No Stopping SVG From Claiming Watkins Glen Redemption

Shane van Gisbergen celebrates winning Sunday at Watkins Glen International. (Peter Casey/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Shane van Gisbergen’s road-course pole streak in the NASCAR Cup Series might have ended at Watkins Glen Int’l, but his winning ways kept right on going.

Van Gisbergen crushed his Cup Series rivals Sunday in the Go Bowling at the Glen, winning by 11.116 seconds in yet another drubbing of the field while turning both left and right.

‘SVG’ led 38 of the 90 laps run en route to the fourth win of his rookie season, the most by a rookie in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.

Though he was cycled back to 12th due to pit strategy by crew chief Stephen Doran, the New Zealander cut his way back through the field, eventually taking the lead for good with 17 to go from Brad Keselowski.

Van Gisbergen didn’t look back after that, and second-place finisher Christopher Bell could do nothing to keep the leader from rolling off into the distance.

It capped a huge week for the 36-year-old, who signed a multi-year contract extension with Trackhouse Racing earlier in the week.

“That’s the stuff you dream about, right? I’m just a very lucky guy to get to drive for an amazing bunch of people and just execute,” van Gisbergen said. “The day went flawlessly, and I can’t believe it. Really enjoyed it.”

It was a measure of redemption for van Gisbergen, who lost out on the final lap to Chris Buescher at the Glen a year ago.

“Good to get that one back,” added Van Gisbergen. “What an awesome race. Coming back through (the field after the final pit stop), I had lot of fun.

“The car was just amazing again. Another win. Awesome.”

Van Gisbergen’s father Robert was also in attendance Sunday, the first time the pair had seen one another since Christmas.

“Oh, it’s just amazing to have him here. It’s been a very tough year for Dad. He hasn’t been able to travel, so to have him here for the next three weeks and share this with him, it’s amazing.”

Polesitter Ryan Blaney led the opening segment of the race, before conceding first place and the stage win to Buescher due to a short-pitting strategy to “flip the stage”.

Van Gisbergen took over early in stage two, before having to drive his way back through the top 10 in the final segment.

After leading the final 17 laps, van Gisbergen collected his fifth Cup Series road course victory, tying legend Dan Gurney as just the second driver to earn their first five wins in NASCAR’s premier division on road courses.

Once ‘SVG’ checked out, the main battle of the race was for runner-up honors. Bell, Buescher, and series point leader William Byron all threw their hats in the ring in the battle for second, and Bell came out on top, courtesy of a tire advantage late, to earn his first top five in the last four races.

It wasn’t enough to have any shot at the win, but Bell still left content with what he did on the racetrack.

“I’m thrilled. We’ve been struggling a little bit to find a rhythm. I feel like the car has been good, but executing the races has been tough for us, so it’s really awesome to have a good day,” admitted Bell. “Frustrated to get our butts kicked by the [No.] 88 (van Gisbergen) car. He’s doing a really good job. That team has it going on.

“We need to find a little bit more, but certainly happy. It was a good day for the DEWALT Camry team.”

Buescher continued his momentum at Watkins Glen with a third-place finish, his fourth top 10 in a row at the venue. Byron finished fourth, extending his regular season lead following bad days from his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson.

Chase Briscoe picked up his fourth top five of the last five races in fifth, with Blaney fading back to sixth. Daniel Suarez finished seventh for his first top 10 result since Texas Motor Speedway.

23XI Racing teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, and Coca-Cola 600 winner Ross Chastain closed out the top 10. Sunday was also the first triple top 10 result in the history of Trackhouse Racing.

Larson experienced a brake failure on lap five which essentially ended his chance of any sort of strong result, falling 85 points back of Byron in the regular season championship chase.

Elliott ranks second to Byron with two races before the playoff reset, 42 markers in arrears.

Next weekend, the Cup Series heads to Richmond (Va.) Raceway for the penultimate round of the regular season.

Broadcast coverage of the Cook Out 400 airs Saturday night, Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.