Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Watkins Glen could be just what winless Team Penske needs

NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen

WATKINS GLEN, NY - AUGUST 08: Joey Logano, driver of the #12 Snap-on Ford, leads Brad Keselowski, driver of the #22 Hertz Ford, during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International on August 8, 2015 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Watkins Glen International comes at just the right time for Team Penske.

The Xfinity Series team remains winless in 2016 and enters the Zippo 200 at The Glen on a 21 race winless streak. Dating back to November of 2015, Penske has started 23 Xfinity races and come up empty on wins and poles with an average finish of 8.17.

The good news is that not only is Team Penske the defending race winner at Watkins Glen (Joey Logano was victorious last season), but their recent statistics at the 2.454-mile road course make them the favorites on Saturday afternoon.


  • Team Penske has won three of the last five Xfinity Series races at Watkins Glen with three different drivers. Kurt Busch started it off with a win in 2011, followed by Brad Keselowski in 2013 and Logano last season.
  • The organization has led 65 percent of the laps raced at Watkins Glen since 2011, or 267 of 413.
  • Last year, Logano and Keselowski combined to lead 79 of the race’s 82 laps
  • Team Penske has finished 1-2 in two of the last three races at Watkins Glen (both Logano and Keselowski are entered in Saturday’s race

Logano also put his name in the history books last season when he became the first driver in Watkins Glen history to sweep the Xfinity and Sprint Cup events. In the Xfinity race, Logano came back from a penalty on Lap 20 for removing equipment from his pit box to lead the final 29 laps.

The Zippo 200 at The Glen will be the 20th race of the 2016 season. Team Penske has gone winless in a season only once since they began fielding a full-time effort, which was in 2009.

Follow @KellyCrandall