Watkins Glen
Race Report
Parker Kligerman came through an overtime wreck to finish P3 in the No. 48 Big Machine Racing spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet in the Shriners Children’s 200 at The Glen
Kligerman’s third-place showing was important as the series heads towards its Playoffs next month. He pulled to within three-points of Riley Herbst for that final transfer position. Herbst’s No. 98 had a rough day, retiring on Lap 37 and taking a 35th place finish. He had led Kligerman by 17 points coming into the Watkins Glen race.
“We had a great finish and salvaged great points,’’ Kligerman said. “We kept ourselves in the fight, but I’ve got to sort through this one.
“To me, three [points], 15 [points], it all feels the same. It’s so close that can happen in a stage essentially. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. We scored stage points in all stages today so that is a big deal for us.’’
“I think we’re doing the right things, just need a little more,’’ he added with a smile.
Sam Mayer survived a full-contact afternoon at The Glen– contributing his own bump and run on the final restart to take the lead in overtime and hold off the field for his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Daytona International Speedway for Friday’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Jeremy Clements is the defending race winner.
Overview
Event: Shriners Children’s 200 at the Glen
Date: Saturday August 19, 2023
Time: 3:30 p.m. eastern
Location: Watkins Glen International 2790 County Route 16 Watkins Glen, NY 14891
Layout: 2.45 mile road course
Laps: 82
Miles: 200.9 miles
Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 20, Stage 2 ends on Lap 40, Final Stage ends on Lap 90
TV: USA Network
Radio: Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN. Find the radio station near you here.
Driver Points: 571, 11th
Notes of Interest:
“We are on a roll,” says Parker Kligerman. “It may not look like much from the outside, but we are putting down some really great stats at the moment. It makes me so proud of this whole team, because I know the effort we have all put in to get these results!”
“Watkins Glen is one of my favorite tracks in the world. A super speedway of roadcourses that means a lap here is a super high speed, high commitment lap that requires you to really have an immense amount of trust in the racecar. I love that about it, and I think it suits all of our strengths. I can’t wait to keep this momentum going 🤙”
NASCAR Xfinity Series prepares for some road course racing at Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen International has hosted 28 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, producing 17 different race winners and just as many pole winners. Nine races have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Joey Logano in 2018.
Terry Labonte and Marcos Ambrose sit as the track’s winningest drivers in the series, each with four respective wins. Labonte won the inaugural race in 1991, followed by three consecutive wins in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Ambrose also had three consecutive wins (2008, 2009, 2010), followed by a win in 2014.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Ty Gibbs, who just snagged his first Xfinity Series win of the season last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, will once again be pulling double duty this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 19. He and Kyle Busch are the only former winners entered in this weekend’s Shriners Children’s 200 at The Glen.
Drivers will have an action-packed Saturday as they head to practice at 10:30 a.m. ET followed by qualifying at 11 a.m. ET, both streamed on the NBC Sports App.
Road Course Ringers: Watkins Glen edition
With Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs being the only previous winners entered in this weekend’s Shriners Children’s 200 at The Glen, there will be a few drivers who will be giving them a run for their money to add a Watkins Glen trophy to their respective trophy cases.
Justin Allgaier has made 11 starts on the Watkins Glen road course, posting four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He’s been dominate on road courses all season long, posting impressive finishes of no worse than seventh – Austin (fifth), Portland (runner-up), Sonoma (seventh), Chicago (third), Indianapolis RC (fifth).
Sam Mayer is riding a road course high as he posted his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Road America a few weeks ago and a runner-up finish last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. He’ll be looking to ride this momentum into Watkins Glen, a track where he has made two starts, posting top-10 finishes in both.
Riley Herbst is still looking to post his first Xfinity Series career win and Watkins Glen International could be the place to make it happen. Four drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen all-time – NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott (1993), and road course aces Ron Fellows (1998), Marcos Ambrose (2008) and Austin Cindric (2019). Herbst has only made two starts at the track, posting a 13th-place finish and a seventh-place finish, respectively. He’s made some solid finishes on road courses this season though – Austin (10th), Road America (fifth) and Indianapolis RC (12th).
Clinch Scenarios: NASCAR Xfinity Series 2023 regular season has just four to go
It’s crunch time for the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers still vying for a spot in the Playoffs that are set to kick off on Friday, September 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway. With four to go in the regular season, things are sure to heat up as the series heads to Watkins Glen International. Below is a look at the clinch scenarios heading into the weekend:
Already Clinched
The following 4 drivers have clinched a spot in the 12-driver postseason field: Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer.
Can Clinch Via Previous Wins
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith or Jeb Burton:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Jeb Burton: Would clinch regardless of finish
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman or Brandon Jones:
· Sam Mayer: Could only clinch with help
· Chandler Smith: Could only clinch with help
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Brett Moffitt:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch with 37 points
· Chandler Smith: Could only clinch with help
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Kaz Grala:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch with 39 points
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Parker Retzlaff:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch with 19 points
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Ryan Sieg:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch with 3 points
· Sammy Smith: Could only clinch with help
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Jeremy Clements:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 33 points
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Josh Williams:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Jeb Burton: Would clinch with 5 points
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Anthony Alfredo:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Jeb Burton: Would clinch with 3 points
The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Joey Graf Jr. or Brennan Poole:
· Sam Mayer: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Chandler Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
· Jeb Burton: Would clinch regardless of finish
Can Clinch Via Win
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:
· Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton
The following drivers could clinch with a win:
· Daniel Hemric: Could only clinch with help
Austin Hill will try to hold off John Hunter Nemechek for Regular Season Championship
With just four races left in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, Austin Hill holds the driver point standings lead by 11 points over John Hunter Nemechek in second as the series heads to Watkins Glen International for the 23rd race of the 2023 season.
This weekend Austin Hill cannot clinch the Regular Season Championship since there are still 240 points and 4 wins available. But expect the two drivers to do their best to continue to earn as many points as possible.
Hill will be looking to improve on his series track debut at Watkins Glen from last year where he started eighth but finished 30th. This season, Hill has been strong on the road courses finishing in the top-10 in five of the first six road course events on the 2023 schedule; including a fourth-place finish last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Nemechek will look to mimic what he did last season in his series track debut at Watkins Glen; he started 20th and finished in 12th. Nemechek’s performances on road courses this season have been a mixed bag, he has just two top-10 finishes in the first six road course events in 2023; including a runner-up showing at Chicago. He finished 13th at Indianapolis Road Course last weekend.
Double Dipping: NASCAR Cup Series stars competing in the Shriner’s Children 200 at The Glen
The NASCAR Xfinity Series field will be sure to keep fans on the edge of their seats this weekend as four big name NASCAR Cup Series fan favorites will be joining in on Saturday’s Shriner’s Children 200 at The Glen.
2009 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Kyle Busch will drive the No. 10 Chevrolet this weekend at Watkins Glen. This will be Busch’s third Xfinity start of the season. In his previous two starts he has finished fourth at his home track of Las Vegas and ninth at Phoenix. Busch’s Xfinity resume at Watkins Glen is enviable, in 11 starts he has put up one win (2017), six top fives and seven top 10s. He has led laps in all but three of his 11 Watkins Glen appearances and has an average finish of 13.7.
Piloting the No. 19 will be 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs, who has already conquered Watkins Glen International (2021) once in his career. Gibbs has run three road courses on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule this year and has posted a top-five finish in all three – Austin (third), Sonoma (fourth) and Indianapolis (first). Gibbs put on a dominating performance in multiple weather conditions last week at Indianapolis. Gibbs is also battling for the final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the additional seat time will be beneficial to him this weekend.
Alex Bowman will be making his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the 2023 season this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 17. Looking to this weekend at The Glen, Bowman has made just one Xfinity Series start on the Watkins Glen road course in 2013 where he finished 13th. Although he hasn’t ran a Xfinity Series race this year, his last stint in the series was last season on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course where he posted a runner-up finish.
Ross Chastain will pilot the No. 91 this weekend in his sixth Xfinity Series start of the 2023 season. The ‘Melon Man’ has made six starts in the Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen, posting a best-finish of 14th in 2016. He has made two other road course starts in the Xfinity Series this season – Sonoma (finished 18th) and last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course where he had a suspension issue and ultimately finished 37th.
Casey Carden to attempt Xfinity Series debut – Casey Carden will be getting behind the wheel of the No. 74 Chevrolet for to attempt to qualify his way into this weekend’s Shriners Children’s 200 at The Glen. Carden hails from Braselton, Georgia and is looking to make his NASCAR national series debut this weekend. Though Carden doesn’t have any Xfinity Series starts at Watkins Glen, he has made one ARCA Menards Series start at 2.45-mile track last season for car owner Alex Chubb. Carden started in 22nd and finished 15th in the ARCA Menard Series event.