Watkins Glen Go Bowling At The Glen Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions
On Sunday, NASCAR will be racing at Watkins Glen for the “Go Bowling At The Glen!” Watkins Glen is a high-speed road course where drivers race aggressively and have to get up on the wheel. Watkins Glen has been described as the “Superspeedway Of Road Courses.”
On Saturday, NASCAR practice was held. Teams had 25 minutes and always keep in mind teams have different agendas. Make sure you check out our Watkins Glen Practice Notes, Watkins Glen Practice 5,10 and 15 Lap Averages, Watkins Glen Practice Speeds and 10-Lap Averages and Watkins Glen Group 1 & 2 Speed Rankings.
Here’s the Watkins Glen Qualifying Results/ Starting Lineup.
NOTE: Connor Zilisch is out due to a broken collarbone.
Watkins Glen Full Field Fantasy Rankings
1) Shane van Gisbergen
Start 2nd / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – High
Watkins Glen Outlook – At Watkins Glen, the road to victory lane goes thru Shane van Gisbergen. SVG nearly won this race last year (2nd) and in 2025, nobody has been better than him at road courses. This year on this track type, SVG has won the last three races, has the best Total Speed Ranking (1.25) the best average finish (2.3), the best average running position (2.8) and his Driver Rating is the best by a wide margin. Last year in a pre-rookie start at The Glen, SVG nearly raced his way to victory lane. In the race, SVG finished 2nd, had the 2nd best average running position (5.6) and earned the 2nd best Driver Rating. During an overtime restart, SVG shot to the lead (only led 1 lap) but then on the final lap, Buescher got back around him for the win. In terms of speed analytics, SVG ranked #1 for Total Speed Rankings and Speed Late In A Run. In practice, SVG was pretty happy with his car.
DraftKings $12,700/ FanDuel $15,000
2) William Byron
Start 10th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Watkins Glen Outlook – 2023 Watkins Glen winner, William Byron will be a factor as he vies for back-to-back wins following his Iowa win. This year at road courses, Byron has been one of the best and ranks 3rd in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings and has a 6.3 average finish minus Chicago. At Watkins Glen, Byron is 2 for 4 at finishing in the top 8. Last year, Byron didn’t have a good race and finished 34th. In the race, Byron started 11th, finished 5th in Stage #2 (went for points) and then during the Stage #2 pit stop, the #24 team did major adjustments since they were bad. Then to cap off his afternoon on lap 84 while running around 20th, he crashed with Keselowski which led to his 34th. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Byron ranked 19th. In 2023, Byron put on a display of domination. In the race, Byron started 2nd, finished 2nd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 66 laps, had a 1.3 average running position and earned a near perfect driver rating. In terms of speed stats, Byron had the best Total Speed Ranking, the best Green Flag Speed and ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A Run. In practice, Byron was a stopwatch standout and had the best 10 and 15-lap averages between both groups.
DraftKings $9,500/ FanDuel $11,500
Further Recommended Reading = Watkins Glen Finish Projections, DraftKings Watkins Glen Scoring Projections, FanDuel Watkins Glen Scoring Projections, Watkins Glen Quick Rankings
3) Christopher Bell
Start 9th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Watkins Glen Outlook – 3-time road course winner, Christopher Bell is a super-elite performer at road courses who’ll be tough to beat at Watkins Glen. Bell’s the only driver not named SVG to have won in 2025 on this track type and for the season minus Chicago his average finish is 2.7 and his average Speed Ranking is 4.3. Going back to 2024 on this track type, Bell has the 2nd best Track Type Total Speed Ranking. At Watkins Glen, Bell’s 3 for 4 at finishing in the top ten and minus last year which wasn’t incident free his average finish is 6th. Last year, Bell’s race was far from incident free and it’s actually a little surprising he finished 14th. In the race, Bell was involved in a lap #1 accident, bounced back up to 13th on lap 58 but then just after that on lap 62, Dillon spun him out while he was coming to pit road which dropped him back to the high 20’s. In addition to finishing 14th, Bell had the 19th best Driver Rating and the 20th best Total Speed Ranking. In 2023, Bell had his best Watkins Glen performance. In the race, Bell finished 7th in Stage #1, finished 6th in Stage #2, had a 5.4 average running position and then finished 4th overall. In terms of speed stats, Bell ranked as the fastest driver late in a run and had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking. In 2022, Bell started in the back due to an engine change, but that wasn’t a problem, and he raced his way up to an 8th place finish. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 8th. In 2021, Bell finished 7th but that’s an asterisk mark result. In the race, Bell started in the rear of the field, finished 2nd in Stage #2 and then in the final Stage while running in 2nd on lap 55, Bell was spun which dropped him back to 10th. In the race, Bell had the 6th best Total Speed Ranking. In group 2, Bell had the 4th best 15-lap average.
DraftKings $9,800/ FanDuel $10,500
