2021 Watkins Glen International, Go Bowling at The Glen

After a well deserved two week rest, the teams will be back at it this weekend. I believe it was scheduled like this to give the drivers a break, but also to have some open weekends in case Pocono was rained out one, or both days on their weekend. In any case all of the teams will be back in action with another points race this weekend.

GO BOWLING AT THE GLEN

The first race back will be another road course race, with this one being held at an old favorite of the series. Watkins Glen International will host the Go Bowling at The Glen race.

Chase Elliott: Once again we have to go with Chase to win at another road course. He has won at Watkins Glen the last two races held there and hasn’t done much other than win at all of the other road course tracks the series has been to in the past few seasons. This is where you stick with the consensus pick if you are towards the top of your league or take a chance on someone else and hope something causes Chase to falter this week so you can make up ground.

Martin Truex Jr.: The next most popular pick this week is going to be Martin. He finished second to Chase in each of the last two races here and won the race before that. These two seem to be the best of the best and Martin is the go to guy if you aren’t going to use Chase this week They’ve both been very good consistently on all of the road course tracks.

Kyle Larson: The third most popular pick might be a Kyle. Kyle Larson led a handful of laps in his last start here and has been very good each and every week on all types of tracks. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him contending towards the end of this race too.

Kyle Busch: This other Kyle could also contend for the win this weekend. In his last fourteen starts here he has twelve top ten finishes and two wins. One of his other finishes was eleventh. That makes only one time he has finished outside the top eleven in his last fourteen starts. He has also lead laps in nine of those fourteen starts which tells us that he is used to running towards the front of the pack.

Erik Jones: Erik might be someone you could take a flyer on. He hasn’t run the best with Petty Motorsports in his first season with them, but this is a track where he always ran well in the past. He has only run three races here and those were all with Gibbs. In those three starts he finished in the top ten each time and twice in the top five. Can he do it with his new team? Stranger things have happened.

Denny Hamlin: Denny is the only other active driver besides those already listed to have lead laps in at least one of the last two races at Watkins Glen. Denny won here in 2016. The only issue I have with him this week is that he has only lead laps here twice in fourteen starts and the total laps he has lead is twelve. We might be able to use him at better venues.

Christopher Bell: Christopher won the race at the Daytona Road Course earlier this year and this is the type of track where he really runs well most of the time in the early stages of his career. His big disadvantage is that he’s never run a Cup Series race at this track, but I think he can figure it out pretty quickly.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another driver who runs consistently well on the road course tracks. He just doesn’t seem to be able to pick up the wins, but finishes in the top ten quite often. He is another driver you can take a chance on as they have been running pretty well on other tracks lately and picked up a win at Atlanta not too long ago.

The final thing to look at is the entry list when it comes out on Tuesday. Watch and see who might be entered this week that isn’t normally racing. Watch and see if AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, or Kaz Grala are entered. Any of these drivers is worth taking a chance on in the C group and it will save you some starts with the regulars that you might need for the rest of the season.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

Driver Group Game Group A

• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kyle Busch
• Kyle Larson

Driver Group Game Group C

• Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Kaz Grala

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

1. Chase Elliott
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kyle Larson
4. Kyle Busch
5. Denny Hamlin

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Bubba Wallace

Big 18: Erik Jones