PREVIEW: Stacked entry lists of drivers set to do battle at Watkins Glen
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Brent Crews Motorsports, @BCMinsider
Friday, August 8, 2025 (Green Flag 5:22 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 17 of 25
Mission 176 at the Glen at Watkins Glen
2021 Last-Place Finisher: Chandler Smith
ENTRY LIST
There are 36 drivers entered for as many spots, so all will qualify. This marks only the second full field of the season, the first since the opener at Daytona.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
NEW TEAM: #70-Brent Crews Racing
Following a strong weekend in the last road course race in Sonoma, William Sawalich will pull double-duty with his first Truck Series start since Nashville, where he finished 24th. He will again drive TRICON Garage’s “all-star” #1 entry, taking the place of Brent Crews. Crews will also run double-duty on Friday along with the ARCA race. After running his first three Truck starts with TRICON, Crews will debut his own Truck Series team, the #70, with sponsorship from Pristine Auctions.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Reaume Brothers Racing
William Lambrose reunites with the Reaume team for the first time since his 27th-place series debut at Lime Rock, taking the place of 34th-place IRP finisher Cody Dennison, who was lifted out of a last-place finish after Stewart Friesen’s disqualification.
MISSING: #6-Norm Benning Racing
Norm Benning will not be among this week’s entrants following a 31st-place finish in IRP.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
Another XFINITY driver running double-duty with the Truck Series is Sammy Smith, who will make his third series start of the year and first since his 10th-place showing in North Wilkesboro, again with sponsorship from TMC Transportation. Smith takes the place of Corey Day, who finished a career-best runner-up to Layne Riggs in the most recent race at IRP.
MISSING: #20-Young’s Motorsports
Jordan Anderson is not racing this weekend following his 29th-place finish in his series return at IRP.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
Making his NASCAR national series debut this Friday is Gian Buffomante, a 17-year-old Trans-Am TA2 rookie from Illinois. With sponsorship from Goodridge, Buffomante has been competing on road courses for the last three years, working his way from multiple class races in SCCA. He has one previous start at The Glen, where this past July he earned a Top Five in Trans-Am. Buffomante takes the place of Alan Waller, who with relief from team owner Josh Reaume finished 32nd after an early crash.
MISSING: #35-Greg Van Alst Motorsports
Greg Van Alst will not be running this weekend after his brand-new team came home in 28th at IRP.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Niece Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #52-Halmar Friesen Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports
Much has happened in the two weeks since the checkered flag fell at IRP. Stewart Friesen finished 3rd that night, only to be disqualified for his truck failing post-race heights. News of HFR’s unsuccessful appeal came a day after Friesen was seriously injured in a crash racing his big block modified at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec. It wasn’t until this Wednesday that Friesen returned home from the hospital, where he underwent surgery for a broken pelvis and fractured right leg. Cup Series regular Christopher Bell was then named Friesen’s replacement as a fellow Toyota driver. But then came word this past Monday that Kaden Honeycutt had been released from Niece Motorsports as driver of the #45, cutting short an effort that saw him 6th in points with two races until the Playoffs. The reason was word he’d drive for a different manufacturer in 2026, believed to be a ride with TRICON Garage. Connor Zilisch landed Honeycutt’s ride with Niece, giving him a chance to run triple-duty at the track that saw him win in his XFINITY debut last season. To keep Honeycutt in the championship fight, he has since landed a ride with Young’s Motorsports in the #02 driven to a 30th-place finish at IRP with Jayson Alexander. Up to that point, the entry list had no driver listed. Honeycutt has since secured the rest of his 2025 campaign in Friesen’s #52, starting next week in the regular season finale at Richmond.
RETURNING: #56-Hill Motorsports
Timmy Hill returns for only his fifth series start of the season, his first since a 25th-place showing in Lime Rock Park. UNITS Storage returns as sponsor as Hill seeks to improve on his 24th-place finish in this race in 2021.
RETURNING: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
Still another driver returning to the circuit for the first time since Lime Rock is road racer Wesley Slimp, who finished 33rd that day in a backup truck. HNTB returns as sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-ThorSport Racing
Among the four Cup drivers entered in Friday’s race is Chris Buescher, who won last fall’s Cup race at The Glen following his last-lap battle with Shane van Gisbergen. This marks Buescher’s first-ever start in the series following 352 Cup stats and 74 in XFINITY. He drives ThorSport’s #66, taking the place of Luke Fenhaus, who took home 12th in IRP.
RETURNING: #69-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long fields his Truck Series entry for the first time since Pocono, where Tyler Tomassi finished on the lead lap in 24th. This time, MBM co-founder Derek White makes his eighth career Truck Series start, his first since a 33rd-place finish at North Wilkesboro for Reaume Brothers Racing.
MISSING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
The Harmon team will not make the trip to Watkins Glen following Boston Oliver’s 33rd-place series debut at IRP.
RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Parker Kligerman and team race with heavy hearts in the team’s first start since the passing of team owner Charlie Henderson. The family has decided to push forward in his memory. Kligerman drove in the team’s most recent race at Charlotte, taking 14th. Driver and team finished 5th when the series last ran at The Glen in 2021.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-Spire Motorsports
Completing a stacked entry list for Friday is Kyle Busch, who carries Gainbridge as sponsor for his 180th series start, his first since a 15th-place showing in Nashville. Busch takes the place of Brenden Queen, 16th at IRP, who on Friday looks to follow-up last week’s ARCA win at Iowa with a sixth on the season.
CUP INVADERS: #44-Ross Chastain, #52-Christopher Bell, #66-Chris Buescher, #07-Kyle Busch
Saturday, August 9, 2025 (Green Flag 3:20 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 23 of 33
Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Weatherman
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for as many spots, so all will qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #9-JR Motorsports
Saturday’s race could well mark the next chapter in the on-track road course battles between Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen returns to the #9 he last piloted at Sonoma in his narrow loss to Zilisch, this time with Trackhouse sponsor Kubota on board. He takes the place of Ross Chastain, who finished 3rd last Saturday in Iowa.
DRIVER CHANGE: #11-Kaulig Racing
As the Kaulig team continues to evaluate their program following the release of Carson Hocevar, they have brought aboard Michael McDowell in place of Spire Motorsports teammate Carson Hocevar, who was 6th last week on the Iowa oval. The Spire trio’s rotation in the #11 will complete later this month at Daytona, where Justin Haley will reunite with the team with which he won four superspeedway races. For McDowell, Saturday marks his 95th series start and first since his lone series victory at Road America in 2016, when he drove for Richard Childress Racing. McDowell has three previous XFINITY starts at Watkins Glen, but none since 2010, when he finished 10th in a Dodge for MacDonald Motorsports.
MISSING: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
Corey Day is likewise not entered in this week’s XFINITY race as the Hendrick team has not brought the #17 with which he finished 24th in Iowa.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
The third Cup regular in Saturday’s field is rookie contender Riley Herbst, who takes the place of Justin Bonsignore, who after several rough races finally earned a solid finish at Iowa in 12th. Herbst has never started a Cup race at Watkins Glen, but in his four previous XFINITY starts there has only once finished worse than 13th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #21-Richard Childress Racing
Austin Hill returns from his one-race suspension for his wrecking of Aric Almirola at Indianapolis, taking the seat back from 14th-place Iowa finisher Austin Dillon. Unlike with Herbst, this has not been one of Hill’s best tracks – his three previous finishes were 30th, 14th, and a 33rd after a late-race crash last year.
RETURNING: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
Kaz Grala drives a fourth different car number in as many XFINITY starts at Watkins Glen, but his second in a row with SHR, with whom he finished 28th in the team’s #26 in 2023. Grala again drives the “all-star” #24 entry to join full-timer Dean Thompson, a car that hasn’t run since Dover, when Ryan Truex finished 18th after rain cut the race short. Grala’s track-best 5th-place finish came three years ago with Big Machine Racing, and he’s qualified no worse than 17th in his three previous starts at this track.
RETURNING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
Austin Green makes his 15th series start at his fourth-straight road course race, his first since an 11th-place showing in Sonoma. Ironically, that Sonoma run is Green’s worst of the last three starts. The three starts before it yielded no finishes better than 26th, not counting a pair of DNQs. Green finished 11th in this race last year.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
After Tyler Tomassi struggled for speed in his series debut last week at Iowa, yielding a 34th-place finish, the flagship Joey Gase entry had no driver listed when the entry list was first posted. That driver is now Glen Reen, who will now be locked-into Saturday’s race after failing to qualify for both his previous attempts at Nashville and Dover.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
Mongoose Power Solutions is the listed sponsor for a returning Stefan Parsons, who will make his first XFINITY Series start of the 2025 season and 68th of his career. Parsons’ last start was last fall’s Phoenix finale, where he finished last with this same Alpha Prime team after a mid-race crash. Parsons, who has served as a spotter through this summer, drove for Alpha Prime’s Tommy Joe Martins at Watkins Glen in two previous starts, claiming 12th in 2022, then brake issues in 2023 leaving him 33rd. Parsons takes the place of Mason Massey, who finished 37th in Iowa after suspension issues following wall contact.
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
It’s curious that Austin (E.) Hill’s return from a one-race suspension coincides with the return of unrelated road racer Austin J. Hill, who will make his XFINITY Series debut after ending up the lone DNQ for his first attempt at Sonoma. This particular Hill takes the place of 27th-place Iowa finisher Joey Gase in the #53.
MISSING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
As on the Truck Series side, the Harmon team is not among the entrants this week. Last week’s race in Iowa saw Dawson Cram and team complete extensive transmission and shifter repairs in the opening laps, only to fall out because of a vibration near the midpoint.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Over the last three seasons, Preston Pardus’ road racing exploits have taken place in his family’s own #50 team, yielding a best showing of 12th in the inaugural race at the Chicago Street Course. This has included his two previous starts this year, where he finished 36th in COTA and 29th at Chicago. This time around, he rejoins Bobby Dotter’s team for the first time since Portland in 2023, taking the place of 30th-place Iowa finisher Patrick Emerling in the #07. Priority Tire is the listed sponsor for what will be Pardus’ first XFINITY start at The Glen since 2022, when he finished a track-best 21st for Mario Gosselin.
CUP INVADERS: #9-Shane Van Gisbergen, #11-Michael McDowell, #19-Riley Herbst
Sunday, August 10, 2025 (Green Flag 2:05 P.M. ET, USA)
CUP Race 24 of 36
Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Ryan Blaney
ENTRY LIST
There are 40 drivers entered for as many spots, so all will qualify. This marks only the fifth “full” field of at least 40 starters in 24 races this season, the first since Chicago, five races ago.
RETURNING: #44-NY Racing Team
Among the returning “open” teams this week is driver J.J. Yeley for the Johnathan Cohen effort, the first start for both driver and team since heat exhaustion forced Yeley off the track in the closing stages of the race at Dover. This week’s distinctive paint scheme honors Syracuse University’s football team. The promotional image featured three Syracuse players who also ran the #44: Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, and Floyd Little.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Garage 66
Josh Bilicki rejoins Carl Long’s team for the first time since his 34th-place showing in Indianapolis, pulling double-duty with Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. He takes the place of Joey Gase, who finished last at Iowa, but completed nearly the entire distance, coming home 10 laps down in the “King of the Hill” car. Southern Tier Security is this week’s sponsor.
RETURNING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
Also back for the first time since Indianapolis, where she finished a sterling 17th, is Katherine Legge. Desnuda Tequila is the sponsor of her black-and-white #78 Chevrolet for the McLeod team. This will be Legge’s first NASCAR start at Watkins Glen, but she’s made ten starts at the track in sports cars, including a 2017 GTD class win with co-driver Andy Lally at Michael Shank Racing.
RETURNING: #87-Trackhouse Racing
Connor Zilisch completes his triple-header in the Red Bull car. This will be just his fourth career Cup start following three progressively better finishes of 37th at COTA, 23rd in Charlotte, and 11th at Atlanta. Yet already there’s the question: can Zilisch win his first Cup start at The Glen, just as he had in XFINITY last year?
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (August 8, 1993): Dorsey Schroeder picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his Cup Series career in the Budweiser at the Glen when his one-off performance in TriStar Motorsports’ #68 Country Time Lemonade Ford ended with a first-lap tangle in the backstretch chicane. A driver wouldn’t finish last with 0 laps complete at Watkins Glen again until 2012, when Brian Vickers lost an engine after the start.
