Lately, we have seen NASCAR reshuffle its schedule quite often, leaving fans always second-guessing about what’s next. The Charlotte Roval was removed from the 2026 Chase, which saw the 10-race playoff shape up without a single road course for the first time in years. Now, it’s barely been any time, and the next domino seems to have fallen.
Watkins Glen International confirmed on Thursday that its NASCAR weekend will move back to September, beginning in 2027, taking up a spot in The Chase. That means that while one track slots in, one is bound to bow out.
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President Dawn Burlew made the official announcement at a fan event at Glenora Wine Cellars ahead of this weekend’s race. The update has further ended the one-year May experiment at The Glen, since NASCAR had never run Watkins Glen earlier than July 18 before 2026. For the longest time, the road course had been a fixture primarily in August since its return to the Cup schedule in 1986.
With the spring date, officials were looking to better spread road courses across the calendar. However, the same doesn’t appeal to them anymore after witnessing how fans reacted to forty degrees, mud, and trailers getting stuck. And so the September slot will place Watkins Glen among the earliest Chase races of 2027, with Burlew framing it as a chance to “set the stage for the rest of the playoff season.”
And to be honest, the case for The Glen in September can be a bit irrefutable. In its only playoff appearance, on September 15, 2024, the track produced one of the most memorable race finishes in recent NASCAR memory. Chris Buescher made a last-lap lunge on Shane van Gisbergen at the Bus Stop chicane, muscling his way to a victory in overtime while the playoff standings were thrown into complete disarray.
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Of the 16 playoff drivers that day, not a single one finished in the top five. Interestingly, the streak that had stood for every one of the previous 101 playoff races since the current format began in 2014. Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and others left Watkins Glen battered and bruised, as the track delivered exactly what the postseason demands.
That said, the conversation quickly pivots. Which track will be losing its spot?
Fan theories take center stage as Glen gains a spot in Chase
Currently, the 10-race Chase lineup runs like this: Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Phoenix Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway as the finale.
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So, for Watkins Glen to squeeze in, something has to give, and Gateway emerged as the fans’ target.
“What would make the most sense weather wise would be to simply flip St. Louis and Watkins Glen,” one fan wrote, pointing towards the temperature contrast between a sun-baked Gateway and a crisp Finger Lakes autumn. While another warned, “It better not bump gateway outta the chase.”
Well, the case against Gateway is built on several points.
The track joined the Cup schedule only in 2022, and its 2025 playoff debut could draw only about 1.525 million viewers on USA Network. That was down from 1.8 million for the prior year’s second playoff race at Watkins Glen, and a steep drop from 2.5 million for Gateway’s own June race in 2024 on FS1. While part of that decline was owed to the NFL opening Sunday competition, a 15% year-over-year drop is difficult to defend regardless.
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Hence, one fan said, “Common sense imo. A road course in the Chase is definitely a good idea. Im assuming it will take the date Gateway has this year.” Another echoed the same, writing, “The only logical option is that Gateway is going to be taken out of “The Chase” next year”.
The racing product hasn’t helped its case either. Gateway’s egg-shaped 1.25-mile oval, with tighter, higher-banked Turns 1-2 and flatter, sweeping Turns 3-4, forces drivers into constant setup compromise, rewarding track position over outright pace. It is also the only 1.25-mile oval on the entire Cup schedule, sitting in an awkward middle ground between short track and intermediate, and doesn’t fully behave like either.
Moreover, the 2024 Gateway race, still a regular-season event at the time, was decided when Ryan Blaney ran out of gas in the closing laps to hand Austin Cindric the win. The 2025 playoff race saw Denny Hamlin dominate wire-to-wire from pole.
So, neither result generated the kind of chaos or drama the postseason demands, and fans noticed. On top of that, brutal late-summer St. Louis heat with average temperatures around 30°C makes it one of the most uncomfortable race weekends on the entire calendar for fans attending in person.
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Even Kyle Larson said during the 2025 Playoffs Media Day: “I think still the shorter, flatter tracks are a challenge, so seeing Gateway and New Hampshire in the playoffs is not something that I was thrilled about.” In fact, his team had circled the flat-track problem as one of their biggest weaknesses heading into the postseason.
Another fan brought in the Bristol factor, writing, “Gateway seems like the obvious choice. Bristol moving back to August would be legit though.”
The Night Race’s current Chase placement has been debated for years, with many fans believing its natural identity is as a late-summer, regular-season event. If Watkins Glen gets a Chase slot, that’s the next conversation NASCAR will have to participate in.
But not everyone agreed. One Gateway defender pushed back: “Everyone saying Gateway 💔 I love the fall weather at the track man.”
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