NASCAR insiders discuss “worst spot” at the Watkins Glen ahead of the playoff battle

Ahead of the second playoff race at Watkins Glen International, NASCAR insiders talked about Turn 11 on the road course. While discussing the developments of the 2.45-mile track, the spotters outlined why the final turn is the "worst spot" on the asphalt.

The Go Bowling at the Glen is around the corner, slated to kick off on Sunday, September 15, at 3:00 PM ET. It will mark the first road course race in the 10-race playoff calendar.

Watkins Glen is renowned for multiple reasons. Despite being a road course, the track produces high-speed racing, making it challenging for the drivers to pass rivals through the corners. Turn 11 is the track's final corner and is infamous for birthing wrecks and posing challenges to the spotters, as the area is hidden under an overbridge.

Some of the crashes at the New York-based track include Geoff Bodine's 1989 crash, Jimmie Johnson's hard wall crash in 200, and Jeff Gordon's 2009 run-in, to name a few.

Ahead of the 220-mile event, NASCAR insiders Brett Griffin, Freddie Kraft, and TJ Majors discussed the "worst spot" at Watkins Glen.

"We've had some big wreck out of (Turn) 11. (Turn) 10, they've paved all that, there was a sand trap one time when we blew through it with Dale Jr. with no brakes," TJ Majors said via Dirty Mo Media on X (0:14).

"Turn 11 is really hard for spotters because when they wreck under that bridge, you can't see," Brett Griffin added.

"It's like once every two-three years, somebody spins out and parks right where the bridge is," Majors replied.

Bubba Wallace's spotter added his comments and said.

"The worst spot," he said.

Surprisingly, the 2023 race at Watkins Glen, where William Byron reigned supreme, witnessed zero crashes.

New tire set to enter Watkins Glen Playoff race amid NextGen's struggles at road course

Since the NextGen car took over its predecessor from the 2022 season onwards, the drivers have struggled to outperform their rivals, especially while running in proximity. The Gen 7 car struggles even more on road courses and short tracks due to the shorter braking zones, and the racer generally fails to outbreak the rival while heading into a corner.

The playoff race at Watkins Glen will witness Goodyear's new compound and is expected to create a tire fall-off of approximately three seconds. 'Fall-off' implies the wear in the rubber from its start until the tire becomes unfit for racing. The degradation would mean fresher rubber contacting the asphalt, and thus, better grip and higher speed would be noticed.

Stage 1 will comprise 20 laps and Stage 2 will span 40. The pit road will close with two laps remaining for the battle to end. Therefore, if tire wear is more than expected, teams would have to bank on last-minute strategies to keep themselves in contention for the championship.

Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, and Daniel Suarez tested the compound at Watkins Glen in June. Ahead of the playoff opener, the drivers were informed that tires lost between two to five seconds worth of time until it lasted. Thus, with the developments made according to the data captured from sensors and drivers' feedback, it will be interesting to see how the second playoff run will pan out.