NASCAR playoffs at Watkins Glen: Where to watch, live stream, preview, expert picks for Go Bowling at The Glen

One week ago in Atlanta, the flat out and close quarters nature of the draft made for a wild and challenging beginning to the NASCAR playoffs. And for the 15 drivers who still have yet to earn a place in the Round of 12, things get no easier this weekend as they go from white-knuckle speedway racing to the finesse that is required to master one of the great road courses in the nation.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to world-famous Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at The Glen, the second race of the Round of 16 and one of two road course races in this year's playoffs. While Joey Logano moved on to the next round by winning Atlanta a week ago, the rest of the playoff field will have to demonstrate specialized skills yet again this week, with this famous circuit in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York standing set to either further championship ambitions or potentially ruin them.

Where to watch the NASCAR playoffs at Watkins Glen

When: Sunday, Sept. 15
Where: Watkins Glen International -- Watkins Glen, New York
Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: USA
Online streaming: fuboTV ( Try for free . Regional restrictions may apply.)

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What to Watch

A great deal of intrigue at Watkins Glen this weekend surrounds a new tire compound being introduced by Goodyear, which reportedly could create as much as three seconds of lap-time falloff from the beginning to end of a run. Multiple developmental compounds were tested at Watkins Glen in late June, with playoff drivers Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Tyler Reddick all participating and finding the limits of the tire.

In a story by NASCAR.com , both Goodyear director of racing Greg Stucker and NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said that the Watkins Glen tire is part of their ongoing efforts for more aggressive tire falloff, which should create more passing zones as well as more of a premium on tire management in order to gain or maintain track position. During playoff media day, drivers spoke with anticipation about the tires, namely how they'll affect their ability to pass as well as strategy near the end of stages.

"I don't think you'll be running to the end of your fuel window. We'll probably be putting on tires more, so it's going to play out more like Darlington -- I guess that's the hope -- that people will try to short pit and jump people," Tyler Reddick said. "You'll see people go to optimum or go long if they have good long run speed to be able to pass cars on the back side of a run.

"I don't know truly how it'll play out, but I feel like it'll certainly change up how you strategize things. Two laps are two laps, but I do think people will probably at some point forego stage points, but you'll certainly have to fight really hard to keep them behind you."

"Watkins Glen is so fast, and we've gone there the last few years with no tire fall off, so you can't get close enough to a guy to make a pass," Martin Truex Jr. said. "It's simple physics, right? You go up through the esses and lose five to six car lengths, it's over. So it's going to help us be able to make passes if our car is good and that's what we need at those kinds of places."

News of the Week

• Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday that Kyle Larson will once again race in the Indianapolis 500 in 2025 and attempt to complete the Indy-Charlotte Double after rain ruined his plans to compete in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 this past May. The Coke 600, however, will take priority this time around. Should Larson be unable to start or complete the Indy 500 for any reason, Hendrick and Arrow McLaren will have 2013 Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan on standby as a relief driver.

• Veteran NASCAR driver and Xfinity Series regular Parker Kligerman announced Thursday that he will not return to Big Machine Racing in 2025, and also that he will no longer be pursuing full-time racing in NASCAR after this year. Kligerman, 34, has made 260 starts across NASCAR's three national touring series (30 in Cup), with three career wins in the Craftsman Truck Series.
  

Pick to Win

William Byron (+750) -- Pay attention to patterns: Hendrick Motorsports has won five Watkins Glen races in a row with three different drivers. The first, Chase Elliott, won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. Then, Kyle Larson won back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. Now, here comes William Byron, who enters this week as The Glen's defending champion.

It certainly helps that Byron won the first road race of the season at Circuit of the Americas, and also that Byron has three top 10s overall in five career Watkins Glen starts.