Van Gisbergen Charges to Stunning Watkins Glen Victory

Shane van Gisbergen executed an epic run at Watkins Glen International, erasing a 29.2-second deficit in 17 laps in the Go Bowling at The Glen to claim his seventh career NASCAR Cup Series victory, the most by a driver not born in the United States.

Van Gisbergen’s first victory this season was his second in three outings at the 2.45-mile New York road course. It moved him into 16th in the driver standings, making him eligible for the post-season with 14 races remaining in the regular season.

“I wasn’t sure how it was gonna work and then to run them down like that, very, very special to do two in a row,” said Van Gisbergen, who celebrated his 37th birthday the day before the NASCAR Cup Series event. “Speechless. It’s so cool.”

Van Gisbergen dominated the 100-lap race, leading 74 laps, including the final eight. However, it was when crew chief Stephen Doran called him to pit road for his final stop with 24 laps remaining that many questioned the strategy. After the refueling, four-tire stop, Van Gisbergen returned to the race in 24^th, 29.20 seconds behind leader Ty Gibbs. If the New Zealander hoped to have a chance at the victory, he had to gain 1.3 seconds a lap. With his competitors in gas-saving mode and on older tires, Van Gisbergen breezed through the field. He gained 10 positions in just four laps after returning to the road course.

It was then that Van Gisbergen’s run to the front was reminiscent of Golden Tempo’s charge in this year’s Kentucky Derby. With 15 laps remaining, Van Gisbergen was eighth, 17.474 seconds behind Gibbs, who like Connor Zilisch in second, was being told to save fuel. Five laps later, Zilisch was challenging Gibbs for the lead while Van Gisbergen had taken over fifth and was 4.911 seconds in arrears to Gibbs. A lap later, Van Gisbergen took second from his Trackhouse Racing teammate, who had to pit for a tire issue.

Van Gisbergen then wasted little time in snatching the No. 1 position from Gibbs with eight laps remaining and proceeded to stretch his advantage. He eventually finished 7.288 seconds ahead of Michael McDowell, who was on the same pit strategy as Van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen said the victory wasn’t as easy as it appeared.

“Everyone’s really good,” Van Gisbergen said. “There was a lot of pressure there. I think McDowell was good. Connor (Zilisch) was good. Tyler Reddick… there were some really good guys.”

McDowell’s runner-up finish was his second top five this season and his third top 10. His other top five came in the season’s third race at Circuit of The Americas.

“There were moments I thought we could hang with SVG and it felt like he was just pacing himself and he’d take back off,” McDowell said. “In that second Stage we got a little bit off strategy and then we recovered well. Just not quite enough to run him (Van Gisbergen) down. That last stop we came out right with him, and he still had better pace on us.”

However, McDowell said it was “great to get momentum back on our side.”

“We needed it after a rough few weeks,” said McDowell, who hasn’t had a top 20 since Martinsville in March. “It’s a good building block. Our road course program has really come around. I feel like we’re building on it. We just need a little bit more.”

The victory was the first this year for Trackhouse Racing, which has struggled for most of the season. All three of its drivers competed in NASCAR’s national touring series events at The Glen.

Van Gisbergen recorded an eighth-place finish in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race and took third in his second Craftsman Truck Series event.

Zilisch’s late-race pit stop left him 20th in Sunday’s Cup race.

“It’s just a bummer,” said Zilisch, who won Saturday’s Mission 200 driving for JR Motorsports and placed second in the Truck series Bully Hill Vineyards 176.

“I feel like I did almost everything right today (Sunday) that I could, but it just goes like that sometimes. At the worst, I was going to finish outside the top five, probably, and have my best day in this series, by far. I don’t think I could have beat Shane (van Gisbergen).

“When you’re so close, it’s just frustrating. I should have passed Ty (Gibbs). I don’t think it would have been any better to stay behind him. I could have saved more fuel in front of him and ran faster, but I’ll learn from it and be better moving forward.”

Ross Chastain finished 27^thin the Cup event, fourth in Saturday’s Mission 200 and 28th in the Truck race.