Official Release

News and notes: After recording his sixth top 25 finish in the last seven races, Boyd is preparing to head North for the Zippo 200 at The Glen, which will be the first of four road course races scheduled for the Xfinity Series. "Let's just say I've been on the simulator non stop the last several days," says Boyd. "The simulator is a great tool to really learn the track, practice shifting, and getting familiar with my braking patterns. I really don't know what to expect, especially with the weather being a threat for this weekend as well. We're just going to go out there, try to stay on the pavement, and learn as much as we possibly can."

This weekend, Paul Menard and the No. 21 Menards/Sylvania team return to Watkins Glen International, where in 2003 Menard made his debut in the series now known as Monster Energy Cup.

There are three good reasons why Martin Truex Jr. is considered one of the strong favorites to win Sunday’s road race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

“This weekend is going to give us a good idea of what our road-course package is going to be like for this year. We’ve had some good runs in the past, but we need to step up our road course game. We’re only a few races away from the playoffs and we want to win the regular season championship for a second year in a row –those playoff points are key. Hopefully we can keep our Textron Off Road Wildcat XX Chevrolet out of trouble and get ourselves another solid finish.” –Elliott Sadler

Chevrolet has more wins at Watkins Glen than any other manufacturer. The Bowtie Brigade has been to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen 17 times in the 35 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events held at the 2.45-mile road course.

Cindric on Watkins Glen “Road racing provides a certain comfort for me and can be an unknown for many of my competitors. I really like racing at Watkins Glen and it will be an added challenge with all the Cup drivers that will be racing on Saturday this weekend. For us there is a lot of emphasis on this weekend. It’s an opportunity for us to shine and break the curse. The No. 60 has definitely had a rough stretch and a lot of hard work has been put into this weekend and hopefully that will come to fruition.”

Chase Elliott on racing at Watkins Glen: “In the last couple of years, I feel like we’ve run better at Watkins Glen. We had a good run at Sonoma earlier this season, so hopefully we learned some things that we can do this weekend. I’ve never really had the results to show (at Watkins Glen), but we usually always have had some speed and pace.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 - RACING AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL: "Watkins Glen International is always going to be a special place for me," Allmendinger said. "It's the site of my first win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and it's just an awesome place to have a race in the Finger Lakes of New York. Watkins Glen is like the superspeedway of road courses. There are such long straightaways that you're able to pick up some speed on, and then you really have to make sure you get into the corners right to be able to keep that speed and momentum up."

Stenhouse has five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Watkins Glen, with an average starting position of 27.2 and average finishing position of 26.0.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series will be competing this weekend at Watkins Glen International, the second road course race of the 2018 season. There are currently seven Ford drivers holding down MENCS Playoff positions with five races remaining in the regular season while Cole Custer, Austin Cindric and Ryan Reed are in Playoff spots with seven NSX events remaining. Here’s a look at how both have fared at WGI.