NASCAR Playoffs Head to The Glen; Charters; Short Track

The new first round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will move to Watkins Glen International on Sunday, with a road course race following last week’s Atlanta superspeedway-style opener.

Tell that to NASCAR, the effort to freshen up the schedule in recent years has brought some welcome variety to the calendar, and this year’s opening round of the Playoffs is a prime example. Atlanta, The Glen and Bristol next Saturday night are a far cry from the early days of NASCAR’s postseason, when the existing schedule was essentially split into a regular season and the 10-race Playoffs.

The days when Chicagoland, New Hampshire and Dover kicked off the first three postseason races seem like a bygone era, as the governing body has taken steps to more carefully map out the roster to determine the champion.

Recent trips to The Glen haven’t exactly been earth-shattering, but there are a few interesting variables this weekend that have the potential to spice things up. The layout now features different locations for rumble strips around the 2.45-mile, seven-turn course, which will alter the lines drivers take and, in theory, bring the cars closer together. Add in a new Goodyear tire that showed significantly more sag when tested earlier this summer, and Sunday’s race gets a little more spice in the stew.

The second Playoff race has produced some intriguing nuggets since 2004:

The winner of the second race in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs has won the overall championship three times – 2009, 2010 and 2011.

When Dover Motor Speedway hosted the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs (2004–2010), the winning driver went on to clinch the series title twice: Jimmie Johnson (2009 and 2010).

When New Hampshire Motor Speedway went to the second race in the Playoffs (2011–2017), only one driver had won the event and gone on to win the title – Tony Stewart (2011). Stewart won five races in the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (a series record tied with Kyle Larson, 2021), including the first two (Chicago and New Hampshire).

Neither of the playoff winners at Richmond Raceway (2018-2021) or Kansas Speedway (2022-2023), when they hosted the second playoff race, went on to win the title in the same season.

The four drivers who fell below the Playoff cut line after Atlanta have an opportunity to make up that ground at Watkins Glen. While it’s not yet time to despair or throw a “Hail Mary,” the pressure is certainly on this quartet to stay alive.

Brad Keselowski is in the best position of the four, just shy of the cut line by a single point. However, the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver hasn’t necessarily been the best on road courses during the NextGen Cup era. Keselowski doesn’t even have a top 10 finish in his last few road course races. He can’t afford to fall much further and will put all his eggs in the Bristol basket next Saturday night.

Harrison Burton is close behind at 16 back, and even the young driver said the No. 21 team was playing with house money when it raced into the Playoffs with its Daytona win. Last week’s Atlanta superspeedway race was Burton’s best chance to steal some more thunder, but he was unable to capitalize and faces a tough road ahead at The Glen and Bristol to stay alive.

Martin Truex Jr. is 19 points behind and right now he’s the guy who if you see him getting in your plane, you get out. If it’s going to happen to anyone, it’s going to happen to Truex Jr. these days, who had another frustrating day in Atlanta. There was a time when MTJ was a beast in street racing, including at The Glen. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver desperately needs to find that magic again to keep his hopes of a full-time final season alive.

Chase Briscoe channeled his inner Truex Jr. last week in Atlanta when he was an innocent bystander caught in Kyle Larson’s fiery crash. His day ended on Lap 55, and now the Stewart-Haas Racing driver faces a 21-point Playoff deficit. He’ll need a good race and for other drivers to suffer misfortune to make up ground at The Glen.

There’s an interesting name atop the list of favorites for Sunday’s race at The Glen, and it’s not a Cup regular. Shane Van Gisbergen, the top seed on the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff grid with three wins — all on street courses — will be in a Kaulig Racing Cup car this week. SVG’s odds are +600 to win, tied with Kyle Larson, looking to put last week’s Atlanta disaster behind him.

William Byron and Tyler Reddick are next at +750, both of whom have won Cup road courses in their careers. AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig’s other road course specialist, has much longer odds than he has in recent years, coming in at +1300 to win. There are a couple of other road course aces in the field also carrying intriguing betting numbers; Michael McDowell (+1600) and Juan Pablo Montoya, making his return to NASCAR with a 23XI Racing entry and listed as +2800 to win the race.

It’s been a week since reports that all but two teams had signed a new charter agreement with NASCAR. Only 23XI and Front Row have not agreed to terms of the new deal.

Several team owners and presidents spoke about the deal that came after what some described as “pressure” or “coercion,” essentially a “take it or leave it” decision by the sanctioning body.

All but two accepted.

“I think we’ve worked really hard for two years and we’ve gotten to the point where we’re not going to make everybody happy,” Rick Hendrick explained at Wednesday’s press conference announcing Kyle Larson’s attempt to race the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 again in 2025.

“And I think it came down to, I was just tired,” Hendrick said. “Not everybody was happy. But in any negotiation, you’re not going to get everything you want, so I felt like it was a fair deal and we protected the charters, which was number one, we got the increase, I feel like a lot of things that we didn’t like were taken away, so I’m happy with where we were.”

With the other teams more or less agreeing with Hendrick’s outlook, it leaves the two outliers with more questions than answers. And in the case of 23XI, it also brings what could easily be an unnecessary distraction from the team’s quest to win a championship with Tyler Reddick. There’s also the shadow of co-owner Denny Hamlin as he races for an elusive Cup title driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Unless there is a change of course, it looks like the situation is headed into legal waters. While the rest of the garage, minus Front Row for now, can go about their business of racing this year and building their futures, 23XI appears to be ready for a battle both on the track and in court.

Wait.

The mid-September weekend sees a great lineup of short track events across the country.

One of the Midwest’s biggest races has a new home in 2024. The National Short Track Championships, a staple at Illinois’ Rockford Speedway for years, is moving to Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin. With Rockford closing its doors after 75 years, three days of NSTC action are set at the 1/3-mile Dells track from Friday through Sunday, highlighted by the Big 8 Series on Saturday night and the Hugh Deery 150 for super late models on Sunday afternoon.

Racing America will host six live events for subscribers this weekend, including the Race of Champions Dirt Sportsman Modified 602 Series at Canada’s Ohsweken Speedway, the PASS late models and modifieds at Star Speedway, The Walls Ford Platinum Late Model Series at White Mountain Motorsports Park, the Race of Champions Sportsman Series at Chemung Speedrome, the CRA street stocks, sportsman and Vores Compact Series at Anderson (IN) Speedway and the Northwest Super Late Model Series in action at Washington’s Wenatchee Valley Speedway.