The 2023 Shriners Children's 200 at The Glen was the 23rd stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 19, 2023, in Watkins Glen, New York at Watkins Glen International, a 2.454 miles (3.949 km) permanent road course. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 82 laps, but was extended to 86 laps due to a NASCAR overtime finish. In a wild overtime finish, Sam Mayer, driving for JR Motorsports, would spin race-leader Ty Gibbs on the final restart, and held off Sheldon Creed on the final lap to earn his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his second of the season.[1] Gibbs had dominated the entire race, leading a race-high 70 laps. After spinning, he would end up finishing 17th. To fill out the podium, Creed, driving for Richard Childress Racing, and Parker Kligerman, driving for Big Machine Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
After the race, NASCAR was later criticized due to the amount of oil and speedy dry on the racetrack from the previous caution, causing numerous drivers to spin or get loose in the final two laps, which included Josh Berry and Sammy Smith, after both of them spun coming to the white flag.[2]
Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. The circuit's current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill Esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after J.D. McDuffie's fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event.
The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers. The facility is currently owned by International Speedway Corporation.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, August 19, at 10:30 AM EST, and would last for 20 minutes.[3]Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:11.800, and an average speed of 122.841 mph (197.693 km/h).[4]
Qualifying was held on Saturday, August 19, at 11:00 AM EST.[3] Since Watkins Glen International is a road course, the qualifying system is a two group system, with two rounds. Drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Each driver will have multiple laps to set a time. The fastest 5 drivers from each group will advance to the final round. The fastest driver to set a time in that round will win the pole.[5]Ty Gibbs, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 1:10.549, and an average speed of 125.019 mph (201.199 km/h).[6]
