2026 BullyHill Vineyards 176 Betting Race Picks

Date/Time: Friday May 8th, 2026. 4:30PM (EST)
Where: Watkins Glen International
TV: FS1

The Craftsman Truck Series will kick off the racing weekend at Watkins Glen International on Friday with the running of the BullyHill Vineyards 176. Both the Truck Series race on Friday and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ race on Saturday will feature various Cup Series stars who will be trying to sharpen their road course skills ahead of Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen. For Friday’s BullyHill Vineyards 176, there is a very diverse group of talent with numerous entries from the Cup Series and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Needless to say, Friday’s opening race at the Glen should be entertaining and competitive!

The two biggest names in Friday’s field just happen to be the two biggest road course names in the sport in Connor Zilisch and Shane Van Gisbergen. As many are aware, SVG has dominated on the Cup Series side of the competition in recent years and has won numerous O’Reilly Series races as well. Zilisch has been just as dominant in O’Reilly Series competition and we await to see if he will be able to replicate that success in Cup Series competition. As a result, both SVG and Zilisch are big favorites to win Friday’s Bullhill Vineyards 176 due to their elite road course skillset. However, I would be quick to point out that SVG and Zilisch have just 9 combined starts in the Truck Series and 0 wins.

If you look through the entry list which includes names like AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Carson Hocevar, Brent Crew, and the rest of the Truck Series regulars, we can see that there are numerous drivers that have the talent to win at Watkins Glen. From a betting perspective, I think we are going to have to pay close attention to the equipment factor this week with so many big names in the field. The equipment factor is a lot more important in the Truck Series than many people realize and that may open up some betting opportunities for us as we exploit odds-makers who are going off name-brand as opposed to their limitations within the equipment they are piloting. While it may be tough to point to the driver that should win, we should have some really good opportunities in H2H formats!

Road Courses – Truck Notes

There have only been two Truck Series races at Watkins Glen since 2000 which were won by Austin Hill (2021) and Corey Heim (2025). As a result, there are no former winners in Friday’s field and minimal track history. Therefore, we will expand our betting notes to cover any and all prior road course races!

Layne Riggs won the first road course race this season at St. Petersburg.
SVG has just one prior start in the CTS which was at IRP (2023).
AJ Allmendinger has 15 career CTS starts but just one start at a road course venue (Watkins Glen 2021) which resulted in a 27th place finish.
Giovanni Ruggiero has finished 3rd or better 3 of the last 4 CTS races at road course venues.
Connor Zilisch has finished 4th (COTA), 8th (Watkins Glen), and 5th (ROVAL) in 3 career starts in the CTS at road course venues.
Brent Crews best finish is 2nd (ROVAL) in 3 career CTS starts at road course venues.
Carson Hocevar’s best finish is 3rd in 9 career CTS starts at road course venues.
Chandler Smith has finished 6th or better in 4 of his last 5 CTS starts at road course venues.
Ty Majeski has finished 8th or better in the last 6 CTS races at road course venues.
Ben Rhodes has finished 7th or better in 4 of the last 6 CTS races at road course venues.
Ross Chastain has finished 8th or better in 5 of 6 career starts in the CTS at road course venues.
Tyler Ankrum has finished in the top 10 in 3 of the last 4 CTS races at road course venues.
Toyota drivers have won 5 of the last 6 CTS races at road course venues.
The eventual race winner has started from the front row in 5 of the last 6 CTS races at road course venues.

Betting Targets

While I obviously agree with odds makers that SVG and Zilisch should be the betting favorites, I’m not sure I can pull the trigger on either driver at near even odds with their limited Truck Series experience. It is harder for a Cup Series driver to step into a truck and dominate compared to something like the O’Reilly Series car yet odds makers appear to be ignoring that fact. Additionally, I think odds makers are also overlooking the equipment factor that I alluded to earlier. SVG and Chastain are piloting Niece Motorsports equipment which has struggled significantly over the last year or so. For that reason, I am considering fading SVG more than I am considering betting on the sport’s most skilled road course talent.

Behind the obvious favorites, I believe Brent Crews and Giovanni Ruggiero are drivers that are worthy of immediate consideration. I have been stating throughout the season that the TRICON Garage trucks have the advantage in the speed department and Ruggiero was very impressive last week at Texas. Both Crews and Ruggiero are extremely underrated road course talents. While Crews’ skill set is more widely known and he is among the 2nd-tier favorites, Ruggiero is getting 25-1 odds and may represent the best value on the board. Both drivers are ideal H2H targets with probable Top 5 upside. Deeper into the field, Ty Majeski and Tyler Ankrum are additional names that are underrated road course talents. Both drivers are worthy of consideration in low-risk prop bet formats and potentially H2H formats.