trying to handle all of the curveballs that get thrown at you there is gonna be tough, but fun.”
CLASSIC FINISH
One of the all-time classic finishes at Watkins Glen International came when Marcos Ambrose went slip sliding away on the final lap, but still resulted in him winning the NASCAR Cup Series race for the second straight time on August 12, 2012. Ambrose was able to avoid a massive streak of oil that had been laid down on the track, allowing him to pass Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski for Ford’s third win of the season. Busch appeared to be headed toward victory, but as he came into turn one on the final lap, he slipped in some oil and got loose. Keselowski came up from behind and hit Busch, sending him spinning off the track. A battle between Ambrose and Keselowski, which inluded both driving through the grass at one point before Ambrose was able to get by in the treacherous carousel.
THREE STRAIGHT
Mark Martin became the first driver to win three straight NASCAR Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International, and he capped that streak on Aug. 13, 1995 after passing Wally Dallenbach, Jr. on lap 84 of the 90-lap event. Martin, who led a race-high 61 circuits overall, held off the road racing specialist to win by one second. That victory completed a three-year run that saw him not only sit on the pole every time but lead 183-of-270 laps (68%).
TWO RACES REMAINING IN REGULAR SEASON
While the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series have begun their respective Playoffs, the NASCAR Xfinity Series still has two races remaining in its regular season. Defending champion Cole Custer has already clinched a spot in the field of 12 after his win in Pocono while Riley Herbst also owns a berth because of his victory in Indianapolis. Ryan Sieg goes into this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen International on the outside looking in as he sits 44 points behind the final transfer position.
FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS
AT WATKINS GLEN
1965 – Marvin Panch
1993 – Mark Martin
1994 – Mark Martin
1995 – Mark Martin
1995 – Mark Martin
1996 – Geoffrey Bodine
2011 – Marcos Ambrose
2012 – Marcos Ambrose
2015 – Joey Logano
FORD’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS
AT WATKINS GLEN
1993 – Bill Elliott
2008 – Marcos Ambrose
2012 – Carl Edwards
2013 – Brad Keselowski
2014 – Marcos Ambrose
2015 – Joey Logano
2016 – Joey Logano
2018 – Joey Logano
2019 – Austin Cindric
