At first glance, Shane van Gisbergen’s strategy at Watkins Glen seemed flawed—until it became clear the real winning move was simply putting him behind the wheel.
With 39 laps to go, most of the field pitted, but van Gisbergen’s crew calculated he would be three laps short on fuel if he did the same. So he stayed out, pitted under green, and rejoined about 29 seconds behind leader Ty Gibbs with 25 laps remaining.
No problem for van Gisbergen. He took the lead with eight laps left and won by seven seconds over Michael McDowell, who used a similar strategy. Over his final 25 laps, van Gisbergen was a total of 45 seconds faster than Gibbs.
“We have a race car driver that is at a level I don’t think this sport has ever seen before on these road courses,” team owner Justin Marks said in his post-race news conference.
Here are the key takeaways:
1. SVG’s Remarkable Rally
At first, the comeback looked tougher than it turned out to be. But van Gisbergen quickly ate into Gibbs’ lead, as Gibbs was on older tires and saving fuel.
“That’s the best feeling you can get when you have a tire advantage and an awesome car,” van Gisbergen said. “I was just carving everyone up. Some people were nice and laying over, which is cool. The people that didn’t, you had to put good moves on. That was the most fun.”
The win was van Gisbergen’s seventh in the Cup Series. The three-time Australian Supercars champion captured his first Cup victory in 2023 on the Chicago street course.
2. Trackhouse’s Much-Needed Victory Amid Struggles
The win was a big boost for Trackhouse Racing, which has struggled this season. It lifted van Gisbergen above the Chase cutline into 16th in the standings. His teammates remain far behind: Ross Chastain is 19th, and Connor Zilisch sits 32nd.
“Frankly, the way we started this season is unacceptable to us,” Marks said. “It’s not up to the standards we set for ourselves. This is like putting a little air in the room for us while we work through engineering the resurgence of our team.”
3. Zilisch’s Disappointment
Zilisch was running second to Gibbs after pitting with 39 laps to go and then trying to save fuel. It didn’t work. He got a flat tire, had to pit, and finished 20th.
He left frustrated. He believed he should have passed Gibbs instead of saving fuel behind him. He felt that in clean air, he could have run faster and saved more fuel—and then the flat tire might not have occurred.
“I don’t think I could beat Shane, but it’s just frustrating,” the Cup rookie said. “When you’re so close, it sucks.”
4. Who Can Challenge van Gisbergen?
Michael McDowell would raise his hand after finishing second with a strategy similar to van Gisbergen’s.
“The gap looks bigger than it is,” McDowell said. “It’s probably a tenth of a second a lap. Not much. Tires were worth a lot today.”
Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick also believe they can challenge. Reddick won the season’s first road-course race at Circuit of the Americas and finished fifth on Sunday. Chris Buescher, who outdueled van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen in 2024, settled for 12th this year.
4.5. What’s Next
The NASCAR All-Star Race heads to Dover Motor Speedway, hosting the exhibition event for the first time. Unlike past All-Star events, which had an open race for non-qualified drivers, the entire field will compete in two 75-lap segments. The average finish will determine six spots for drivers who haven’t won races.
