The 2024 Mission 200 at The Glen was the 25th stock car race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 29th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, a 2.454 miles (3.949 km) permanent road course. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 82 laps, but was increased to 90 laps due to numerous overtime attempts. In an exciting final stage, Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would survive two overtime restarts while managing fuel mileage, and pulled off an incredible performance to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win in his first career start. Zilisch was also the most dominant driver of the race, winning the first stage and leading a race-high 45 laps.[9][10] To fill out the podium, Sheldon Creed, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and A. J. Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
With Zilisch's win, he became the seventh driver in Xfinity Series history to win in their series debut, and the first driver across all three NASCAR divisions to win both the pole position and the race in their first start. At 18 years, 1 month, and 23 days old, he is also the second-youngest winner in Xfinity Series history.[9][10]
This was also the last race USA would air and broadcast the series. The CW will take over the TV rights to the entire Xfinity Series schedule as part of the next TV contract which runs from 2025 to 2031.[11]
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.
^Annunziata started the race, but was substituted by Joey Gase after Annunziata exited the race in stage three due to dehydration. Since Annunziata started the race, he is officially credited with the 29th place finish.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, September 14, at 10:00 AM EST, and would last for 20 minutes.[12]Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:12.069, and a speed of 122.383 mph (196.956 km/h).
Qualifying was held on Saturday, September 14, at 10:30 AM EST.[12] 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.[13]
Under a 2021 rule change, the timing line in road course qualifying is "not" the start-finish line. Instead, the timing line for qualifying will be set at the exit of Turn 9. In his first career start, Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest time in Round 2, with a lap of 1:11.028, and a speed of 124.176 mph (199.842 km/h).[14]
