Shane van Gisbergen will race on a road course for the first time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Connor Zilisch is trying for his first win in the series.
Ross Chastain is making his 121st Truck Series start, hoping to add to his career total of five victories.
Advertisement
All three drivers, Trackhouse Racing teammates in the NASCAR Cup Series, are starting a full weekend of triple duty in Friday‘s Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at Watkins Glen International (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Van Gisbergen and Chastain are competing for Niece Motorsports in the Truck Series race. Zilisch is driving for Spire Motorsports as a teammate to last Friday‘s Truck Series winner at Texas, Carson Hocevar.
Reigning series champion Corey Heim, who won last year‘s race during a streak of five straight road course victories, is not entered this week. In fact, no former Watkins Glen winners are in the field.
Front Row Motorsports‘ Layne Riggs, a Truck Series regular, won NASCAR’s debut at St. Petersburg on Feb. 28 in the first road-course race of the 2026 season. Friday‘s event also will include road-course expert AJ Allmendinger, who will drive Kaulig Racing‘s No. 25 Free Agent Ram.
Advertisement
RELATED: Watkins Glen schedule | Truck Series standings
“Watkins Glen will always be special to me,” Allmendinger said. “It‘s where I earned my first NASCAR Cup Series win, and it‘s a place I‘ve always enjoyed racing. Kaulig Racing has made solid progress on the truck side, and I‘m looking forward to getting in the No. 25 Ram 1500 through the Free Agent Program and contributing to that.
“We had a good Darlington run to get a feel for the trucks, even though it‘s a completely different challenge from a road course. Hopefully, we can unload with speed, contend up front, and put ourselves in position to fight for a win.”
Friday‘s race also features three female drivers: Natalie Decker, Toni Breidinger and Dystany Spurlock. Decker owns the highest-ever finish for a female driver in Truck Series history — fifth at Daytona in 2020.
Advertisement
Spurlock is the first Black woman to make a start in one of NASCAR‘s top three national series. She makes her Truck Series debut after finishing 10th in her first ARCA Menards Series national race on April 18 at Kansas Speedway.
Read the full article here