NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Mission 200 at The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International
Track Length: 2.45 Mile Asphalt Road Course
The Date: Saturday, August 9
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,651,939
TV: CW, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 200.9 miles (82 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 82)
Watkins Glen International Storylines and Insights:
- This weekend marks the 31st running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International (1991-2001, 2005-2019, 2021-2025).
- The NASCAR Xfinity Series did not run at Watkins Glen from 2002-2004 or in 2020.
- Austin Hill returns from his one-race suspension at Iowa; if granted a waiver, he will remain Playoff eligible but will enter the Playoffs with zero Playoff points.
- Sam Mayer snapped 25-race winless streak at Iowa Speedway with his win.
- Sam Mayer had been the highest winless driver in standings since Las Vegas in March.
- This will be the fifth of seven road course races this season.
- JR Motorsports won all four road course races this season with three different drivers.
- There are four races left in the regular season and four Playoff spots remain open.
- Harrison Burton gained 27 points to the Playoff cut line with a fifth-place finish at Iowa and now sits +17.
- Harrison Burton has been within 17 points of the Playoff cutoff after every race this season; his high is +17 after Iowa and his low was -16 after Sonoma.
- Jeb Burton lost 29 points to the Playoff cut line with a 29th-place finish at Iowa and now sits -19.
- Ryan Sieg gained 33 points to the Playoff cut line in the last three races and now sits -17.
- Sheldon Creed gained 82 points to the Playoff cut line in the last five races and now sits +82.
- Shane van Gisbergen will drive JR Motorsports’ #9, his third start of the season.
- In two head-to-head road course starts this season, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch have each won once.
- Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch won seven of the last nine road course races.
- Shane van Gisbergen needs one win to tie Marcos Ambrose for most NXS wins by a foreign-born driver.
- Shane van Gisbergen’s eight total NASCAR national series wins are the most by a foreign-born driver (4 Cup, 4 NXS).
- Connor Zilisch’s 10 straight top fives since returning from back injury is the longest top-five finish streak of the season; Zilisch is the youngest driver with more than five straight top fives.
- Connor Zilisch will be doing triple duty: Cup – #87 Trackhouse Racing, Xfinity – #88 JR Motorsports, Trucks – #45 Niece Motorsports.
- JR Motorsports had at least one car finish inside the top-five in a record 24 straight races.
- JR Motorsports won 12 races this season with a series-record six different drivers, all six drivers won in the last 13 races.
- JR Motorsports won seven of the last nine races this season with four different drivers.
- JR Motorsports won the last six road course races and the last three races at Watkins Glen.
- Michael McDowell will drive Kaulig Racing’s #11, his first Xfinity Series start since his win at Road America in 2016.
- Two active drivers have won in Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen – Sam Mayer 2023 & Connor Zilisch 2024.
- The last seven Watkins Glen races were won by seven different drivers.
- Five drivers earned their first career NXS win at Watkins Glen – Bill Elliott (1993), Ron Fellows (1998), Marcos Ambrose (2008), Austin Cindric (2019), and Connor Zilisch (2024).
- Connor Zilisch leads the series with five wins and four poles this season.
- Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier lead the series with 11 top fives.
- Justin Allgaier leads the series with 686 laps led this season.
- Jesse Love leads the series with 15 top 10s this season.
- Sam Mayer leads the series with an average finish of 9.86 this season.
- Justin Allgaier won the Fastest Lap Award five times this season, no other driver has more than two.
- Justin Allgaier’s 28 career wins are ninth on the all-time wins list and one away from tying Matt Kenseth.
- Justin Allgaier is five top 10s away from becoming the first driver to reach 300 NXS top-10 finishes.
- Chevrolet led 2,721 of 3,577 laps this season (76.1%).
- Chevrolet won 19 of 22 races, the most all time by a manufacturer through 22 races in series history.
- Toyota is winless in the last 14 races, their longest winless streak since the first NXS win in 2007.
- Two teams reached 100 career NXS wins this season: Richard Childress Racing at Martinsville and JR Motorsports at Indianapolis.
- Five crew chiefs got their first NXS win in 2025: Chad Haney at Atlanta, Sam McAulay at Darlington, Adam Wall at Bristol, Cory Shea at Mexico City & Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Pocono.
- There hasn’t been an overtime finish in the last nine races, the longest streak without an OT since Aug- Oct 2020.
- Five races this year ended with a last lap pass.
NXS Clinch Scenarios Following Iowa Speedway:
Already Clinched
- The following 4 drivers have clinched a spot in the 12-driver postseason field: Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill.
Can Clinch Via Previous Wins
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Nicholas Sanchez or Kyle Sieg (or anyone lower in the standings):
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch regardless of finish
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed or Taylor Gray, Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg or Jeb Burton:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch with 48 points
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Christian Eckes:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch with 5 points
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Dean Thompson:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Daniel Dye:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch with 55 points
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Brennan Poole:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch with 26 points
- Sammy Smith: Could only clinch with help
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by William Sawalich:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 49 points
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Jeremy Clements:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 47 points
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Anthony Alfredo:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 3 points
- Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch with 35 points
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Matt DiBenedetto:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Sammy Smith: Would clinch with 2 points
- Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch with 34 points
- The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Parker Retzlaff:
- Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Brandon Jones: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Sammy Smith: Would clinch regardless of finish
- Nicholas Sanchez: Would clinch with 12 points
Can clinch via win
- The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:
- Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Nicholas Sanchez
— NASCAR Wire Service —