PREVIEW: Three triple-headers and road course specialists abound in Watkins Glen
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Garage 66 & MBM Motorsports, @MBMMotorsports
Friday, May 8, 2026 (Green Flag 4:53 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 8 of 25
Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen at Watkins Glen
2025 Last-Place Finisher (August): Kyle Busch
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 36 spots in this weekend’s Truck Series race at Watkins Glen, meaning two teams will be sent home.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
With four straight finishes of 5th or better in his last four straight O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing, Brent Crews makes his first Truck Series start of the season, his first since a snapped axle left him 28th in last fall’s championship race at Phoenix. Crews takes the place of Brandon Jones, who finished 4th last time out in Texas.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Team Reaume
Jackon Lee was among the “road ringers” to make his series debut at St. Petersburg in February, and now returns to action at The Glen. Lee, who finished 29th that day, takes the place of 26th-place Texas finisher Clayton Green in the #2 entry with team sponsor Levrack on the hood of his Ford.
RETURNING: #4-Niece Motorsports
The first of no fewer than three drivers attempting a triple-header this weekend at Watkins Glen is none other than Shane Van Gisbergen, who carries sponsorship from Circle B Motorsports Auctions on Al Niece’s returning part-time entry, the #4. This will mark only the second series start for Van Gisbergen, his first since his 19th-place showing at IRP in 2023, also while driving for Niece.
DRIVER CHANGE: #5-TRICON Garage
Adam Andretti makes his fourth series start of the season, his first since a 35th-place finish at Rockingham, where he crashed on the backstretch in the early stages. The Trans-Am competitor returns to action in place of William Sawalich, who joined Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones in last Saturday’s race and finished in 17th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
Connor Mosack returns for only his third series start of 2026, his first since a strong 5th-place showing in Darlington. He takes the place of Texas runner-up Kyle Busch, who this week focuses exclusively on Sunday’s Cup race. Mosack finished 16th in this race last year while driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
NEW TEAM: #20-McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
Speaking of the McAnally team, they expand to a part-time fifth team this week as a driver development entry to be shared by Mason Massey, BMR’s ARCA West driver, and Toni Breidinger. While Massey’s stint begins in the upcoming race Richmond, Breidinger drives the truck this week with sponsorship from Celsius. Today marks Breidinger’s second series start of the season following her 18th-place showing last week in Texas in the part-time second entry for Rackley-W.A.R.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Team Reaume
While the preliminary entry list showed “TBA” in the driver’s column for the second of three Team Reaume entries, the ride goes to Natalie Decker with sponsorship from. While an infrequent competitor in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, this would mark Decker’s first series start since October 30, 2020 at Martinsville, when she drove for Al Niece. Nico’s Bagels & Brunch is the listed sponsor in conjunction with mental health initiative Nico’s Hope For Life Foundation. Decker will drive the truck again next week in Dover.
DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Kaulig RAM Racing
The Kaulig team’s “all-star” #25 goes this week to A.J. Allmendinger, who runs double-duty with Kaulig’s Cup team at the site of his first Cup Series win in 2014. This marks Allmendinger’s second Truck Series start of the season, his first since Darlington, when he was brought on by the team after the suspension and eventual resignation of driver Daniel Dye. Allmendinger takes the place of Parker Kligerman, who finished 11th last week in Texas.
DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Team Reaume
Completing the series of driver changes at Team Reaume is the full-time #33 entry that’s been run by Frankie Muniz. Due to a scheduling conflict with a GT4 America race in Sebring, where he ranks 3rd in the series standings, Muniz will not be running today’s race. Stepping into his place is part-timer Stephen Mallozzi, marking his 15th series start and first of this year. Mallozzi last ran last fall at New Hampshire, where early suspension issues left him in 35th, closing out a year where he failed to finish all seven of his starts. Many of those races came with little to no sponsorship, while Southside Restaurant and Spirits backs him today.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports
Tyler Reif makes his fifth series start, his first since a 34th-place finish in Bristol after his mid-race tangle with Muniz. He again drives Niece’s #42 entry, this time taking the place of 33rd-place Texas finisher Conner Jones, who was also collected in a multi-truck accident.
TEAM UPDATE: #45-Niece Motorsports
Ross Chastain remains in the #45 this week and will be another of the three drivers running triple-duty this weekend. After his 12th-place showing last week in Texas, Chastain carries sponsorship from the NY Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.
RETURNING: #56-Hill Motorsports
Timmy Hill makes his fifth start of the season and first since Bristol, where he finished 33rd after he was collected in an early crash. Hill and his family’s #56 have two series starts at The Glen, including a track-best 20th-place performance last summer.
DRIVER CHANGE: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
Wesley Slimp scored his best finish in four previous series starts in this race last summer, when he came home in 12th spot. He again drives the second Halmar entry for the first time since St. Petersburg this past spring, where he qualified a career-best 7th before power steering issues dropped him to last place. Slimp takes the place of a returning Cory Roper, who finished 35th after a pair of crashes resulted in suspension issues and a 34th-place finish.
RETURNING: #69-Motorsports Business Management
Making her series debut today is Dystany Spurlock, who while driving for Carl Long in the ARCA Menards Series scored a 7th-place finish in the ARCA East race at Hickory, then a 10th in the national series at Kansas, where she recovered from a spin. Running double-duty with this week’s ARCA race, Foxxtecca continues their sponsorship of Spurlock’s efforts in the team’s returning #69 Toyota.
RETURNING: #71-Spire Motorsports
Completing the trio of triple-header competitors is Connor Zilisch, who looks to find his footing after a lackluster start to his Cup Series rookie season. Sponsored by Trackhouse Labs, Zilisch begins his weekend driving Spire’s part-time #71 entry which last ran at Bristol in the hands of 18th-place finisher Daniel Suarez. This will mark Zilisch’s ninth series start and first of the season, his first since a 5th-place run on the Charlotte “Roval” last fall, also driving for Spire.
DRIVER CHANGE: #76-Freedom Racing Enterprises
Nathan Nicholson rejoins the FRE team for the first time since his 34th-place debut in St. Petersburg. Taking the place of 20th-place Texas finisher and team owner Spencer Boyd, Nicholson is again sponsored by Whelen Engineering.
MISSING: #93-Costner Motorsports
Not among this week’s entrants is Caleb Costner, who fought to a 24th-place finish in Texas for his tenth series start.
CUP INVADERS: #4-Shane Van Gisbergen, #25-A.J. Allmendinger, #45-Ross Chastain, #71-Connor Zilisch, #77-Carson Hocevar
Saturday, May 9, 2026 (Green Flag 4:11 P.M. ET, CW)
O’REILLY Race 13 of 33
Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen
2025 Last-Place Finisher (August): Garrett Smithley
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 38 spots, so one team will fail to qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #0-SS-Green Light Racing
Alex Labbe returns to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for the first time since his 18th-place showing in Rockingham, taking the place of 31st-place Texas finisher Garrett Smithley.
MISSING: #3-Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon and RCR’s part-time #3 entry are not among this week’s entrants following a 23rd-place finish last week in Texas, Dillon’s first series start at the track where he finished outside the Top Ten.
DRIVER CHANGE: #9-JR Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
Round 2 of Shane Van Gisbergen’s triple-header comes in JRM’s part-time #9 entry, the same team with which he did battle with Connor Zilich last fall before contact in Turn 11 sent him into the outside wall and out of the race. Again sponsored by Kubota (and again facing Zilisch, who remains in the JRM #1), Van Gisbergen takes the place of Carson Kvapil, who is again placed in Mario Gosselin’s #91 in place of 32nd-place Texas finisher Mason Maggio.
DRIVER CHANGE: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #88-JR Motorsports
Ross Chastain’s own triple-duty weekend sees him drive for Jordan Anderson racing in the #32 with T-M-T Gravel & Contracting, Inc. as sponsor. Chastain takes the place of 34th-place Texas finisher Rajah Caruth, who rejoins JRM in the #88 in place of Cup regular and Texas winner Kyle Larson, who’s focusing on Sunday’s race this week.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
DRIVER CHANGE: #55-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
WITHDREW: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Last week in Texas, Mike Harmon’s #74 was fielded in place of Joey Gase’s #35 entry, keeping Dawson Cram in the race for one lap before engine trouble left him in last place. This week, Cram and Harmon’s #74 aren’t entered. The preliminary entry list for this week’s race showed Joey Gase remaining in the #55 while TBA listed for the #35 plus the #53 driven to a 29th-place finish by David Starr. In reality, all three teams will have completely different drivers.
The #35 goes to 40-year-old Arkansas driver Matt Wilson, who seeks his series debut after four career ARCA starts. The #53 sees a returning Derek White, who hasn’t made an O’Reilly race since March 5, 2016, when he finished 36th for Carl Long. The #55 falls to returning Gase driver Glen Reen, who seeks his first series start of the year and first since last fall’s Phoenix finale, where he ran 34th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Young’s Motorsports
The preliminary entry list showed no driver or sponsor listed for the #42, which fell out in the early laps at Texas after Brad Perez’ hard crash on the frontstretch left him in 36th. First came the announcement of Drydene as sponsor, one week after Cory Roper carried the colors in last Friday’s Truck Series race. The driver was then revealed to be Will Rodgers, his first start since a sterling 16th-place showing last summer at Sears Point, when he drove for Cope Family Racing.
RETURNING: #50-Pardus Racing
Preston Pardus and his family’s team seek their second start of the season, their first since a 27th-place showing at COTA this past spring. Pardus ran this race last year for SS-Green Light Racing, where he earned a 34th-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #92-DGM Racing x JIM
After a new sponsor failed to meet its contractual obligations, Josh Williams is out of the #92 this week following an 18th-place showing in Texas. The ride goes to a returning Alex Guenette, who seeks his eighth series start and first since October 7, 2023 on the Charlotte “Roval,” where he finished 33rd for Joey Gase’s team. Optum, one of Williams’ other sponsors, remains as an associate backer as Guenette brings primary sponsorship from DLGL.com
PAINT SCHEME: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Josh Bilicki, who finished 27th in Texas, will this week run a throwback scheme to Robby Gordon’s 2003 winner of the Cup race at the Glen, site of Gordon’s last series win. High Lane Diecast is the listed sponsor for Bilicki, who runs double-duty with Sunday’s Cup race for Carl Long (see below). Bilicki’s best O’Reilly finish at The Glen was a 10th-place showing in 2024.
CUP INVADERS: #1-Connor Zilisch, #9-Shane Van Gisbergen, #32-Ross Chastain
Sunday, May 10, 2026 (Green Flag 3:14 P.M. ET, FS1)
CUP Race 12 of 36
Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen
2025 Last-Place Finisher (August): Connor Zilisch
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 40 starting spots, marking the 10th short field in 12 series races in 2026. This also happens to be the 40th annual running of this race on the current configuration dating back to 1986, when The Glen returned to the NASCAR calendar.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Garage 66
Josh Bilicki rejoins Garage 66 for his first Cup start of the season, his first since a 32nd-place showing with the team last fall on the Charlotte “Roval.” Taking the place of Chad Finchum, who clawed his way back from persistent mechanical gremlins to take 33rd in Texas, Bilicki is sponsored by Southern Tier Security.
MISSING: #67-23XI Racing
Corey Heim is not entered after his breakout run in Texas, where he led 69 laps – the second-most of the day – before a late-race accident left him 31st.
DRIVER CHANGE: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
Although shown as TBA on the preliminary entry list, Katherine Legge makes her eighth career Cup start and first of the season by rejoining the Live Fast effort along with her returning sponsor e.l.f. Cosmetics. This time, she runs a new paint scheme that fades from white to pink. Legge’s most recent series start came last fall in Las Vegas, where he took 31st, and she ran 36th in this race last summer.
TEAM UPDATE: #88-Trackhouse Racing
Fresh off a top-20 finish in Texas, Connor Zilisch completes his triple-header at Watkins Glen
with his first series start at the track. His primary sponsor will be Red Bull, the same branding that would have been on his #87 here last year had he not been injured in a freak accident in victory lane the day before the race.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (May 8, 1982): Lake Speed picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career when his #17 Yazoo Mowers Pontiac lost the engine after 17 laps of the Cracker Barrel Country Store 420 at the Nashville Fairgrounds. Speed started 13th in the field of 30.
