Seeing a slowdown? It may be bots scraping the site a little too hard. Scrapers: how about a nice gentle cruise instead of a full-throttle lap?

Pit Stops : Watkins Glen International

Go Bowling at the Glen

Watkins Glen International , Watkins Glen, NY

Sunday, August 20th, 2023 Race 25 of 36 2023 Season
Watkins Glen International logo
  • 16
  • 14
  • 6

  • Watkins Glen International
  • Go Bowling at The Glen
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin
  • Age: 42
  • Team : No. 11 - Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Christopher Gabehart
  • Denny Hamlin won the Pole Award for the Go Bowling at The Glen with a lap of 70.392 seconds, 125.298 mph.
  • This is his 40th pole in 639 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his fourth pole and 12th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his second pole in 17 races at Watkins Glen International.
  • William Byron (second) posted his 17th top-10 start of 2023 and his third in five races at Watkins Glen International.
  • Michael McDowell (third) posted his second top-10 start at Watkins Glen International. It is his fifth in 25 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (fourth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, August 20th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
William Byron Dominates at Watkins Glen

William Byron added to his season highlight reel earning his first career NASCAR Cup Series road course victory with a dominant win in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at historic Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

It marks a career best fifth victory of the season – tops in the NASCAR Cup Series and most for him in a single season in a six-year career in NASCAR’s top series. And the 25-year-old Charlotte native and driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet had to earn this one – holding off another championship challenger, Denny Hamlin by a healthy 2.632-seconds for the win. Byron led an impressive 66 of the 90 laps – extending his advantage over the field each lap of the final 10 lap-run to the checkered flag.

“Yeah, I would have to think about that a little bit though,’’ Byron said when asked if he felt like it was his most dominant race win. “But it definitely feels really good, just a huge credit to the race team behind me. I want to thank Max Papis. My first road course win and we worked years and years for this.

“Thanks to all the guys on the team. I did a lot of laps on iRacing this week, got a new simulator at home. It’s a great win. It shows when we’re at our best we can perform like this.’’

Byron, who won Stage 2 on Sunday, noted the timing is important as the series heads into the Playoffs.

“We seem to go through that summer slump in July and August and for some reason we just can’t put the races together, I think it’s the race tracks themselves. But this weekend, we came with a good mindset and focused on getting ready for the postseason. We’ve had fast cars just haven’t executed races, but today was flawless.”

Hamlin’s runner-up finish keeps the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship still up for grabs. He trails his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. – who finished sixth – by 39 points heading into next week’s Daytona regular-season finale.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell finished third with Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger and JGR’s Ty Gibbs rounding out the top five.

Truex, Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.

With finishes of 15th and 21st, respectively, Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing owner/driver Brad Keselowski and Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick both locked themselves into the 2023 Playoffs based on points. That leaves only one position to be decided in next Saturday night’s regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway.

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace solidified his hold on that all-important 16th place in the points standings that could automatically transfer him into his first Playoff berth. Although Wallace concedes road course racing is not his strongest suit, he did exactly what he needed to, turning in a non-dramatic, consistent day. Wallace, who said he had a valuable phone conversation with six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon before the race, earned points in both stages. And his 12th place finish was his best road course finish of the five run so far this season.

He now holds a 32-point advantage on the Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Gibbs and a 43-point advantage on Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez.

“Just executed really,’’ Wallace said, noting that no new race winner Sunday certainly helps his cause in pursuing his first ever Playoff berth.

“I’m proud of myself and that’s the first time I’ve felt proud of myself after a road course race. Just executed and didn’t lose focus, maybe one time. And that’s the difference-maker. You’ve got to stay on it in these places. Hats off to my team for sticking with me and believing in me.

“Great day for the 23-team,’’ he added. “Now we get to go into Daytona, still stressful as hell but it takes a little bit of the edge off.’’

On the flip side of fortune, it was a troublesome day for two of the other high-profile teams still needing to race their way into the upcoming Playoffs and needing a race win.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott – the five-time and reigning Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR Cup Series – came into the race already depending on a high speed Hail Mary of sorts. He was 80 points behind Wallace at the green flag. But Elliott’s team was slowed by an uncharacteristic fuel miscalculation. His No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet ran out of fuel with 23 laps remaining, stopped on-course and brought out a caution flag to push him back to pit road for a fuel-up.

Elliott returned to race a lap down and finished 32nd and is now 21st in the standings.

The three-time Daytona International Speedway polesitter will need to earn his first win at the superspeedway to advance to the Playoffs this season and keep his eight-year run of championship eligibility going. Elliott has two runner-up finishes at Daytona, in the 2020 summer race and the 2021 DAYTONA 500. He finished 29th in the summer race there last season.

Elliott wasn’t made available to comment after the race.

“That’s sort of the agony of a four-car team when one car does so well,’’ Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Gordon said of the day at The Glen. “It just shows you can’t make any mistakes.

“Unfortunately, we had some mistakes,’’ he added, “Clearly it was a mis-calculation with the 9 car [Elliott] and that was huge.”

Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez started the day only one position out of the top 16 – 28 points behind Wallace. But Suárez was the first of those on the Playoff bubble to encounter issues – going off-course at the famous “bus stop” portion of the Watkins Glen course and brushing the wall only five laps into the race.

The off-course excursion dropped him from 10th place at the time to 24th in the field and he had to play catch-up all day, ultimately finishing 22nd. He goes into the Daytona season-finale next week 43 points out of the top 16 and also needing a victory.

The rookie Gibbs actually improved his standing among those still within Playoff reach as the regular season closes. The driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – who led a race best 70 laps in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen – ran among the top five all Sunday afternoon as well. His fifth place finish Sunday was best among those in the close fight for a Playoff berth. He goes to Daytona Beach 32-points behind Wallace and needing a win.

“I felt like we were really fast,’’ the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Gibbs said. “I just didn’t do a good job of getting through the guys in front of us. I feel like we were much faster than three of them in front of us and I just couldn’t get by them.”

Of his move into 17th place in the standings, and placing himself on the cusp of a Playoff berth, Gibbs said, “I don’t really know what mindset to have going there just to stay clean and try to make it to the end and have a good finish.’’

The NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale to set the 2023 16-driver Playoff field takes place at the Daytona International Speedway with Saturday night’s ’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Austin Dillon is the defending race winner. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the DAYTONA 500 in February.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 90
  • Margin of Victory: 02.632 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 1 Hours 58 Minutes 44 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 111.426
  • Cautions: 1 for 4 laps
  • Lead Changes: 6
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,479 (17.2 passes per green flag lap)

  • Watkins Glen International
  • Go Bowling at The Glen
  • Race Winner: William Byron
  • Age: 25
  • Team : No. 24 - Valvoline Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
  • William Byron won the Go Bowling at The Glen, his ninth victory in 205 Cup Series races.
  • This is his fifth victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2023. This is fifth-consecutive Cup Series win for Hendrick Motorsports at Watkins Glen.
  • This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in five races at Watkins Glen International.
  • Denny Hamlin (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 17 races at Watkins Glen International. It is his 12th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Christopher Bell (third) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at Watkins Glen International.
  • Ty Gibbs (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick clinched positions in the 2023 Playoffs on points.
Kyle Busch pits during qualifying and pit crew challenge
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina - May 16, 2024 : Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Lenovo Chevrolet, pits during qualifying and pit crew challenge for the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images

Pit Stop Summary Report

Aggregate of each driver's pit stops during the race.

 
DRIVER
START
FINISH
STATUS
# STOPS
DRIVER / PIT CREW
FASTEST
SLOWEST
AVG TIME
RANK
DRIVER
AVG TIME
RANK
PIT CREW
AVG TIME
RANK

Chase Elliott
15
32
Running
1
39.293
39.293
39.293
1
28.350
19
10.943
1
Kyle Larson
5
26
Running
3
39.533
41.381
40.278
2
27.822
2
12.456
3
Chase Briscoe
26
35
Running
1
40.281
40.281
40.281
3
28.270
16
12.011
2
Christopher Bell
7
3
Running
2
39.140
42.081
40.611
4
27.866
3
12.745
4
Bubba Wallace
12
12
Running
2
38.776
42.936
40.856
5
27.878
4
12.979
7
Brad Keselowski
24
15
Running
2
40.531
41.724
41.127
6
28.248
13
12.880
5
Erik Jones
31
29
Running
1
41.214
41.214
41.214
7
27.668
1
13.546
13
Austin Cindric
17
16
Running
2
40.464
42.016
41.240
8
28.294
18
12.945
6
William Byron
2
1
Running
2
39.836
42.646
41.241
9
28.096
8
13.145
10
Chris Buescher
13
7
Running
2
40.231
42.819
41.525
10
28.399
23
13.126
8
Ty Gibbs
4
5
Running
2
40.100
43.238
41.669
11
28.373
21
13.296
11
Joey Logano
11
10
Running
2
39.964
43.719
41.842
12
28.227
12
13.614
14
Michael McDowell
3
36
Electrical
2
41.124
42.619
41.871
13
28.009
6
13.863
19
Denny Hamlin
1
2
Running
2
40.015
43.754
41.885
14
28.256
14
13.629
15
Austin Dillon
16
31
Running
2
40.109
43.856
41.983
15
28.203
9
13.780
18
Martin Truex Jr
19
6
Running
2
39.690
44.367
42.029
16
28.032
7
13.997
21
Kevin Harvick
33
21
Running
2
40.666
43.416
42.041
17
28.912
32
13.130
9
Ty Dillon
36
34
Running
2
40.823
43.368
42.096
18
28.799
31
13.297
12
Ryan Blaney
23
9
Running
2
40.692
43.722
42.207
19
28.477
25
13.730
17
AJ Allmendinger
6
4
Running
2
40.479
43.985
42.232
20
28.503
26
13.729
16

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

DRIVER
LEADER LAP
DRIVER LAP
DRIVER TIME
CREW TIME
TOTAL
TYPE

AJ Allmendinger
22
22
28.402
12.077
40.479
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
54
54
28.603
15.382
43.985
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Andy Lally
58
57
29.159
20.654
49.813
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
18
17
28.207
12.447
40.654
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
54
53
28.234
16.316
44.550
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
57
57
28.185
12.346
40.531
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
30
29
28.311
13.413
41.724
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Denny Hamlin
20
20
28.172
11.843
40.015
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Denny Hamlin
54
54
28.340
15.414
43.754
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Joey Logano
18
17
28.318
11.646
39.964
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Joey Logano
54
53
28.137
15.582
43.719
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Kevin Harvick
22
21
28.721
11.945
40.666
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Kevin Harvick
57
57
29.102
14.314
43.416
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Kyle Busch
21
20
27.883
12.344
40.227
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Kyle Busch
57
57
27.954
17.684
45.638
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Martin Truex Jr
16
15
27.912
11.778
39.690
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Martin Truex Jr
53
52
28.151
16.216
44.367
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Michael McDowell
20
20
27.780
13.344
41.124
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Michael McDowell
53
52
28.238
14.381
42.619
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Austin Dillon
20
19
28.299
11.810
40.109
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE