Race Recap NextGen

Watkins Glen International

Fri, Apr 24, 2026Round 6

Cotten Dominates Watkins Glen International: Leads from Pole to Victory

Race at a Glance

🏁Field Size

19

🔄Laps

50

Avg Lap Time

1:22.093

🟡Cautions

2

⚠️Caution Laps

7

🔀Lead Changes

5

🛡️Clean Runners

5

🏎️Lead Lap Finishers

13

Winner Spotlight

71

Brandon Cotten

P1 Finish

Started: P1Finished: P1Incidents: 0
🔀 5 Lead Changes🏎️ 13 Lead Lap Finishers
P1
71

Brandon Cotten

Started P1 • Inc 0

P2
10

Nicolas Deal

Started P7 • Inc 9

P3
73

John W Crosby

Started P2 • Inc 5

Race Story

Brandon Cotten captured the victory at Watkins Glen International in DES NextGen action, navigating 5 lead changes across a competitive field of 19 cars to take the checkered flag from P1.

Starting from the pole, Brandon Cotten led a dominant race, controlling the field throughout the event. The win saw Brandon Cotten leading the majority of the race laps.

Nicolas Deal secured second place, just behind Brandon Cotten. John W Crosby rounded out the podium in third.

The hard charger award goes to Tiyler Walts, who gained 7 positions from the starting grid to the checkered flag.

The race saw 2 caution periods, covering 7 laps, while 5 of 19 drivers completed the event without a single incident.

With the win, Brandon Cotten adds another trophy to the cabinet. Full results below.

🔥Hard Charger: Tiyler Walts (+7)
Cleanest Race: Brandon Cotten (0x)
Pole: Brandon Cotten
🔴Most Incidents: Tyler Smith (17)

Top Movers

Tiyler Walts45

+7

Brandon M Hinton5

+6

Nicolas Deal10

+5

Finishing Order

FinishStart+/-Car #DriverIncPoints
11071Brandon Cotten0x
27+510Nicolas Deal9x
32-173John W Crosby5x
410+65Brandon M Hinton2x
56+197Jonathon Howell6x
613+745Tiyler Walts2x
712+525Donald Ristau2x
88084Jeff Dynda0x
93-699Christian Clark8x
104-679Michael Scimia3x
1115+447Paul Mrzywka0x
129-332Jonathan Geist4x
1314+198Jamie Howell8x
145-974Tyler Smith17x
1516+182Jacob Akers5x
1611-523Thomas Long10x
1717081Dylan Hinton7x
1818088Hunter Davis0x
1919020Robert Sanders0x