Shane van Gisbergen wins 7-second Watkins Glen Racing rally

Shane van Gisbergen won racing’s Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday after pitting under green, clawing back 29 seconds and finishing seven seconds clear. The victory lifted him above the Chase cutline to 16th in the standings and gave Trackhouse Racing a jolt after a difficult start.

Watkins Glen Fuel Gamble

Most of the field pitted with 39 laps to go. Van Gisbergen stayed out, then had to pit under green when his team calculated he would be three laps short on fuel.

That stop sent him back into traffic and left him about 29 seconds behind Ty Gibbs with 25 laps remaining. From there, he drove the difference down fast. With eight laps left, he took the lead and never gave it back.

He crossed the line seven seconds ahead of Michael McDowell, who used a similar strategy. In the final 25 laps, van Gisbergen was 45 seconds faster overall than Gibbs.

Trackhouse Racing And Zilisch

The win was the seventh Cup victory of van Gisbergen’s career and his first in Cup came in 2023 on the Chicago street course. Justin Marks said the team had a race car driver at a level he did not think the sport had ever seen before on road courses, and he said the season’s start had been unacceptable.

Connor Zilisch was on the same fuel-saving plan, running second to Gibbs before a flat tire forced him to pit. He finished 20th and said he felt he should have passed Gibbs instead of trying to save gas behind him.

Van Gisbergen’s road-course speed changed the standings picture immediately. He moved to 16th, Ross Chastain is 19th, and Zilisch sits 32nd after Watkins Glen. Tyler Reddick finished fifth and Chris Buescher was 12th.

McDowell said the gap looked bigger than it was and added that tires were worth a lot on Sunday. That leaves Trackhouse with a result it can point to while the season keeps moving toward Dover Motor Speedway, which will host the NASCAR All-Star Race for the first time.