Watkins Glen Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions
Justin Haley
Watkins Glen Fantasy Spin – Justin Haley has had some respectable performances at road courses this year and in the first two races he had results of 15th (COTA) and 12th (Sonoma). In the last two, things haven’t been great. Over the four combined races, Haley has a 17.5 average finish, the 23rd best Total Speed Ranking and ranks 26th for speed late in a run. On Sunday, I would view Haley as a high-teens to low-twenties driver.
Watkins Glen Track History – Last year in the uncompetitive #77, Justin Haley had a forgettable afternoon and finished 29th. Additionally, Haley had a 26.2 average running position, and his Total Speed Ranking was the 32nd best, with him ranking between 30th to 32nd over the four segments. Last year in the Xfinity series at “The Glen”, Haley finished 9th.
Joey Hand
Watkins Glen Fantasy Spin – At Watkins Glen, I would look for Joey Hand to likely finish within a few deviations of 20th, if his race is incident free. This year at road courses in his two incident free races, Hand has results of 20th (Sonoma) and 21st (Road America). In the other two races, Hand looked about 20th place good at COTA until he had suspension problems and at Indy, he finished 29th, but I’m assuming he was caught up in some of the late mayhem.
Watkins Glen Track History – Joey Hand has never driven at Watkins Glen in a stock car.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Watkins Glen Fantasy Spin – Watkins Glen has historically been Stenhouse’s most successful road course and in 6 of his 8 starts he’s finished between 15th to 20th, and that includes his last three finishes all being within that range. On Sunday, I think Stenhouse has a chance to keep the good times rolling, but I would feel more comfortable viewing him as a high-teens to mid-twenties driver. This year at road courses, Stenhouse’s COTA result was skewed by drive train problems (37th) and Indy (13th) was skewed by attrition, but in the two middle races his results were 19th (Road America) and 25th (Sonoma). Over the combined 2022 road courses, Stenhouse ranks 22nd for speed late in a run and 31st for Total Speed Rankings.
Watkins Glen Track History – At Watkins Glen, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. currently has three straight teen finishes between 15th to 19th in a row. Over those combined events, Stenhouse has a 16.7 average finish and an 18.3 average running position. Last year, Stenhouse finished 19th, had a 17th place average running position and had the 16th best Total Speed Ranking. In the three Watkins Glen races prior to that, Stenhouse had results of 15th (2019), 16th (2018) and 20th (2017).
Cole Custer
Watkins Glen Fantasy Spin – At Watkins Glen, I would look for Cole Custer to likely finish within a few deviations of 20th. It matches up with how he ran last year in his Cup debut, and with how he’s run on this track type in 2022 minus Indy where the attrition rate was thru the roof. In 2022 on this track type minus Indy his average finish is 19.7, but I’ll note his average running position is a respectable 13.9. In terms of Track Type Speed Analytics, Custer has the 16th best Total Speed Ranking and ranks 17th for speed late in a run.
Watkins Glen Track History – Last year at Watkins Glen in his Cup debut, Custer was mediocre and finished 18th. Additionally, Custer had an 18.4 average running position, the 19th best Total Speed Ranking but somehow, he was the 12th Fastest Driver Late In A Run. That said, Custer was beyond clear a high-teens performer.
Portions of this content are hidden. To view this ifantasyrace advantage content log in or join the site
Make sure you read the full spectrum of our Watkins Glen Fantasy NASCAR Rankings
Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > The Low Tier
