Verizon 200 Recap / Watkins Glen Preview

The clock is winding down in the 2023 NASCAR regular season. With only two opportunities left for us to have a new winner this season to lock themselves into the playoffs, things will likely get very tense at Watkins Glen and Daytona. The Indy Road Course was no exception. I generally don't start a blog article about the end of the race, but today I'm going to because of how intense the Indy Road Course must've been for Chase Elliott fans. ​

For those living under a rock, Chase Elliott has been deemed the most popular driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he has gone through injuries and suspensions this season that have set him back significantly in points, meaning he has to win a race to make playoffs this season. Elliott had a fantastic opportunity to walk away with a win this weekend, but Michael McDowell, the driver of the #34 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports, decided he wanted to pull off his second win in his sixteen years of driving in the Cup Series. 

Fun sidenote about McDowell, back in 2009, he drove for JTG Daugherty Racing in the Xfinity Series for 18 races, putting up 3 Top-10 Finishes for the team. 

With McDowell winning this past weekend, there are now three spots left for drivers to lock themselves into playoffs based on points alone. Harvick, Keselowski, and Wallace are the three drivers currently occupying those spots, with Suarez and Gibbs fighting tooth and nail to sneak into a playoff spot. Of the five drivers in the playoff bubble, Suarez and Harvick have had the most success at Watkins Glen, with an average finish of 12.0 and 12.7. 

Of course, looking for his first win this season and looking to lock himself into the playoffs is Chase Elliott. Of all the current drivers racing this upcoming weekend, Elliott has had the most success at Watkins Glen with two wins, four top-fives, and an average finish of 5.7 (the best average finish of current drivers) over the six-cup series races he has run at the Glen. 

Stenhouse did not come to Indianapolis to mess around. Those that have been following The Casual Center for some time know that every Sunday during the race, I will have Stenhouse's scanner and onboard camera playing on my phone while I have the race playing on the TV, and most of the time, I'm not paying attention to the TV. 

Though it was barely a Top-25 finish for Stenhouse, he showed a lot of aggression on the track, which is not typical for Stenhouse. The running joke this weekend is that Stenhouse has something against the international drivers, as it seemed like that is who he mostly made contact with. 

Heading to Watkins Glen, I expect Stenhouse to have an average day finishing somewhere between 15-20. He locked himself in the playoffs this season at the Daytona 500 and doesn't have to fight to get in. The team has had more time than any team to prepare for playoffs this season, and NASCAR is one of the few sports where you can concentrate your efforts on a race a month in advance instead of the next one.  

Personally, I would like to see Harvick win this weekend. I think almost everyone would like to see Harvick win at least one race this season before he rides off into the sunset. At the very least, I expect him to pull away with a Top-10 finish. He may not win at Watkins Glen or Daytona, but unless the next two weeks go horribly wrong, he's got his spot in the playoffs. 

While Chase Elliott is the most efficient driver at Watkins Glen, it is very, very difficult to win three times at the same track in five years. Not impossible, but difficult. I'll put my money on Elliott this week because he does have that chip on his shoulder as well as the expectations to be a championship-contending driver, but if you're not betting on Elliott to win, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Tyler Reddick tend to find a good bit of success at Watkins Glen.