Watkins Glen is a track where the front row matters. Three of four Gen 7 races have been won from the front row, and the only outlier was the 2024 race that Chris Buescher stole on the last lap. Qualifying speed translates to finishing position more often than not.

For DraftKings Sportsbook NASCAR Picks from the lower series, follow @Race4thePrize on X.

NASCAR Best Bets for the Go Bowling at The Glen

Christopher Bell | Race Winner (+1000)

Last year’s runner-up posted a 6.75 average finish across his four Gen 7 starts at Watkins Glen, second only to Buescher. Two top-fives, three top-tens, zero wins. The win is overdue.

JGR road course pace was strong at COTA in March, where Bell ran third behind Tyler Reddick (+750) and Shane Van Gisbergen (+125). The market has him fourth on the win odds board behind two Trackhouse drivers who run radically different programs, and Reddick, with a price that’s factoring in the COTA result, not the Watkins Glen record. 10/1 on a driver who finished second in Upstate New York last August is fair value with some room to spare.

Chris Buescher | Race Winner (+1800)

Four Gen 7 starts at Watkins Glen have produced finishes of ninth, seventh, first and third, repectively. No driver in the field has a better aggregate record at this track in this car. The 2024 win came on a last-lap pass of Van Gisbergen at the Bus Stop after starting 24th, a result that should have permanently changed how the market prices Buescher here.

The board has him priced even with Kyle Larson (+1800), who has finished 19th on average at this track in Gen 7 with one 2022 win and three straight finishes outside the top ten since. Same number, different resume. RFK road course speed is real and the No. 17 Ford has unloaded fast at New York’s Finger Lakes in the past. 18/1 for the most consistent Watkins Glen Gen 7 driver on the grid is a gift.

Joey Logano | Race Winner (+6000)

Penske does not show up on most Watkins Glen leaderboards, but Logano ran third here in 2022 and led 15 laps doing it. The current price assumes none of that exists. 60/1 for a former champion who has cracked the top three at this track in the Gen 7 era is the kind of long shot that gets ignored because the name does not feel like a road course pick.

The Glen rewards old hands who can save the brakes through the Inner Loop and survive the late-race chaos at Turn One. Logano fits both descriptions. He will not get to victory lane on raw speed. He gets there through pit road, fuel windows, and a yellow at the right time. The price is paying him to do what he does.