The Glen 101.2 (1957) The Glen 151.8 (1964–1965) The Budweiser At The Glen (1986–1989) Budweiser At The Glen (1990–1993) The Bud At The Glen (1994–1998) Frontier @ the Glen (1999) Global Crossing @ The Glen (2000–2001) Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen (2002–2005) AMD at the Glen (2006) Centurion Boats at the Glen (2007–2008) Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen (2009–2011) Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen (2012) Cheez-It 355 at the Glen (2013–2016) I Love New York 355 at The Glen (2017)
Prior to 1986, three races were held in 1957 (in one of the track's first professional races), as well in 1964 and 1965. These races were held in the track's original configuration, which was 2.35 miles long.
The current NASCAR Cup race at the track began in 1986, utilizing a shortened 2.45 mile course. Following the 1991 death ofJ. D. McDuffie in a crash in the Outer Loop, at the end of the backstretch, and a subsequent, serious crash byIMSA driver,Tommy Kendall, the Inner Loop "bus stop"chicane was added just before the Outer Loop. NASCAR has since utilized this 2.45-mile (3.94 km) "short course," and has never utilized the "Boot" asIndyCar andFormula One have. Some drivers, however, have proposed the use of the full course.
During a 2011 Mobil Oil "Car Swap" at Watkins Glen using the course,Tony Stewart pushed for using the Grand Prix course after driving demonstration laps in both hisChevrolet Impala and the majority of his laps in aMcLaren MP4-23 as part of the event withLewis Hamilton.[3]
ESPN broadcast the race from 1986 to 2000, then again in 2007 to 2014. Starting in 2015 (current contract),NBC had the rights to broadcast the race but the 2015 edition was aired onNBCSN. In 2016, the race was put onUSA Network because of the2016 Summer Olympics airing on NBC and NBCSN. Beginning in 2017, NBC decided to broadcast this race in the style of radio where various analysts would be placed on the course to report what they see in their section of the track to the viewer.
In 2015, more than 95,000 people watched the race.[4]
In2020, the race was not held due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The State of New York was requiring travelers from several states to isolate for 14 days (including North Carolina, where most of NASCAR's teams are located, and Florida, where NASCAR's corporate offices are), and not giving the series a quarantine waiver to enter the state.[5] NASCAR instead held a race on theDaytona International Speedway road course,[6] theGo Bowling 235.
2024's running of this race was moved to September was the second race of the Round of 16 in theNASCAR Cup Series playoffs.[7] Watkins Glen's stint in the playoffs was short lived however, as when the 2025 schedule came out, Watkins Glen returned to its typical August date.[8]
1986: The true inaugural running of this race, resulted in Geoff Bodine leading the most laps. Tim Richmond won the race after Bodine made too long of a pit stop with less than 10 laps to go.
1989: On the day that Tim Richmond, who in 1986 won the first Budweiser at the Glen race since NASCAR returned to Watkins Glen, lost his battle with AIDS; eventual1989 Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace became the first driver to win this race a second time (Wallace having previously won in 1987).
1991: Ernie Irvan won the race but the race was overshadowed by the death of NASCAR pioneerJ. D. McDuffie during a crash on lap 5. Also during this raceRichard Petty collected his final Top 10 finish, coming in 9th.
1992: Rain pushed back the start of the race more than three hours, and with rain expected to move back into the area, teams expected the race to be a sprint to the halfway point.Kyle Petty won a heated battle for the lead withErnie Irvan between laps 32–36. After a caution, the race was restarted on lap 44, one lap before the halfway point. Petty brushed off then-leader Dick Trickle on lap 45 and on lap 46, the skies opened. After five laps under caution, the race was red-flagged, with Petty declared the winner. 1992 would be the only season Kyle Petty won multiple races.
1995:Wally Dallenbach Jr. appeared to have had the win wrapped up, but a caution with 9 laps to go resulted in him being passed by former teammateMark Martin on a final restart.
1996: Two weeks after suffering a broken collarbone and sternum in a crash at Talladega, and one week after stepping out of the car at Indianapolis,Dale Earnhardt won the pole position with a track record of 120.733 mph. Earnhardt was quoted as saying "It hurt so good." Earnhardt led 54 laps, butGeoff Bodine stole the victory when he short-pitted on his final stop. Bodine pitted early, and with newer tires, made up track position while everyone else pitted to hold the lead. It was Earnhardt's final career pole, and Bodine's final career win.
1999: Jeff Gordon started on pole, led the most laps and held offRon Fellows for the win.
2000: After Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart tangled early, Jeff Gordon's hopes to win four consecutive Watkins Glen races ended. Steve Park won his first Cup series race.
2001: Jeff Gordon got redemption from his 2000 heartbreak by winning the race. Road expertRobby Gordon led the most laps and had the winning car but a pit road fire ended his hopes for his first Cup series victory.
2002: A week after nearly being fired by his team for an incident in the Brickyard 400,Tony Stewart led the most laps alongsideRobby Gordon and won the race. The race ended in controversy because it was discovered that Stewart had jumped the final restart.
2004: A very sick Tony Stewart gutted through a sinus infection, food poisoning and stomach pains, and held offRon Fellows to win the race.
2007: Jeff Gordon led the most laps, but spun out with 2 laps to go, handing the win to Stewart.
2009: Tony Stewart won his record 5th Watkins Glen race. The race was marred by a huge accident involvingSam Hornish Jr.,Jeff Gordon, andJeff Burton.Kasey Kahne was racing with Hornish out of turn 9 where Kasey got loose and got into Hornish sending Hornish into the tire barriers. Hornish shot back across the track right in front of Jeff Gordon which sent Gordon into the Armco barrier head on. Hornish's fuel cell came out of his car from Gordon's impact. Hornish was then hit again by Jeff Burton which nearly sent Hornish on his side. Other cars includingJoey Logano andAndy Lally were involved for running over debris.
2010:Juan Pablo Montoya ended a 113 race winless streak and won in dominating fashion, beatingMarcos Ambrose for the win, thus making him the first foreign-born driver to win multiple NASCAR Cup races.
2012: Oil that dropped on the track byBobby Labonte led to a dramatic finish as a caution was not called. LeaderKyle Busch lost control and spun off the bumper ofBrad Keselowski in the Esses on the final lap, leaving Keselowski and Ambrose to battle both each other and the adverse track conditions, banging off of and passing each other several times during the lap. They even went through the grass at one point. Ambrose won the race after Keselowski got loose in the oil off-turn eleven and backed out of the throttle.
2014:A. J. Allmendinger won his first Cup victory, after a lengthy marathon that included two red flags for track repair caused by serious accidents: the first for a severe accident in whichRyan Newman andMichael McDowell crashed in the exit to turn 5, which saw McDowell's rear wheel housing break off and puncture a hole in the Armco barriers, and a second one caused byDenny Hamlin crashing into the gravel barrels at the entrance to pit road.
2015: An accordion wreck happened on the front stretch, fluid was on the track, which led to a nine-minute three second red flag to facilitate cleanup on the track,A. J. Allmendinger's car lost power, and came to a stop past turn 10.Joey Logano took advantage of fuel problems forKevin Harvick and won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen and second of the season.
2016:Denny Hamlin passedMartin Truex Jr. late in the race to win his first road course victory and avenging his 2007 runner-up at the Glen. On the final lap, Truex got spun byBrad Keselowski and finished 8th whileKyle Larson expressed discontent withA. J. Allmendinger for spinning him on the final lap as well. Truex and Larson both voiced their displeasure with their adversaries through slight contact with Keselowski & Allmendinger after the race ended, during the cool-down lap.
2017:Martin Truex Jr. overcame adversity from the race last year by winning overMatt Kenseth andClint Bowyer while saving fuel. The race was run in just over two hours, the shortest race by time in the Modern Era at the time.
2018:Chase Elliott earned his first Cup Series win after holding offMartin Truex Jr., the defending winner. Truex Jr.'s No. 78 ran out of fuel on the last lap while behind Elliott and he managed to hold on to 2nd place.
2019: Elliott won his second race in a row at the track, again beating Truex Jr.
2021: No race was held in 2020, but Truex led the most laps in the 2021 edition. However, he finished third toKyle Larson andChase Elliott.
2022: Elliott and Larson started up front, but the first part of the race was run under wet track conditions. After halfway, Elliott and Larson drove away from third-placeMichael McDowell. Larson took the lead after contact with Elliott on a late restart to take the win, relegating Elliott to fourth. Seven countries were represented in the race, a NASCAR record (besides the full-time contingent of drivers from the United States and full-time driver Daniel Suarez of Mexico in Trackhouse Racing's 99 car, competing in the race were Team Hezeberg teammates Daniil Kvyat of Russia and Loris Hezemans of the Netherlands, Kyle Tilley of England in the 78 car for Live Fast Motorsports, Mike Rockenfeller of Germany in the 77 car for Spire Motorsports, and 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland debuting Trackhouse's Project91 program).
2023: The race did not feature any stage cautions at the end of stages, but points were still awarded to the top 10 drivers.Michael McDowell won the first stage, but had mechanical issues throughout the race, causing him to go laps down, William Byron won stage 2 and eventually win the race.
2024: Stage cautions returned to the race after not using them in 2023, and the race was featured in the nascar playoffs for the first time. On Lap 1, multiple drivers in the playoffs were involved in an accident, through the bus stop, forcingRyan Blaney to retire. On Lap 88, Contact between Busch, Reddick and Haley caused Reddick to spin in front of busch, forcing Nascar Overtime. On the Restart, Chris Buescher led the field to green, but was immediately taken over byShane Van Gisbergen. Gisbergen held onto the lead until Buescher bumped him out of his way after the bus stop. Buescher would maintain the lead and win the race.
