For race 13/20 on the main ARCA Menards Series calendar, the series will visit a road course for the 2nd time this season at Watkins Glen International in Upstate New York.

Race Information:
Date: Friday, August 19th, 2023
Laps: 41
Start Time: 6 PM EST/5 PM CST
Live: FS1/FloRacing
Radio: MRN/SiriusXM
Car Count: 23

Entry List
2- Andres Perez De Lara- Chevy- Rev Racing
4- Dale Quarterley- Chevy- 1/4 ley Racing
6- Jack Wood- Chevy- Rev Racing/Velocity Racing
10- Ed Pompa – Toyota- Fast Track Racing
11- Zach Herrin- Toyota- Fast Track Racing
12- Stanton Barrett- Toyota- Fast Track Racing
15- Brent Crews- Toyota- Venturini Motorsports
18- William Sawalich- Toyota- Joe Gibbs Racing
20- Jesse Love- Toyota- Venturini Motorsports
25- Kris Wright- Toyota- Venturini Motorsports
28- Connor Zilisch- Chevy- Pinnacle Racing Group
30- Frankie Muniz- Ford- Rette Jones Racing
31- Casey Carden- Chevy- Rise Motorsports
32- Christian Rose- Ford- AM Racing
48- Brad Smith- Chevy- Brad Smith Motorsports
55- Jake Finch- Toyota- Venturini Motorsports
63- Corey LaJoie- Chevy- Spraker Racing
66- Jon Garrett- Chevy- Veer Motorsports/Fast Track Racing
73- Andy Jankowiak- Toyota- KLAS Motorsports
75- Bob Schacht- Chevy- Bob Schacht Motorsports
02- Parker Retzlaff- Chevy- Young’s Motorsports
03- AJ Moyer- Ford- Clubb Racing Inc/Wayne Peterson Motorsports
06- Tim Richmond- Toyota- Richmond Motorsports/Wayne Peterson Motorsports

Storylines

PC: Timothy Ludwig/ARCA Racing

Jesse Love’s point lead over Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has expanded to an incredible 98 point lead going into Watkins Glen. The rookie sensation out of California has a very legit shot now to clinch the title a few races early potentially.

There are expected to be 2 start and parks for The Glen which means 21 cars will go the distance. The 03 of AJ Moyer is expected to be a 2 lap start and park which was originally supposed to be the 0. Moyer was slid into the #03 using Alex Clubb’s owner points after Clubb’s car continued to have mechanical issues but Clubb’s car will still make the trip to Springfield on Sunday. The 48 of Brad Smith is also expected to start and park at Watkins Glen as Brad usually does not attempt full races at road courses.

All 4 Fast Track cars are expected to go the distance at the Glen with 4 fully funded drivers racing including Jon Garrett in the #66 as normal, Ed Pompa returning to the #10 car again for the first time since Pocono, Zach Herrin in the #11 making his first start since Mid-Ohio and welcome back Stunt Man Stanton Barrett!!! Making his first ARCA start since this race last year. He’ll be pulling double duty this weekend driving the #35 for Emerling-Gase Motorsports in the Xfinity race and the #12 for Fast Track Racing in the ARCA race.

Speaking of double duty, multiple drivers will be pulling double duty for Watkins Glen including a surprise appearance by cup series regular Corey LaJoie who will be in the #63 car for Jeff Spraker Racing in which will be his first ever ARCA start since Kansas in 2013 and the first for the #63 entry since Pocono. Parker Retzlaff makes another appearance in the #02 for Young’s Motorsports to get seat time for the Watkins Glen xfinity race, his first for the team since the west series race at Sonoma. Casey Carden will be in the #31 for Rise Motorsports after he was originally scheduled to drive the #03 for Clubb before the mechanical issues also forced him to DNF at IRP. He will also be attempting to qualify for the xfinity race in the #74 for Mike Harmon Racing.

Multiple road ringers are also entered in Friday’s race including 2 potential future nascar prospects. Brent Crews and Connor Zilisch will both be making their ARCA Menards Series debuts’ for Venturini Motorsports and Pinnacle Racing Group respectively. Both drivers have found recent success in Trans-Am and are hoping to translate both to potential wins in ARCA. The 1/4 Man Dale Quarterley one of ARCA’s road ringer veterans will be making his first ARCA start since Mid-Ohio last month in his #4 Chevy. In addition, Quarterley will also be making the trip to Springfield on Sunday using the car Ryan Unzicker drove to victory in last year’s event at DuQuoin. In addition, long time racing veteran Bob Schacht will make his return to ARCA for the first time since Mid-Ohio. The oldest driver in the field at 73 years old is hoping for better luck this weekend and to not be dumped again like at Mid-Ohio.

Other notable entrants include Andres Perez De Lara, Jack Wood, William Sawalich, Kris Wright, Christian Rose, Jake Finch, Andy Jankowiak, and Tim Richmond.

Prediction To Win

My prediction to take home the trophy at the Glen is Cup Series regular Corey LaJoie in the 63 car. I believe that LaJoie having an extensive amount of experience on road courses especially with having 6 on the cup schedule now will propell LaJoie to the victory in his #63 car. LaJoie has made 4 cup series starts at Watkins Glen now and I think the track experience will pay off for him.

PC: Reddit via r/Nascar and ThePitLane.org (Defunct)

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