Hamlin, Truex, and Larson looking for a rebound at The Glen

NASCAR Fantasy Fusion

Joey Logano certainly showed the field that you should never underestimate the No. 22 team when the pressure is on. Last week's victory at Atlanta was Logano's second at that track, his second win of the season, and the 34th of his career.

Still licking their wounds from disastrous finishes at Atlanta are Kyle Larson (37), Martin Truex Jr. (35), and Denny Hamlin (24). All run fairly well at Watkins Glen and since Truex Jr. and Hamlin are masters at tire management, the Go Bowling at The Glen may be the perfect opportunity for a Playoff rebound. Stay tuned!

This Week's Pick Strategy: Goodyear is bringing a new tire compound to The Glen this weekend with 3 to 3.5 seconds of fall off over the course of 20 laps. The tire was designed to create better passing opportunities, and will favor those aforementioned drivers with mad tire management skills like Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Josh Berry and Hamlin.

Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Cindric participated in the tire test, so I will be checking them out during practice. Track position is particularly important here so I'll finalize my roster by focusing on drivers in the top five starting positions.

Drivers with Most Top 10s (2019-2023*)

By Race & Track

All with 3 - Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott

All with 2 - AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Erik Jones

Drivers with Most Top 5s (2019-2023*)

By Race & Track
Both with 3 - Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott
All with 2 - Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, and AJ Allmendinger

* No race in 2020

Last Year's Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin

 

Last Year's Race Winner: William Byron

The Likely Suspects: My Watkins Glen elite drivers include include Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, A.J. Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, and William Byron.

My 2 Cents: This week's no-brainer pick is Christopher Bell. My next picks are Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, and Daniel Suarez. I'll round out my team with AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen.

My Final Four: Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, and Shane van Gisbergen.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Ty Gibbs. Gibbs is a decent road course racer, and has finished in the Top 5 in four of the last five road course races. Last season, he finished fifth at Watkins Glen in the Cup Series and has won at the Glen in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021. If Gibbs were to win this weekend, he would become the fifth different driver to earn their first Cup Series win at the historic road course, joining Steve Park, Marcos Ambrose, AJ Allmendinger, and Chase Elliott.

 

Points to Ponder:

• The Busch Pole position is the most prolific starting position in the field, producing more winners (10) than any other starting position in 40 races at Watkins Glen International in the NASCAR Cup Series (25%). The most recent driver to accomplish the feat was Chase Elliott in 2019. 
•  Kyle Larson (2021, 2022), Chase Elliott (2018, 2019) and Kyle Busch (2008, 2013) lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in wins at Watkins Glen International with two victories each.
• Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Watkins Glen with 11 victories.
• Brad Keselowski leads all active Cup drivers in runner-up finishes at Watkins Glen with three, followed by Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., both tied with two.
  
• Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. lead all active drivers in Top 5s at Watkins Glen with seven each.
• Kyle Busch (second all-time) leads all active drivers in Top 10 finishes with 13. 
•  Christopher Bell leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in average finishing position at Watkins Glen with a 6.0 in three starts.

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your initial picks by 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 14th and your final picks by 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 15th.

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 17 years. She launched  NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet.

When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.