Road-course master van Gisbergen captures Watkins Glen victory
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.—Shane Van Gisbergen claimed his fourth NASCAR Cup Series road course victory of the season Sunday afternoon and second win of more than 10-seconds on the field … and he made it look effortless.
The 36-year-old New Zealander led a race-best 38 of 90 laps – including the final 17 – at the historic Watkins Glen International in picturesque upstate New York, his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet officially crossing the finish line by 11.116-seconds ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell.
Van Gisbergen, a former Australian SuperCars Series multi-time champion, joins racing legend Dan Gurney in scoring his first five career NASCAR Cup Series victories on road courses and he did it the same weekend as his Trackhouse team announced his multi-year contract extension.
“Good to get that one back,’’ said Van Gisbergen, in a nod to finishing runner-up in this race last year. “What an awesome race. Coming back through (the field after his final pit stop) I had lot of fun.
“The car was just amazing again. Another win. Awesome.’’
“It’s the stuff you dream about right?’’ a smiling Van Gisbergen acknowledged of the important weekend. “I’m just a very lucky guy to get to drive for an amazing bunch of people and just execute. The day just went flawlessly and I really enjoyed it. Thank you everyone.’’
Van Gisbergen, in his first fulltime season at NASCAR’s elite level, has been essentially unstoppable on the road courses. His four victories on the year – also at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma, Calif. – gives him that rookie win record and he now ties perennial championship contender Denny Hamlin for most victories in the series this year.
For all intents and purposes, when it comes to this style of racing, his competition judges itself on how close it can come to him.
“I’m thrilled [today] because we’ve been struggling a little bit to find our rhythm,’’ said Bell, who passed Chris Buescher on the final lap to claim the runner-up position. “The cars have been good. Really awesome to have a good day, but frustrated to get our butts kicked by the 88 car doing such a great job. That team has really got it going on.’’
The third-place finish for Buescher, who edged Van Gisbergen for the win at Watkins Glen in 2024, still had a good day as far as his championship chances are concerned. The driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford holds onto the final Playoff position – by 34 points over RFK teammate Ryan Preece – among the 16 drivers currently eligible for the Playoff field.
Two regular season races – at Richmond, Va. and Daytona Beach – now remain.
“Had a fast race car again and definitely took the opportunity to capitalize on some stage points early,’’ said Buescher, who collected 10 important points in winning Stage 1. “Still got back into second [place] there and was making some pretty good headway but just got used up really hard getting by a couple cars to get track position and it fell off pretty hard there at the end.”
Current regular season championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron finished fourth in the No. 24 Chevrolet. That showing coupled with his teammate Chase Elliott’s 26th place finish extended Byron’s lead in the points standings to 42 over Elliott. This marks the first time this season Elliott finished outside the top-20.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe finished fifth in the No. 19 JGR Toyota, making a last-lap pass on race polesitter, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Van Gisbergen’s teammate Daniel Suarez was seventh, followed by 23XI Racing teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. Trackhouse’s Ross Chastain rounded out the top-10.
Thirteen drivers have automatic Playoff bids by virtue of a regular season win. Reddick, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Buescher round out the 16-drivers currently eligible for the Playoffs.
Preece and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (-102 points) are just below the cutoff line. A new race winner at the Richmond short track or the Daytona Beach superspeedway, however, could drastically alter the Playoff look.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the Richmond (Va.) Raceway for Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 24
Race Results for the Go Bowling at The Glen - Sunday, August 10, 2025
Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY - 2.45 - Mile Road
Total Race Length - 90 Laps - 220.5 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 8/10/2025 @ 04:28 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 90 8 43 Running 3 38 5
2 9 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Toyota 90 3 43 Running
3 12 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 90 1 44 Running 1 5 1
4 10 24 William Byron Raptor Chevrolet 90 2 42 Running
5 3 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 90 9 34 Running 1 6
6 1 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 90 7 1 45 Running 2 35 1
7 19 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 90 30 Running
8 15 23 * Bubba Wallace McDonald's Toyota 90 29 Running
9 21 45 * Tyler Reddick The Beast Toyota 90 28 Running
10 4 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Chevrolet 90 27 Running
11 18 16 AJ Allmendinger Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 90 4 33 Running
12 29 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 90 25 Running
13 17 60 Ryan Preece Mohawk Northeast Inc. Ford 90 3 10 33 Running 1 1
14 11 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 90 23 Running
15 25 3 Austin Dillon Breztri Chevrolet 90 22 Running
16 13 2 Austin Cindric Snap on Ford 90 21 Running
17 33 38 * Zane Smith Long John Silver's Ford 90 20 Running
18 8 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 90 19 Running
19 6 71 Michael McDowell Go Bowling Chevrolet 90 18 Running
20 7 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 90 2 7 30 Running
21 35 4 * Noah Gragson A&W Root Beer Ford 90 16 Running
22 5 8 Kyle Busch zone/Fastrac Chevrolet 90 15 Running
23 34 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Real American Beer Chevrolet 90 6 8 22 Running
24 28 35 * Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 90 6 18 Running
25 22 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 90 12 Running
26 20 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 90 4 18 Running
27 23 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Chevrolet 90 10 Running
28 27 34 * Todd Gilliland Overplay Ford 90 9 Running
29 36 51 Cody Ware Evel Knievel Museum Ford 90 10 9 Running
30 32 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best Chevrolet 90 7 Running
31 16 6 Brad Keselowski Nexlizet Ford 90 5 12 Running 1 5
32 30 42 John Hunter Nemechek Mobil 1 Toyota 90 5 11 Running
33 14 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 90 9 6 Running
34 31 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 90 3 Running
35 24 21 Josh Berry Freightliner Ford 90 2 Running
36 37 78 * Katherine Legge Desnuda Chevrolet 89 1 Running
37 39 66 * Josh Bilicki(i) Southern Tier Security Ford 89 0 Running
38 38 44 * JJ Yeley(i) Syracuse Football NIL Chevrolet 89 0 Running
39 26 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 75 2 Running
Fastest Lap Bonus: #5 lap 11 / 73.203
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 39 Secs. Average Speed: 101.263 MPH Margin of Victory: 11.116 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 17, 48, 60, 9, 42, 47, 12, 88, 19, 51
Stage 2 Top 10: 12, 24, 20, 16, 6, 35, 48, 47, 54, 60
Race Comments: Shane van Gisbergen won the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International, his fifth NASCAR Cup Series victory. No cars dropped to the rear prior to the green flag to start the race.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 3 for 8 laps; Laps: 22-24 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 30-31 (Debris [5]); 42-44 (Stage 2 Conclusion [21]).
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers; R. Blaney 1-18; C. Buescher 19-23; R. Preece 24; S. Van Gisbergen # 25-36; R. Blaney 37-53; S. Van Gisbergen # 54-62; C. Briscoe 63-68; B. Keselowski 69-73; S. Van Gisbergen # 74-90.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: August 16, 2025 - Richmond Raceway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Cup Series
Watkins Glen International
Go Bowling at The Glen
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 8/10/2025 @ 04:53 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. William Byron 24 24 0 812 0 0 2 7 17
2. Chase Elliott 9 24 0 770 -42 42 1 1 6
3. Denny Hamlin 11 23 -1 731 -81 39 4 4 24
4. Christopher Bell 20 24 -1 727 -85 4 3 2 17
5. Kyle Larson 5 24 2 727 -85 0 3 8 23
6. Ryan Blaney 12 24 -1 710 -102 17 1 6 11
7. * Tyler Reddick 45 24 1 701 -111 9 0 1 1
8. Chase Briscoe 19 24 0 674 -138 27 1 2 7
9. Alex Bowman 48 24 0 644 -168 30 0 0 0
10. Chris Buescher 17 24 -1 618 -194 26 0 2 -3
11. * Bubba Wallace 23 24 1 610 -202 8 1 2 7
12. Ryan Preece 60 24 -1 584 -228 26 0 2 2
13. Joey Logano 22 24 1 583 -229 1 1 2 7
14. Ross Chastain 1 24 0 571 -241 12 1 1 6
15. Kyle Busch 8 24 0 516 -296 55 0 0 0
16. Austin Cindric 2 24 -1 502 -310 14 1 3 8
17. Ty Gibbs 54 24 1 493 -319 9 0 0 0
18. AJ Allmendinger 16 24 0 489 -323 4 0 0 0
19. Brad Keselowski 6 24 0 465 -347 24 0 2 2
20. Carson Hocevar 77 24 -2 462 -350 3 0 0 0
24. Josh Berry 21 24 3 445 -367 13 1 1 6
25. Shane Van Gisbergen # 88 24 0 441 -371 4 4 2 22
PLAYOFF PICTURE
POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/- WINS PLAYOFF POINTS
1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 4 WINS 24
2 88 Shane Van Gisbergen Chevrolet 4 WINS 22
3 20 Christopher Bell Toyota 3 WINS 17
4 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 3 WINS 23
0 24 William Byron Chevrolet 2 WINS 17
6 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 1 WIN 6
7 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 1 WIN 11
8 19 Chase Briscoe Toyota ! WIN 7
9 23 BubbaWallace Toyota 1 WIN 7
10 22 Joey Logano Ford 1 WIN 7
11 1Ross Chastain Chevrolet . 1 WIN 6
12 2 Austin CindricFord 1 WIN 8
13 21 Josh BerryFord 1 WIN 6
14 45Tyler Reddick Toyota +117
15 48 AlexBowmanChevrolet +60
16 17Chris Buescher Ford +34
On The Bubble
17 60 Ryan Preece Ford -34
18 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet -102
19 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota -125
20 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet -129
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