BROADCAST INFORMATION: Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen International will air live on NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. ET. Can’t make it to a television? The race can be heard live on MRN and SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio. Below is the broadcast schedule for the remainder of the weekend.
Saturday, August 5
10 a.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBC Sports Network
12:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBC Sports Network
Sunday, August 6
12:05 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, NBC Sports Network
3 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series race, NBC Sports Network
THIS WEEKEND’S PAINT SCHEMES: Kasey Kahne will debut the No. 5 Rated Red Chevrolet SS, Chase Elliott will man the No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet SS, Jimmie Johnson will pilot the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT WATKINS GLEN: In 31 races at Watkins Glen, Hendrick Motorsports has six wins, six pole positions, 18 top-five finishes and 35 top-10s. Jeff Gordon ranks second on the all-time wins list at WGI with four victories. He earned Hendrick Motorsports’ most recent victory at the road course when he won the 2001 event. With 262 laps led, Gordon is the all-time leader in that category at the serpentine track.
KAHNE'S WATKINS GLEN STATS: Watkins Glen proves to be one of the more challenging tracks for Kahne on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. In his 13 starts at the 2.45-mile road course, he has an average starting position of 19.2 and an average finishing position of 21.1. The Enumclaw, Washington, native started on the outside pole position at The Glen in 2006. Kahne has also completed 98.3 percent of the 1,174 laps he’s run at the New York track.
ELLIOTT AT WATKINS GLEN: The Dawsonville, Georgia, native is set to make his second Cup Series start at Watkins Glen. During his debut at the 2.45-mile road course in 2016, Elliott started 16th en route to a top-15 finish of 13th. Elliott has also competed in six road course races in NASCAR’s XFINITY Series, earning four top-five finishes. He has also competed in one Camping World Truck Series road course event, scoring a victory, and three ARCA Racing road course races, earning top-five finishes in each.
JOHNSON, SEEKING A WATKINS GLEN WIN: Watkins Glen remains one of the three tracks on the current NASCAR Cup Series circuit that is not represented in the No. 48 team’s trophy collection. Although Johnson has four top-five finishes in 15 starts, the team hasn’t finished better than third at the New York road course. In addition to Watkins Glen, Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway are the only other tracks where Johnson has yet to win.
EARNHARDT AT THE GLEN: In his last two visits (2014 and 2015) to Watkins Glen International, Earnhardt earned a pair of 11th-place finishes. In 16 total starts, the driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS has earned two top-five and three top-10 finishes at the road course. According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics since 2005, Earnhardt ranks sixth in the “closers” category, gaining an average of 1.2 positions during the last 10 percent of the race. He ranks among the top 10 in several other categories, including laps led (sixth – 34 laps), average speed early in a run (sixth – 104.157 mph), average speed late in a run (seventh – 103.215 mph), quality passes (eighth – 175 passes) and laps spent in the top 15 (ninth – 530 laps).