NASCAR at Watkins Glen: Where to watch, start time, lineup, stream, pick to win for the Go Bowling at The Glen

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At this moment in the NASCAR Cup Series season, three is the operative number to describe the state of affairs as the regular season enters its closing moments: With 13 drivers now assured a spot in the playoffs by virtue of having won a race, just three spots now remain for drivers to either join the 16-driver playoff grid with a win or make it in on points. And only three races remain to get a potential season-defining win, starting this weekend out on the road at Watkins Glen.

NASCAR will race on a road course for the fifth time this season in the Go Bowling at The Glen, a race which could prove crucial to certain drivers below the cut line. Some of NASCAR’s best road racers including Michael McDowell and A.J. Allmendinger sit well out of position to make the playoffs on points, meaning that this race could be their last best chance to ensure they’ll race for a championship in the fall — If, of course, they can find a way to outpace Shane van Gisbergen and keep him from winning his fourth road course race in a row.

Where to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen

When: Sunday, Aug. 10 at 2 p.m. ET
Where: Watkins Glen International — Watkins Glen, N.Y.
TV: USA
Stream: fubo (Start watching, save $20!)

Starting lineup

Ryan Blaney won the pole for the Go Bowling at The Glen in qualifying on Saturday, posting a lap of 71.960 (122.568 MPH) to knock Shane van Gisbergen off the top spot and earn his second pole of the 2025 season.

Connor Zilisch had qualified 25th and was set to make his fourth Cup start of the season, but his team has elected to withdraw after a frightening incident where Zilisch slipped and fell off his car celebrating a win in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. Zilisch suffered a broken collarbone in the fall, but he was released from an area hospital by the end of Saturday night.

Connor Zilisch suffers broken collarbone after falling off his car in Victory Lane after NASCAR Xfinity race

Steven Taranto

1. #12 – Ryan Blaney
2. #88 – Shane van Gisbergen (R)
3. #19 – Chase Briscoe
4. #1 – Ross Chastain
5. #8 – Kyle Busch
6. #71 – Michael McDowell
7. #48 – Alex Bowman
8. #77 – Carson Hocevar
9. #20 – Christopher Bell
10. #24 – William Byron
11. #22 – Joey Logano
12. #17 – Chris Buescher
13. #2 – Austin Cindric
14. #54 – Ty Gibbs
15. #23 – Bubba Wallace
16. #6 – Brad Keselowski
17. #60 – Ryan Preece
18. #16 – A.J. Allmendinger
19. #99 – Daniel Suarez
20. #9 – Chase Elliott
21. #45 – Tyler Reddick
22. #11 – Denny Hamlin
23. #7 – Justin Haley
24. #21 – Josh Berry
25. #3 – Austin Dillon
26. #5 – Kyle Larson
27. #34 – Todd Gilliland
28. #35 – Riley Herbst (R)
29. #43 – Erik Jones
30. #42 – John Hunter Nemechek
31. #41 – Cole Custer
32. #10 – Ty Dillon
33. #38 – Zane Smith
34. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
35. #4 – Noah Gragson
36. #51 – Cody Ware
37. #78 – Katherine Legge
38. #44 – J.J. Yeley
39. #66 – Josh Bilicki

Storyline to watch

NASCAR made a change to the restart zone at Watkins Glen, which has been moved to the entry to Turn 7 rather than the exit of the corner leading to the start/finish line. The change is similar to the one made to the restart zone at Circuit of the Americas, which was moved back in order to better spread the field out on the entry to turn one, lessening the chances of major pileups occurring due to drivers dive bombing the corner in heavy traffic.

“In an effort with the drivers to try to eliminate that as much as possible but continue to have exciting racing and let those guys kind of settle the battle on a race track without continuous cautions, we elected to start moving them back and get the restart kind of done sooner, if you will,” NASCAR vice president of competition Elton Sawyer told SiriusXM this week. “And then they’ve got the front straightaway to race. So it gives them a little bit of separation, but still plenty of asphalt there to make moves. So that was the goal, and so far, in most of the road courses, we feel like we’ve accomplished that.”

NASCAR news of the week

• NASCAR officials are now openly discussing an increase from 670 to 750 horsepower for Cup Series cars, but vice president of competition Elton Sawyer noted this week than any increase in horsepower likely will not come until the 2026 season. During an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Sawyer referred to the matter of increasing horsepower as a “2026 initiative” as they continue discussing the matter with the sport’s OEMs.
• NASCAR granted a playoff waiver to Austin Hill that will allow him to retain his eligibility for the Xfinity Series playoffs despite a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis, but not without consequences: Thanks to a new rule implemented for 2025 addressing drivers missing races for non-excused reasons, Hill now forfeits all playoff points he has accrued throughout the season and will also be ineligible to gain any more until the end of the regular season.

  As a result, Hill now loses the 21 playoff points he had earned throughout the season to date, which could have major consequences for him if he winds up in a position where he has to advance in the playoffs on points. Elsewhere in the Xfinity Series, Taylor Gray’s team was fined $5,000 for an improperly installed lug nut found in post-race inspection last week at Iowa.

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Stewart Friesen has been released from Albany Medical Center and returned home after undergoing surgery to repair a shattered pelvis and broken leg suffered in a horrific dirt modified accident. Friesen will miss the rest of the 2025 season while he recovers from his injuries, leading to some movement in the Truck Series field.

  Friesen’s No. 52 truck will be driven this weekend by Christopher Bell, before Kaden Honeycutt takes the wheel for the remainder of the 2025 season beginning at Richmond. Honeycutt moves over to Halmar Friesen from Niece Motorsports, where he was let go by the Chevrolet team this week after signing with another manufacturer for 2026. Bayley Currey will take over the Niece No. 45 that Honeycutt had driven, while Honeycutt will spend this weekend at Watkins Glen driving the No. 02 for Young’s Motorsports.

Pick to win

Shane van Gisbergen (+135) — The last three road course races were easy money if you bet on Shane van Gisbergen. He’s won three road races in a row at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma. And at Watkins Glen, SVG comes to Upstate New York looking to avenge the final lap of this race a year ago, where he was leading on the final lap only for a slight clip of the Armco barrier entering the bus stop for the final time to break his momentum, giving Chris Buescher the chance he needed to get a run and drive past him for the win.

Funny enough, the penultimate lap of last year’s Watkins Glen race was the only one that SVG had led all day. But that was when SVG was driving for Kaulig Racing, and his No. 88 team at Trackhouse Racing this year has given him everything he needs to carry out what is on the precipice of being a generational run in NASCAR road racing.

So who wins the 2025 Go Bowling at The Glen, and which longshots are must-backs? Check out the latest 2025 NASCAR at Watkins Glen odds below, then visit SportsLine now to see the full NASCAR Watkins Glen projected leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 26 winners, and find out.

This news was originally published on this post .

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