| TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE Watkins Glen InternationalMay 8-10, 2026 |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| On the heels of its first tripleheader sweep of the 2026 NASCAR season, Chevrolet will carry that momentum to upstate New York as all three divisions will take on the left- and right-hand turns of Watkins Glen International for the sport’s second road course race of the season. Chevrolet sits as the winningest manufacturer across all three divisions at the historic 2.45-mile New York circuit with a combined 40 trips to victory lane across the NASCAR national ranks. Among those includes a pair of triumphs in the track’s most recent events for NASCAR’s top-two divisions with Team Chevy’s road course ringers, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch, driving the manufacturer to its 23rd Cup Series win and 14th O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win last season. |
| NASCAR has shared an over 40-year history with Watkins Glen International, and throughout that tenure, the circuit has became the home to an elite list of “firsts” for the Bowtie brigade. When the circuit first opened its doors to host the NASCAR Cup Series for its inaugural event in 1957, it was Buck Baker that took the victory – ultimately delivering Chevrolet its first-ever road course win in NASCAR’s premier series. |
 Watkins Glen is also the site that made a pair of Team Chevy drivers first-time winners. Competing in his third full-time campaign with Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott drove the No. 9 Chevrolet to victory lane at the circuit’s 2018 event to become a first-time winner in NASCAR’s premier series. The victory kickstarted what turned into a championship-earning career at NASCAR’s highest level with the driver now boasting a resume of one title (2020) and 22 all-time wins. |
 Following suit of his Team Chevy teammate, Connor Zilisch paid a visit to “The Glen” in 2024 to make his debut appearance in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Behind the wheel of a JR Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet, Zilisch led a race-high 45 laps en route to the victory to make the rising star just the seventh driver in series’ history to win in his first career start. Since then, the Mooresville, North Carolina, native has skyrocketed into a full-time career in NASCAR’s premier series. |
| ALL-TIME ROAD COURSE RANKINGSCareer Chevrolet driver, Jeff Gordon, continues to stand tall atop the NASCAR Cup Series all-time road course wins list with nine victories throughout his storied career. But there are a trio of Team Chevy drivers that have proven to be a threat to challenge that record. Chase Elliott leads the series’ active drivers with seven road course wins in NASCAR’s premier series – a record that started with his first career win at Watkins Glen International in 2018. The record is enough to put the Dawsonville, Georgia, native third on the series’ all-time wins list, just behind Gordon and Tony Stewart (eight wins). The fourth position on the rankings sees a five-way tie that includes Team Chevy’s Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson, who each own six road course wins in their Cup Series careers. |
 ELLIOTT’S EARLY-SEASON STATEMENTChase Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team are stringing together what is arguably one of their strongest early-season runs, statistically, in their 11-year tenure. Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, the Alan Gustafson-led team earned their second trip to victory lane to make them just the second two-time winners in NASCAR’s top division thus far this season. With 11 races in the books, consistency has been key for the No. 9 team. Their two wins have been accompanied by five top-fives and seven top-10s, both of which are ranked the second-best in the series. A visit to Watkins Glen International presents the perfect opportunity for the team to continue to prove their title potential. In nine career starts at the circuit, Elliott has accumulated two wins, two poles, four top-fives and an average finish of 12.3. |
 HOCEVAR’S HIKE UP THE RANKINGS CONTINUESIt’s a career season in the making for Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team. Finally breaking through with his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway, the Portage, Michigan, native went on to follow up that performance with yet another stellar day in the “Lonestar State”. After taking the win in Friday’s Truck Series race, Hocevar climbed into the No. 77 Chevrolet to claim his first pole win of the season – ultimately rounding out the weekend with a seventh-place result. Accumulating a total of 96 points over the last two events, Hocevar has made big gains in the points standings with the Team Chevy driver heading to upstate New York with a sixth-place ranking. |
 MAYER LOOKING FOR MOMENTUM-BUILDING WEEKENDDespite a rollercoaster start to the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Sam Mayer and the No. 41 Haas Factory Team put together their strongest run thus far at Texas Motor Speedway to earn a season-best third-place finish. The result, along with a 44-point effort, was enough to boost Mayer up two positions in the points standings as he heads to a configuration that he’s had the greatest amount of success. The Franklin, Wisconsin, native earned his first career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at Road America in 2023 and has since accumulated eight wins in the division, four of which have come on a road course. Mayer is one of just two past O’Reilly Auto Parts Series winners at Watkins Glen entered in Saturday’s race, and in his five career starts at the circuit, he’s finished in the top-10 in all but one event. |
| TRACKHOUSE TRIO DOING THE TRIPLEIn addition to their full-time rides on Sunday, the stable of Trackhouse Racing drivers will also be behind the wheel of a Camaro SS and a Silverado RST for a triple duty weekend at “The Glen”. Shane van Gisbergen will team up with Niece Motorsports to make just his second career Truck Series start, followed by a reunion with the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team for the pairing’s second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start of the season. Ross Chastain will also join the Niece Motorsports lineup for his fourth Truck Series start of the season, with his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride coming out of the Jordan Anderson Racing camp. For Zilisch, his triple duty effort will come with Spire Motorsports for Friday’s Truck Series race, with the Chevrolet driver teaming back up with JR Motorsports on Saturday to compete for their third-straight Watkins Glen victory in the second-level division. All three drivers are road course winners in the NASCAR national ranks, with Van Gisbergen and Zilisch returning to the upstate New York circuit as the track’s defending winners in the Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Chastain become a first-time winner at NASCAR’s highest level at Circuit of The Americas (2022), and while he’s still looking for his first trip to victory lane at Watkins Glen, he’s progressively building confidence with back-to-back top-10 finishes in the Cup Series’ past two visits to the circuit. |
| BOWTIE BULLETS:· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Watkins Glen International: Kyle Larson – two wins (2021, 2022)Chase Elliott – two wins (2019, 2018)Kyle Busch – two wins (2013, 2008)Shane van Gisbergen – one win (2025)William Byron – one win (2024) · Chevrolet is the winningest manufacturer in all three NASCAR national divisions at Watkins Glen International with 23 Cup Series wins, 14 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins, and three Craftsman Truck Series wins. · In 24 NASCAR Cup Series road racing events in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads the series with 17 victories – recorded by eight drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations. · At Talladega Superspeedway, Chevrolet tallied six top-10 finishes, marking the second time this season a manufacturer has placed six cars in the top-10 of a Cup Series event. The Bowtie brand took it one step further by achieving the highest representation of different organizations within those results with five Chevrolet organizations placing drivers in the top-10. · With seven-straight victories to start the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Chevrolet set the record for the longest season-opening streak by a single manufacturer in the division’s history. · In 155 points-paying races in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 70 victories – a winning percentage of 45.2%. · Chevrolet is coming off its 29th all-time sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series championship titles – capturing its 34th driver championship and 44th, and fifth consecutive, manufacturer championship in 2025. · With its 44 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championships, 34 NASCAR Cup Series driver championships, and 884 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history. |
| TUNE-IN:NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The GlenSunday, May 10, at 3 p.m. ETFS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts SeriesMission 200 at The GlenSaturday, May 9, at 4 p.m. ETCW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 NASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesBully Hill Vineyards 176 at The GlenFriday, May 8, at 4:30 p.m. ETFS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 |
| QUOTABLE QUOTES:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletHas road course racing evolved with the Next Gen car?“Yes, it has. The setup and how teams put them together from COTA in 2022 to now are drastically different. I was fast at the beginning (laughs), that should tell you everything you need to know as everybody was learning. I was on the front end of learning COTA and everything the gen 7 car needed there, and several tracks and we were more competitive then, than we are now. It definitely has evolved and Shane (van Gisbergen) has changed this sport forever. ” Do you lean on SVG or get advice from his since he’s been the driver to beat the last couple of years on road courses?“Absolutely! I can see what he’s doing in the Cup car but I can’t master doing it as fast as he can. The goal to learn from him is kind of a hamster wheel that never ends.” Do you like going up to the Watkins Glen area? It’s such a unique place in comparison to the other areas we go to for racing.“I love going up to New York. I spend a lot of time up there with various partners I have and do a lot of work with the New York Highway Safety Office. I’ve already been up there this year for various events and I go in early on race week. So, it feels like home to me when I visit. It’s going to be a little colder this year since we are racing in May but I’m looking forward to racing in all three series.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhat are some of the things you like about Watkins Glen International, and what are some of the things that are difficult about that track?“Watkins Glen International is very fast for a road course. The bus stop, the esses, a big chunk of the speed at Watkins Glen comes from those two sections. The other sections are more self-explanatory, but it’s a tough track. It’s been my hardest track to get a grip on, but I feel like going there does present some opportunities because you have some strategy and different things that can play out. Qualifying is pretty important there as well. I’m looking forward to getting there in our Bass Pro Shops/Winchester AA White Flyer Chevrolet.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletHow are you feeling heading into the weekend, and how do you think the changes in the carousel section will affect the racing?“I feel very good about it. For me and the team, I think we’ve learned a lot over the past few races, and that’s put us in a strong position heading into this weekend. I truly believe we’re in a really good place to go there, be competitive, and fight up front, so I’m super excited about that. It’s going to be fun, especially with a few changes to the race track, like the track limits in the carousel section. That’s definitely going to add something new and make things interesting. Overall, I’m really looking forward to it and seeing how everything comes together.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhat makes Watkins Glen International unique?“I love Watkins Glen. It’s always been a great place, great countryside, and is a lot of fun. Watkins Glen has always kind of been considered one of the superspeedways of road courses; it’s just a really fast course. A lot of speed there. I always look at every single racetrack wanting to win, and fortunately I’ve won there in the O’Reilly Series and the Cup Series. I’m excited to get back on the road courses again. Back in the years when we used to have only two road courses on the schedule, you would’ve kind of looked at it as a, ‘well hey you know it’s kind of like an off-weekend. Just treat it like an off-weekend, it doesn’t mean much if you run well or if you don’t,’ but now there’s six road courses on the schedule. There’s enough of a bulk of a schedule of races that you got to be a good road racer. I feel like being ahead of the game in that and being able to win races there in the past lends itself fairly well for me.” With rain being potentially a factor this weekend, how do you prepare for that possibility?“The biggest thing is looking ahead, getting with your crew chief and your engineers and kind of plan how you want to build your set-up for that. If we know there’s going to be rain on Sunday, then we’re pretty much going to build a rain setup into the racecar, but if the weather forecast looks good to where it doesn’t look like there’s going to be rain on race day, then you’ll kind of build for more of a dry type of setup. There are little differences that you can do in your racecar for the dry versus the wet. We kind of won’t really know until just a few days ahead of time. The biggest thing that you look for there is when you go to the racetrack, you’re not allowed to change the racecar once you unload the racecar out of your trailer. Your spring settings and the majority of how your suspension is all bolted on and set up, you can’t change those. The only thing you’re changing is air pressure in tires, the height of your racecar, and maybe some shocks. That’s all you’re allowed to change, so you definitely got to be ahead of the game and being able to prepare whichever direction you plan to race in.” What’s your favorite thing to do outside of the racetrack at Watkins Glen International?“Each year we’ve always done the Watkins Glen State Park hike. Really neat to do that. It’s always a great area to come to, it’s always beautiful, and looking forward to seeing what it looks like this time of year.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet“Watkins Glen will always be special to me because it’s where I earned my first NASCAR Cup Series win, and I’ve always loved the place. I’m going to go do what I can and wheel the heck out of the thing and hopefully we will be contending for a win. If not, like always, we’ll try to get the best finish possible. At COTA (Circuit of the Americas), we had top-five speed – fourth to seventh speed – and we played the stage game of getting points knowing maybe we didn’t have a shot to win the race. To me, the car didn’t feel like it drove a ton different at COTA (from years past). We’ll find out when we get to Watkins Glen where we stack up, but last year we were not where we wanted to be. We’re hopeful it will drive much better this time. At the end of the day, we’re going to make the most out of the day for our partners and hopefully we end up in Victory Lane.” Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet“I am really looking forward to Watkins Glen this weekend. It is always one of the most fun road courses we go to, with how much speed it has, and how much flow the track has. It could also be an interesting weekend with weather so I’m sure we will put on an exciting show for the fans with our HaasTooling.com Chevrolet.” Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet“We’ve had some solid runs lately, and that comes from the guys working hard back at the shop and bringing us better cars each week. It’s been a group effort and we want to keep building on that at Watkins Glen. We’re proud to have Ram Self Storage back on the car this weekend.” Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet“Watkins Glen has a lot of elevation changes, more so than other road courses we visit. It’s definitely a place where the commitment factor and the confidence level have to be high. You have a lot of elevation change in the first couple of corners. You get a little bit of a break from that going through the bus stop and then into the carousel, but then you have a lot of elevation change going into the short chute. Almost every corner is an opportunity for passing. It’s a very wide track with a lot of grip. You can run offline fairly easily at Watkins Glen, so turn one, going into the bus stop, going into the carousel, going into the lefthander after the short chute, you have a lot of opportunities to pass around the whole racetrack. To be able to do that is what makes racing at Watkins Glen so good.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletHow does a top-five result at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) help you this weekend at Watkins Glen?“COTA and Watkins Glen are very different. Overall, our road-course cars and speed have been good. This is our second road course of the year, so hopefully, we can have a day similar to COTA. It’s important to unload close and qualify well, to have a good shot at it in the race. Watkins Glen is just a cool road course. I have always loved going up there. The rhythm and flow make for a good track. You have to attack the bus stop, carry a lot of momentum into the esses, with very little room for error. It is a lot of fun, and I enjoy it. I think more than anything is when you’re driving with a smile on your face, you’re usually doing pretty good.” Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletHow do you evaluate the start to your season?“I think we are right where we want to be. It was obviously really cool thing to get the win for Jeff (Dickerson) and everyone at Spire Motorsports, and while we are sixth in points with 98 points on The Chase cutline, we lost out on some points at times this year, too. We got turned while leading at Daytona and lost spots on late-race restarts at Bristol and Richmond. We have shown where we are capable of running week-in and week-out, we just have to continue to put it all together like we have the first 11 weeks.” You’re running some grassroots races this week. Why does that make sense for you? “I’m excited to get things rolling. We were supposed to have three nights, but rains had other plans. We will still have two opportunities this week to get out there and dial in our program. It will be nice for me to get in the swing of running a dirt car and acclimated to the late night feature before packing up and heading to the next track the next night. It will be fun to at least see how we stack up against everyone throughout the schedule. Can’t wait to get out there with the Spire guys and give everyone from Chili’s something to cheer for during the week.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletWhat are your thoughts about competing at Watkins Glen this weekend?“Watkins Glen gives us the chance to kind of level the playing field. The road courses are a strong suit for Trackhouse as a whole and I’m looking forward to this weekend. It’s an opportunity for me to go out and have a good finish and Watkins Glen is a place where we can do that. The Cup Series is tough, and it certainly hasn’t been easy for me, but I enjoy the challenge of coming to these places and learning. It’s a lot different than Saturdays. I have a lot to learn at these tracks.” What do you think about some of the track changes at Watkins Glen? There are track limits in Turns 1 and Turn 5.“It will change a little bit but honestly, it’s not a huge change. Other than restarts you never really went all the way out in Turn 1. With the rumbles they added last year it was bad for the tires and you didn’t really want to be out there if you could avoid it. I don’t think it’s going to change too much but the restarts are certainly going to be a little bit different with not being able to go out there and use the space if you need it. I’m curious to see how that changes things. Obviously coming out of the carousel and being forced to stay on the track is going to change how you drive the carousel a little bit. Those are small changes in the grand scheme of things.” Is there an area of the course at Watkins Glen that you would like to capitalize on?“I feel like the track has a good rhythm. You never feel like you’re having to slow down that much. All the corners are pretty high speed, and it just has a good flow to it. Watkins Glen has always treated me well. I feel like I’ve always ran well at Watkins Glen. I’m excited to do my first Cup race there and try to get a good result and continue to build on the momentum we have from Texas.” What is your comfort level of racing in wet weather conditions?“I feel really comfortable in the rain. I grew up racing go-karts, and we raced in the rain a lot there and then in the sports car stuff that I’ve done I raced quite a bit in the rain as well. I’m looking forward to it. I think I maybe don’t have quite as much experience in the rain as maybe SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen), but I’ve always felt like I’ve been able to adapt and do a good job in the rain whenever I’ve been faced with that challenge. I’m excited to go figure it out if it does rain and make the most of it.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletAre you excited to be racing all three series this weekend?“Yeah, I want to race everything! I would love to do it on ovals as well, especially at tracks like Texas. I would love to do more on ovals to get better, but obviously it’s easier for me to get sponsorship on road courses (laughs). Hopefully, if I have good races with these teams, it will lead to more on ovals. All three series should be awesome racing.” Does your team feel any extra pressure this weekend?“Yeah, of course but I think it’s an expectation you have to manage. We can’t go there and just expect to win, but hopefully we are good and competitive and competing for the win at the end.” How do you think the cooler temperatures will affect the race this weekend?“It was hard on tires there last year. When we went to the different compound than the year before and you definitely felt a lot of fall off. So, the cooler temps will help with that. But I don’t know the climate there, how much cooler it will be. But I think it will affect all classes, even the O’Reilly series, the tires blister and get pretty hot there, the left rear. So, it will probably be the same for them too.” The forecast is supposed to be wet, does that excite you?“No, I hate racing in the rain (laughs). But I’m good at it. I’ll adapt if it happens, but I hope it’s dry for all three races. It’s just no fun racing in the rain. You can’t be precise, you got to just wing it, stuff goes wrong, I’ve just never enjoyed it.” |
| TEAM CHEVY ADVANCEWatkins Glen InternationalMay 8-10, 2026 |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| On the heels of its first tripleheader sweep of the 2026 NASCAR season, Chevrolet will carry that momentum to upstate New York as all three divisions will take on the left- and right-hand turns of Watkins Glen International for the sport’s second road course race of the season. Chevrolet sits as the winningest manufacturer across all three divisions at the historic 2.45-mile New York circuit with a combined 40 trips to victory lane across the NASCAR national ranks. Among those includes a pair of triumphs in the track’s most recent events for NASCAR’s top-two divisions with Team Chevy’s road course ringers, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch, driving the manufacturer to its 23rd Cup Series win and 14th O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win last season. |
| NASCAR has shared an over 40-year history with Watkins Glen International, and throughout that tenure, the circuit has became the home to an elite list of “firsts” for the Bowtie brigade. When the circuit first opened its doors to host the NASCAR Cup Series for its inaugural event in 1957, it was Buck Baker that took the victory – ultimately delivering Chevrolet its first-ever road course win in NASCAR’s premier series. |
| Watkins Glen is also the site that made a pair of Team Chevy drivers first-time winners. Competing in his third full-time campaign with Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott drove the No. 9 Chevrolet to victory lane at the circuit’s 2018 event to become a first-time winner in NASCAR’s premier series. The victory kickstarted what turned into a championship-earning career at NASCAR’s highest level with the driver now boasting a resume of one title (2020) and 22 all-time wins. |
| Following suit of his Team Chevy teammate, Connor Zilisch paid a visit to “The Glen” in 2024 to make his debut appearance in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Behind the wheel of a JR Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet, Zilisch led a race-high 45 laps en route to the victory to make the rising star just the seventh driver in series’ history to win in his first career start. Since then, the Mooresville, North Carolina, native has skyrocketed into a full-time career in NASCAR’s premier series. |
| ALL-TIME ROAD COURSE RANKINGSCareer Chevrolet driver, Jeff Gordon, continues to stand tall atop the NASCAR Cup Series all-time road course wins list with nine victories throughout his storied career. But there are a trio of Team Chevy drivers that have proven to be a threat to challenge that record. Chase Elliott leads the series’ active drivers with seven road course wins in NASCAR’s premier series – a record that started with his first career win at Watkins Glen International in 2018. The record is enough to put the Dawsonville, Georgia, native third on the series’ all-time wins list, just behind Gordon and Tony Stewart (eight wins). The fourth position on the rankings sees a five-way tie that includes Team Chevy’s Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Larson, who each own six road course wins in their Cup Series careers. |
| ELLIOTT’S EARLY-SEASON STATEMENTChase Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team are stringing together what is arguably one of their strongest early-season runs, statistically, in their 11-year tenure. Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, the Alan Gustafson-led team earned their second trip to victory lane to make them just the second two-time winners in NASCAR’s top division thus far this season. With 11 races in the books, consistency has been key for the No. 9 team. Their two wins have been accompanied by five top-fives and seven top-10s, both of which are ranked the second-best in the series. A visit to Watkins Glen International presents the perfect opportunity for the team to continue to prove their title potential. In nine career starts at the circuit, Elliott has accumulated two wins, two poles, four top-fives and an average finish of 12.3. |
| HOCEVAR’S HIKE UP THE RANKINGS CONTINUESIt’s a career season in the making for Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team. Finally breaking through with his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway, the Portage, Michigan, native went on to follow up that performance with yet another stellar day in the “Lonestar State”. After taking the win in Friday’s Truck Series race, Hocevar climbed into the No. 77 Chevrolet to claim his first pole win of the season – ultimately rounding out the weekend with a seventh-place result. Accumulating a total of 96 points over the last two events, Hocevar has made big gains in the points standings with the Team Chevy driver heading to upstate New York with a sixth-place ranking. |
| MAYER LOOKING FOR MOMENTUM-BUILDING WEEKENDDespite a rollercoaster start to the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Sam Mayer and the No. 41 Haas Factory Team put together their strongest run thus far at Texas Motor Speedway to earn a season-best third-place finish. The result, along with a 44-point effort, was enough to boost Mayer up two positions in the points standings as he heads to a configuration that he’s had the greatest amount of success. The Franklin, Wisconsin, native earned his first career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at Road America in 2023 and has since accumulated eight wins in the division, four of which have come on a road course. Mayer is one of just two past O’Reilly Auto Parts Series winners at Watkins Glen entered in Saturday’s race, and in his five career starts at the circuit, he’s finished in the top-10 in all but one event. |
| TRACKHOUSE TRIO DOING THE TRIPLEIn addition to their full-time rides on Sunday, the stable of Trackhouse Racing drivers will also be behind the wheel of a Camaro SS and a Silverado RST for a triple duty weekend at “The Glen”. Shane van Gisbergen will team up with Niece Motorsports to make just his second career Truck Series start, followed by a reunion with the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team for the pairing’s second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start of the season. Ross Chastain will also join the Niece Motorsports lineup for his fourth Truck Series start of the season, with his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride coming out of the Jordan Anderson Racing camp. For Zilisch, his triple duty effort will come with Spire Motorsports for Friday’s Truck Series race, with the Chevrolet driver teaming back up with JR Motorsports on Saturday to compete for their third-straight Watkins Glen victory in the second-level division. All three drivers are road course winners in the NASCAR national ranks, with Van Gisbergen and Zilisch returning to the upstate New York circuit as the track’s defending winners in the Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Chastain become a first-time winner at NASCAR’s highest level at Circuit of The Americas (2022), and while he’s still looking for his first trip to victory lane at Watkins Glen, he’s progressively building confidence with back-to-back top-10 finishes in the Cup Series’ past two visits to the circuit. |
| BOWTIE BULLETS:· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Watkins Glen International: Kyle Larson – two wins (2021, 2022)Chase Elliott – two wins (2019, 2018)Kyle Busch – two wins (2013, 2008)Shane van Gisbergen – one win (2025)William Byron – one win (2024) · Chevrolet is the winningest manufacturer in all three NASCAR national divisions at Watkins Glen International with 23 Cup Series wins, 14 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins, and three Craftsman Truck Series wins. · In 24 NASCAR Cup Series road racing events in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads the series with 17 victories – recorded by eight drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations. · At Talladega Superspeedway, Chevrolet tallied six top-10 finishes, marking the second time this season a manufacturer has placed six cars in the top-10 of a Cup Series event. The Bowtie brand took it one step further by achieving the highest representation of different organizations within those results with five Chevrolet organizations placing drivers in the top-10. · With seven-straight victories to start the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Chevrolet set the record for the longest season-opening streak by a single manufacturer in the division’s history. · In 155 points-paying races in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 70 victories – a winning percentage of 45.2%. · Chevrolet is coming off its 29th all-time sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series championship titles – capturing its 34th driver championship and 44th, and fifth consecutive, manufacturer championship in 2025. · With its 44 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championships, 34 NASCAR Cup Series driver championships, and 884 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history. |
| TUNE-IN:NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The GlenSunday, May 10, at 3 p.m. ETFS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts SeriesMission 200 at The GlenSaturday, May 9, at 4 p.m. ETCW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 NASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesBully Hill Vineyards 176 at The GlenFriday, May 8, at 4:30 p.m. ETFS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 |
| QUOTABLE QUOTES:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletHas road course racing evolved with the Next Gen car?“Yes, it has. The setup and how teams put them together from COTA in 2022 to now are drastically different. I was fast at the beginning (laughs), that should tell you everything you need to know as everybody was learning. I was on the front end of learning COTA and everything the gen 7 car needed there, and several tracks and we were more competitive then, than we are now. It definitely has evolved and Shane (van Gisbergen) has changed this sport forever. ” Do you lean on SVG or get advice from his since he’s been the driver to beat the last couple of years on road courses?“Absolutely! I can see what he’s doing in the Cup car but I can’t master doing it as fast as he can. The goal to learn from him is kind of a hamster wheel that never ends.” Do you like going up to the Watkins Glen area? It’s such a unique place in comparison to the other areas we go to for racing.“I love going up to New York. I spend a lot of time up there with various partners I have and do a lot of work with the New York Highway Safety Office. I’ve already been up there this year for various events and I go in early on race week. So, it feels like home to me when I visit. It’s going to be a little colder this year since we are racing in May but I’m looking forward to racing in all three series.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhat are some of the things you like about Watkins Glen International, and what are some of the things that are difficult about that track?“Watkins Glen International is very fast for a road course. The bus stop, the esses, a big chunk of the speed at Watkins Glen comes from those two sections. The other sections are more self-explanatory, but it’s a tough track. It’s been my hardest track to get a grip on, but I feel like going there does present some opportunities because you have some strategy and different things that can play out. Qualifying is pretty important there as well. I’m looking forward to getting there in our Bass Pro Shops/Winchester AA White Flyer Chevrolet.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletHow are you feeling heading into the weekend, and how do you think the changes in the carousel section will affect the racing?“I feel very good about it. For me and the team, I think we’ve learned a lot over the past few races, and that’s put us in a strong position heading into this weekend. I truly believe we’re in a really good place to go there, be competitive, and fight up front, so I’m super excited about that. It’s going to be fun, especially with a few changes to the race track, like the track limits in the carousel section. That’s definitely going to add something new and make things interesting. Overall, I’m really looking forward to it and seeing how everything comes together.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhat makes Watkins Glen International unique?“I love Watkins Glen. It’s always been a great place, great countryside, and is a lot of fun. Watkins Glen has always kind of been considered one of the superspeedways of road courses; it’s just a really fast course. A lot of speed there. I always look at every single racetrack wanting to win, and fortunately I’ve won there in the O’Reilly Series and the Cup Series. I’m excited to get back on the road courses again. Back in the years when we used to have only two road courses on the schedule, you would’ve kind of looked at it as a, ‘well hey you know it’s kind of like an off-weekend. Just treat it like an off-weekend, it doesn’t mean much if you run well or if you don’t,’ but now there’s six road courses on the schedule. There’s enough of a bulk of a schedule of races that you got to be a good road racer. I feel like being ahead of the game in that and being able to win races there in the past lends itself fairly well for me.” With rain being potentially a factor this weekend, how do you prepare for that possibility?“The biggest thing is looking ahead, getting with your crew chief and your engineers and kind of plan how you want to build your set-up for that. If we know there’s going to be rain on Sunday, then we’re pretty much going to build a rain setup into the racecar, but if the weather forecast looks good to where it doesn’t look like there’s going to be rain on race day, then you’ll kind of build for more of a dry type of setup. There are little differences that you can do in your racecar for the dry versus the wet. We kind of won’t really know until just a few days ahead of time. The biggest thing that you look for there is when you go to the racetrack, you’re not allowed to change the racecar once you unload the racecar out of your trailer. Your spring settings and the majority of how your suspension is all bolted on and set up, you can’t change those. The only thing you’re changing is air pressure in tires, the height of your racecar, and maybe some shocks. That’s all you’re allowed to change, so you definitely got to be ahead of the game and being able to prepare whichever direction you plan to race in.” What’s your favorite thing to do outside of the racetrack at Watkins Glen International?“Each year we’ve always done the Watkins Glen State Park hike. Really neat to do that. It’s always a great area to come to, it’s always beautiful, and looking forward to seeing what it looks like this time of year.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet“Watkins Glen will always be special to me because it’s where I earned my first NASCAR Cup Series win, and I’ve always loved the place. I’m going to go do what I can and wheel the heck out of the thing and hopefully we will be contending for a win. If not, like always, we’ll try to get the best finish possible. At COTA (Circuit of the Americas), we had top-five speed – fourth to seventh speed – and we played the stage game of getting points knowing maybe we didn’t have a shot to win the race. To me, the car didn’t feel like it drove a ton different at COTA (from years past). We’ll find out when we get to Watkins Glen where we stack up, but last year we were not where we wanted to be. We’re hopeful it will drive much better this time. At the end of the day, we’re going to make the most out of the day for our partners and hopefully we end up in Victory Lane.” Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet“I am really looking forward to Watkins Glen this weekend. It is always one of the most fun road courses we go to, with how much speed it has, and how much flow the track has. It could also be an interesting weekend with weather so I’m sure we will put on an exciting show for the fans with our HaasTooling.com Chevrolet.” Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet“We’ve had some solid runs lately, and that comes from the guys working hard back at the shop and bringing us better cars each week. It’s been a group effort and we want to keep building on that at Watkins Glen. We’re proud to have Ram Self Storage back on the car this weekend.” Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet“Watkins Glen has a lot of elevation changes, more so than other road courses we visit. It’s definitely a place where the commitment factor and the confidence level have to be high. You have a lot of elevation change in the first couple of corners. You get a little bit of a break from that going through the bus stop and then into the carousel, but then you have a lot of elevation change going into the short chute. Almost every corner is an opportunity for passing. It’s a very wide track with a lot of grip. You can run offline fairly easily at Watkins Glen, so turn one, going into the bus stop, going into the carousel, going into the lefthander after the short chute, you have a lot of opportunities to pass around the whole racetrack. To be able to do that is what makes racing at Watkins Glen so good.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletHow does a top-five result at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) help you this weekend at Watkins Glen?“COTA and Watkins Glen are very different. Overall, our road-course cars and speed have been good. This is our second road course of the year, so hopefully, we can have a day similar to COTA. It’s important to unload close and qualify well, to have a good shot at it in the race. Watkins Glen is just a cool road course. I have always loved going up there. The rhythm and flow make for a good track. You have to attack the bus stop, carry a lot of momentum into the esses, with very little room for error. It is a lot of fun, and I enjoy it. I think more than anything is when you’re driving with a smile on your face, you’re usually doing pretty good.” Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletHow do you evaluate the start to your season?“I think we are right where we want to be. It was obviously really cool thing to get the win for Jeff (Dickerson) and everyone at Spire Motorsports, and while we are sixth in points with 98 points on The Chase cutline, we lost out on some points at times this year, too. We got turned while leading at Daytona and lost spots on late-race restarts at Bristol and Richmond. We have shown where we are capable of running week-in and week-out, we just have to continue to put it all together like we have the first 11 weeks.” You’re running some grassroots races this week. Why does that make sense for you? “I’m excited to get things rolling. We were supposed to have three nights, but rains had other plans. We will still have two opportunities this week to get out there and dial in our program. It will be nice for me to get in the swing of running a dirt car and acclimated to the late night feature before packing up and heading to the next track the next night. It will be fun to at least see how we stack up against everyone throughout the schedule. Can’t wait to get out there with the Spire guys and give everyone from Chili’s something to cheer for during the week.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletWhat are your thoughts about competing at Watkins Glen this weekend?“Watkins Glen gives us the chance to kind of level the playing field. The road courses are a strong suit for Trackhouse as a whole and I’m looking forward to this weekend. It’s an opportunity for me to go out and have a good finish and Watkins Glen is a place where we can do that. The Cup Series is tough, and it certainly hasn’t been easy for me, but I enjoy the challenge of coming to these places and learning. It’s a lot different than Saturdays. I have a lot to learn at these tracks.” What do you think about some of the track changes at Watkins Glen? There are track limits in Turns 1 and Turn 5.“It will change a little bit but honestly, it’s not a huge change. Other than restarts you never really went all the way out in Turn 1. With the rumbles they added last year it was bad for the tires and you didn’t really want to be out there if you could avoid it. I don’t think it’s going to change too much but the restarts are certainly going to be a little bit different with not being able to go out there and use the space if you need it. I’m curious to see how that changes things. Obviously coming out of the carousel and being forced to stay on the track is going to change how you drive the carousel a little bit. Those are small changes in the grand scheme of things.” Is there an area of the course at Watkins Glen that you would like to capitalize on?“I feel like the track has a good rhythm. You never feel like you’re having to slow down that much. All the corners are pretty high speed, and it just has a good flow to it. Watkins Glen has always treated me well. I feel like I’ve always ran well at Watkins Glen. I’m excited to do my first Cup race there and try to get a good result and continue to build on the momentum we have from Texas.” What is your comfort level of racing in wet weather conditions?“I feel really comfortable in the rain. I grew up racing go-karts, and we raced in the rain a lot there and then in the sports car stuff that I’ve done I raced quite a bit in the rain as well. I’m looking forward to it. I think I maybe don’t have quite as much experience in the rain as maybe SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen), but I’ve always felt like I’ve been able to adapt and do a good job in the rain whenever I’ve been faced with that challenge. I’m excited to go figure it out if it does rain and make the most of it.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletAre you excited to be racing all three series this weekend?“Yeah, I want to race everything! I would love to do it on ovals as well, especially at tracks like Texas. I would love to do more on ovals to get better, but obviously it’s easier for me to get sponsorship on road courses (laughs). Hopefully, if I have good races with these teams, it will lead to more on ovals. All three series should be awesome racing.” Does your team feel any extra pressure this weekend?“Yeah, of course but I think it’s an expectation you have to manage. We can’t go there and just expect to win, but hopefully we are good and competitive and competing for the win at the end.” How do you think the cooler temperatures will affect the race this weekend?“It was hard on tires there last year. When we went to the different compound than the year before and you definitely felt a lot of fall off. So, the cooler temps will help with that. But I don’t know the climate there, how much cooler it will be. But I think it will affect all classes, even the O’Reilly series, the tires blister and get pretty hot there, the left rear. So, it will probably be the same for them too.” The forecast is supposed to be wet, does that excite you?“No, I hate racing in the rain (laughs). But I’m good at it. I’ll adapt if it happens, but I hope it’s dry for all three races. It’s just no fun racing in the rain. You can’t be precise, you got to just wing it, stuff goes wrong, I’ve just never enjoyed it.” |
| Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series StatisticsManufacturer Championships:Total (1949-2025): 44First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)Most recent: 2025 Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Driver Championships:Total (1949-2025): 34First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most recent: Kyle Larson (2025)Driver and Manufacturer Championship Sweeps: 29 Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2025 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007) 2026 STATISTICS: Wins: 3Poles: 2Laps Led: 916Top-Fives: 20Top-10s: 39Stage Wins: 7 CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 884 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 768Laps led to date: 257,650Top-fives to date: 4,456Top-10s to date: 9,190 Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date: General Motors: 1,218 Chevrolet: 884 Pontiac: 154 Oldsmobile: 115 Buick: 65 Ford: 848 Ford: 748 Mercury: 96 Lincoln: 4 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467 Dodge: 217 Plymouth: 191 Chrysler: 59 Toyota: 210 |