Atlanta Motor Speedway was a great opening race to the 2024 NASCAR playoffs. Hendrick Motorsports has plenty of confidence heading to Watkins Glen for the second race of the round of 16. Why you might ask, well they have been pretty dominant at the New York-based road course for the last five years.
The team will be speaking their sixth-straight win at the 2.45-mile road course. Chase Elliott has long been a road course ace, and he started the Hendrick winning streak at the Glen in 2018 when he got his first career win. He followed it up with another victory in 2019. There wasn’t a race at the track in 2020 because of COVID-19, but Kyle Larson quickly took it from their winning back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. William Byron got the call in 2023, as he dominated this race leading 66 of 90 laps.
Victory Lane at Watkins Glen has been a second home for Hendrick Motorsports since 2018. 🏁 pic.twitter.com/57PjCilOMB
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 13, 2024
Can Hendrick get win number six in a row at Watkins Glen? Time will tell, but there are plenty of drivers in the field, that could easily snap that streak.
Hendrick Motorsports Has Owned Watkins Glen, So Who Can Beat Them?
Alex Bowman broke through earlier this season with his first career road-course win. That makes Hendrick the team to once again watch at The Glen. All four drivers have proven they can get the job done on the road courses. The teams have plenty of interesting factors that could stand in the way, not just other drivers.
A New Tire Compound Can Shake it All Up
Despite having all the confidence in the world returning to Watkins Glen, all of the NASCAR teams will have a tall task. A new much softer Goodyear tire will stand in the way of Larson, Elliott, Bowman, and defending winner Byron. Byron’s crew chief will be much looking forward to the race weekend’s practice session, as that will be the time to make the strategy for Sunday’s race. Fugle spoke in a Hendrick Motorsports press briefing about the challenges the new tire will present this weekend.
” It’s going to be a different animal than we’ve had at Watkins Glen probably in a long, long time or ever,” Fugle said. ” So, we’re going to fight different things for sure. Really, Saturday is going to be an open-book learning session. Trying to be open minded as a team and keep William open minded. Don’t expect anything and be ready for everything … we’ll gather as much data as we can and be ready to attack on Sunday.”
This now being a playoff race adds much more pressure, not to mention Hendrick Motorsports will have plenty of hungry drivers breathing down their necks on Sunday.
Drivers To Keep An Eye On
Sure, all four Hendrick drivers should have a good shot at Watkins Glen, but the field has plenty of tough competition. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick is certainly a name to keep in mind. But the number of field road course ringers could shake things up. Kaulig Racing has both AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen in the field. Both are former Cup winners, on road courses no less.
Add in the biggest wildcard of them all in Juan Pablo Montoya who will be piloting 23XI’s No. 50 car this weekend. He knows how to get the job done at Watkins Glen. The sight of his last Cup series win in 2010.
Testing… testing… ✍️@jpmontoya talks about his first time back in a Cup car in a decade after testing at @virnow. pic.twitter.com/Vz5qXiPbnz
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) September 13, 2024
Who Gets it Done?
Well, a safe bet is a playoff driver, no wait a Hendrick driver, no maybe a one-off driver. It truly isn’t an easy pick. I’d go with my gut which says, either Reddick or a Hendrick driver based on recent memory at Watkins Glen, but who knows? It has been over two years since Chase Elliott won a road course race, is Sunday the day he gets back to victory lane? He’s been right in the thick of it at the Glen these past several years.
