- Watkins Glen hosts all three national series, with Cup race running 10 laps longer.
- High chance of rain on Saturday & Sunday may force teams to use wet-weather tyres.
- The 38-car field includes Katherine Legge, who is balancing NASCAR with Indy 500.
Maybe it’s the rhythm of a road course breaking up the oval-heavy grind, or the way chaos always seems to be one missed braking point away. Either way, there’s something about Watkins Glen International that just feels different.
As the NASCAR bandwagon rolls into New York, this weekend feels less like a routine stop and more like a reset button after a set of speedway runs.
This time, however, as the series travels upstate from Texas, the forecast might be just as important as the fast laps. With rain looming across multiple days and all three national series sharing the stage, teams are facing a major challenge. With the ARCA series kicking things off and the Cup Series closing it out, here’s everything fans need to know about NASCAR’s weekend at “The Glen.”
The full Watkins Glen schedule: Race times, TV info & weekend breakdown
First off, it’s a packed, no-breathing-room kind of weekend, starting early Friday and rolling straight through Sunday’s main event, Go Bowling at The Glen.
The action begins Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET with ARCA Menards Series practice and qualifying. Just over an hour later, at 11:00 a.m. ET, the Craftsman Truck Series takes over with its own practice and qualifying session, airing on FS2.
By the afternoon, the competitive stakes rise as the ARCA race, The General Tire 100, goes green at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS2, before the Truck Series caps off the day with its race at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1. As usual, the race will be broken into 20-lap, 20-lap, and 32-lap stages.
Following up, Saturday keeps the momentum going without much room to breathe. As for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series field, they will hit the track at 10:30 a.m. ET for practice and qualifying with the CW App streaming it live.
Later in the day, Cup Series drivers get their turn to dial things in with practice and qualifying at 1:00 p.m. ET, available on Prime. The focus then shifts back to the Mission 200 at The Glen, with pre-race coverage scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW, leading directly into the race at 4:00 p.m. ET, which unfolds across 20, 20, and 42 laps.
By Sunday, all eyes turn to the Cup Series. Coverage begins with NASCAR RaceDay at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, setting the stage for the race at 3:00 p.m. ET, also on FS1. The race is split into 20-, 30-, and 50-lap stages. Moreover, this year’s race is set to be 10 laps longer, perhaps another curveball for some.
Sunday’s upcoming feature marks the Cup Series’ return to road course racing for only the second time this season, and if last year is anything to go by, with Shane van Gisbergen edging out Christopher Bell, there’s no guarantee the usual suspects will have this one covered.
Weather watch
Friday looks relatively manageable, with cloudy skies expected throughout the day, temperatures hovering around the high 50s, and only a slight chance of rain as the Truck Series race gets underway. In fact, it’s the kind of condition teams can work with, even if grip levels remain a question.
Saturday, however, is where things could get complicated. Forecasts point toward more unsettled weather, with a 50% chance of rain and cooler temperatures in the low 50s, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
At a road course like Watkins Glen, where NASCAR allows wet-weather tires, that opens the door to drastically different strategies, especially for NOAPS teams navigating changing track conditions.
Meanwhile, Sunday sits somewhere in between, carrying its own uncertainty. Cloud cover is expected to stick around, with temperatures climbing into the mid-60s, but the chance of rain increases as the afternoon progresses. Case in point, timing could prove crucial, especially with the Cup race scheduled for later in the day.
With 38 cars entering the Cup race, including Josh Bilicki in the No. 66 and veteran racecar driver Katherine Legge stepping into the No. 78 for Live Fast Motorsports, the field has a little extra storyline baked in.
For Legge in particular, it’s part of a unique stretch, splitting time between NASCAR this weekend and an upcoming run in the Indianapolis 500 over the next two weeks.
