After coming just a half a straightaway shy of leaving Atlanta Motor Speedway with a much-needed good points day, Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Freightliner team are headed to Watkins Glen International hoping to battle their way back into a position to advance to Round Two of the Cup Series Playoffs.
This weekend’s Go Bowling at the Glen on the road course at Watkins Glen, N.Y., is the second of three races in the Round of 16, and Burton and the Wood Brothers are 14th in the standings, 16 points behind 12th place. After the race at Bristol the following week, the bottom four drivers in the Playoff standings will be eliminated from championship contention.
“We had ourselves in a good spot to have a decent points day right up until the last corner,” crew chief Jeremy Bullins said of this past Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Burton was swept up in a last-lap crash and finished 31st after running most of the rest of the race in the top 15 or better. “That’s how it goes with the speedway-style racing.
“There’s only so much you can control in those situations.”
But Atlanta is in the rear-view mirror, and the team’s focus is on the upcoming race on the 2.45-mile, seven-turn road course in upstate New York.
“We will try to rebound this week with our Freightliner Mustang at Watkins Glen,” Bullins said.
“We will do our best to score some much-needed Stage points and get back above the cutline before the cutoff race at Bristol.”
Practice for the Go Bowling at the Glen is set for Saturday beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time to be followed by qualifying at 1 p.m.
Sunday’s 90-lap, 220.5-mile race is expected to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 20 and 40.
USA Network will carry the TV coverage all weekend.
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.
