5 NASCAR drivers with best average finish at Watkins Glen International ahead of 2025 Cup race

The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Watkins Glen International for the 24th race of the 2025 season. The 90‑lap Go Bowling at The Glen is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET this Sunday (August 10).

The Cup Series first visited The Glen in 1957, when two‑time champion Buck Baker won the inaugural 101.2‑mile event. Since 1986, the Cup race has been run each year on the shorter 2.45‑mile layout. The track features 11 turns and its signature "Inner Loop" chicane, which was added in 1992 for safety.

Here are the top five current drivers with highest averages in their last three starts at the track.

#1 Austin Cindric

Austin Cindric ranks fifth by average finish among drivers entering Watkins Glen with three starts. His average sits at 13.0. The Team Penske No. 2 driver has yet to win at Watkins Glen but has recorded one top‑10 and three top‑20 finishes.

Cindric won the Talladega Cup race and enters this weekend as the 12th playoff seed after Iowa.

#2 Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson has also posted an average finish of 13.0 in his last three starts. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion's last win at the road course came in 2022, when he held off AJ Allmendinger inside the Esses to win by 0.882 seconds.

Larson has also posted one top-five and two top-20 finishes in last three starts at Watkins Glen. He enters the race as the second seed in the playoff standings.

#3 Joey Logano

Joey Logano ranks third by average finish across his three recent Watkins Glen starts. He has one top-five finish and 21 laps led with an average of 9.3.

Last season, Logano crashed while attempting a bold pass on lap 83. The collision involved Brad Keselowski and William Byron and ended his run with a 15th‑place finish.

The defending NASCAR Cup champion holds the tenth seed in playoff standings after Iowa. He has earned one Cup win this season ahead of Glen.

#2 Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell ranks second with an average finish of 8.3 in last three starts. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is yet to win at Watkins Glen but has gathered one top-five finish and two top-tens.

Bell is the third seed in the playoff standings after having won three NASCAR regular‑season races. The 30-year-old won three consecutive races earlier this year at Atlanta, COTA and Phoenix.

#1 Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher leads the list for drivers with three or more recent Watkins Glen starts with an average finish of 5.7. The defending winner at the 2.454-mile road course has one top-five and three top-ten finishes with 19 laps led.

Buescher enters Watkins Glen on the final NASCAR Cup playoff cutline as the 16th seed after Sunday's Iowa race. He has recorded five top‑fives and seven top‑ten finishes so far this year.

Moreover, Shane van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith have each won one race at the road course in recent years. Chase Elliott has also averaged 10.6 in eight Cup starts at Watkins Glen. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch averages 11.7 in 19 starts.