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Jordan's NASCAR DFS and NASCAR betting preview for Iowa. Betting odds, favorites, long shots, DFS picks, and more for the 2025 Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen.
As the Cup Series regular season dwindles down, we head up to Watkins Glen, New York this weekend for the fifth road course race of the season.
Shane van Gisbergen has been the dominant driver on road courses this year, winning the last three in dominating fashion. Will that happen again this weekend? Last year, SVG got beat by Chris Buescher, so there could be chance.
Watkins Glen has been a staple on the Cup Series schedule for decades, as the series has been coming here every year since 1986. It is a 2.454-mile asphalt road course with seven turns.
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Weekend Schedule at Watkins Glen
There are 90 laps scheduled for this weekend's Go Bowling at The Glen, with the first two Stages set for 20 laps each, and the third and final Stage being 50 laps.
The weekend schedule for this Sunday's race at Watkins Glen is relatively standard, and it looks like this:
- Practice and Qualifying: 12:05-2:00 pm ET on Saturday (broadcast on truTV)
- Start Time Green Flag for Race: 2:17 pm ET on Sunday
- Broadcast TV: USA
Pre-Race Loop Data Box Score for Watkins Glen
Click here to download the PDF of the pre-race loop data box score.
The Favorites Heading Into the Race Weekend
Shane van Gisbergen (+140 to win) - It's no surprise that SVG is the heavy favorite to win this weekend at Watkins Glen. He's won the last three road course races this year and came home second in this race one year ago while driving for Kaulig Racing. Now he (arguably) has even better equipment with Trackhouse Racing, and significant amount of seat time in this Next Gen car. This is SVG's race to lose heading into the weekend for sure.
Christopher Bell (+1100 to win) - The only driver to win a road course this season who does not have the name Shane van Gisbergen is Christopher Bell, who pulled off the victory at COTA earlier this season. Here at Watkins Glen, Bell has three finishes of eighth or better in his four career starts, with a worst result of 14th, which happened last season after an early incident on track. It was actually kind of impressive that Bell was able to recover for that finish, to be honest.
Michael McDowell (+1400 to win) - In the Next Gen era, Michael McDowell has the fifth-best average driver rating on road courses and has finished inside the top five in four of the last eight races on this track type. He ended up seventh here at The Glen last season, and recently ended up fourth at Sonoma this season (and fifth in Mexico City). McDowell needs a win to make the Playoffs. This is a great spot for him to challenge for one.
Underdogs to Keep an Eye On
Chris Buescher (+2000 to win) - It's a road course, so of course we're talking about Chris Buescher. He beat out Shane van Gisbergen for the win here at Watkins Glen last season, and hasn't finished worse than ninth at this track in the Next Gen era. The real question is, will the No. 17 team be points racing on Sunday? Buescher only has a 23-point advantage on the bubble, but this is likely his best chance to lock himself into the Playoffs.
AJ Allmendinger (+2000 to win) - This is likely AJ Allmendinger's last chance to get a win this season (outside of Daytona, of course). The Dinger had transmission issues in this race last season but has finished fourth and second in the two other Next Gen races at Watkins Glen.
Chase Briscoe (+2200 to win) - Suddenly, the No. 19 team has found their groove and is firing on all cylinders. This season on road courses, Briscoe had legitimate top-five speed, finished seventh at Mexico City, and recently came home second behind SVG at Sonoma. Here at Watkins Glen, Briscoe finished ninth last season in his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Now he's in Joe Gibbs Racing equipment, which has always performed well at The Glen.
Betting Odds to Win the Go Bowling at the Glen
As of Wednesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the following odds listed to win this weekend's race at Watkins Glen.
| Driver | Odds to Win |
| Shane van Gisbergen | +140 |
| Connor Zilisch | +450 |
| William Byron | +1100 |
| Kyle Larson | +1100 |
| Christopher Bell | +1100 |
| Michael McDowell | +1400 |
| Chase Elliott | +1600 |
| Kyle Busch | +1800 |
| Tyler Reddick | +2000 |
| Ross Chastain | +2000 |
| Chris Buescher | +2000 |
| AJ Allmendinger | +2000 |
| Chase Briscoe | +2200 |
| Ty Gibbs | +2500 |
| Carson Hocevar | +3500 |
| Alex Bowman | +3500 |
| Daniel Suarez | +4500 |
| Joey Logano | +5500 |
| Austin Cindric | +6500 |
| Ryan Blaney | +7000 |
| Denny Hamlin | +8000 |
| Ryan Preece | +9000 |
| Brad Keselowski | +10000 |
| Todd Gilliland | +17000 |
| Bubba Wallace | +17000 |
| Zane Smith | +20000 |
| Noah Gragson | +20000 |
| Erik Jones | +20000 |
| Justin Haley | +25000 |
| John Hunter Nemechek | +25000 |
| Cole Custer | +25000 |
| Josh Berry | +30000 |
| Austin Dillon | +30000 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | +40000 |
| Ty Dillon | +50000 |
| Riley Herbst | +50000 |
| Cody Ware | +70000 |
| Katherine Legge | +100000 |
| Josh Bilicki | +100000 |
| JJ Yeley | +100000 |
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