Go Bowling at The Glen: Shane van Gisbergen gets the win that got away at Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — After losing last year’s race at Watkins Glen International to Chris Buescher on the final lap, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen redeemed himself by dominating and winning his fourth race of the 2025 season, becoming the first rookie driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win four races in a single season.

The driver of the No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet has started inside the top two in the last four road-course races this year and has won all four of them. He now has 22 playoff points, which places him second in the playoff standings, with just two races left in the regular season.

“Well, the No. 12 car (Blaney) was amazing,” van Gisbergen said. “He was really good at the start; driving well and I couldn’t pass him. Then all the strategies happened through Stage 2. I think it was that restart in the final stage that got me up closer to the front and we could run a bit longer.

“It’s amazing. Thank you to Trackhouse, Chevrolet, WeatherTech — all of our partners. To get four of these is very, very special.”

Christopher Bell’s decent road-course performances continued, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver powered his way to another runner-up finish. Besides Chicago, Bell has finished inside the top five at every road course this season.

“Happy, yeah, I’m thrilled,” Bell said about his runner-up finish. “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. Really awesome to have a good day. Frustrated to get our butts kicked by the 88 (Shane 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 DEWALT Camry.”

Defending Watkins Glen race winner, Buescher, finished third in his fourth top-five finish of the 2025 season and his fourth straight top 10 at The Glen. The RFK Racing driver remains on the playoff bubble with just two races remaining in the regular season, holding a 34-point margin over teammate Ryan Preece.

“The speed we had in this BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang was good out here at Watkins Glen,” Buescher said. “I am really proud of everybody. It was great execution all day. We were able to get a stage win there and still in the hunt [for the win] really. I had a couple more laps on my tires and I used the rears up really hard trying to get by a few cars there. At the end of the day it is a really solid run. We are greedy. We want more.”

Results of the 2025 Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International are listed below:

Other Race Facts

For the first time in team history, Trackhouse Racing had all three cars inside the top 10. Shane van Gisbergen won the race, followed by Daniel Suárez (seventh) and Ross Chastain (10th).

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney earned more points than anyone (45 points scored) en route to a sixth-place finish. Blaney started on pole and led 35 laps, with the Stage 2 win in his back pocket.

“Decent day for our Ford Mustang,” Blaney said. “We led early and settled into second. We had a little different strategy than the 88 [Shane van Gisbergen] and it was kind of a split deal. We lost a little bit of pace at the end of the day. The last run, the track changed a little bit and I got too tight and faded to sixth. Overall, a really good weekend. A great showing for our group and hopefully we learned something for the Roval.”

Chase Briscoe now has 10 top-five finishes this season, as he continues to have the best year of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Bubba Wallace now has four straight top-10 finishes after a stretch of four finishes of 22nd or worse. In addition, with him finishing eighth and 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick finishing ninth, it marks the first time in team history that they had two cars inside the top 10 on a road course.

The 2025 Go Bowling at The Glen had only one natural caution, in a race that lasted for two hours, 10 minutes and 39 seconds.

Chase Elliott’s top-20 streak dating back to last season has finally come to an end. This was Elliott’s first race finishing outside of the top 20 since the 2024 Las Vegas fall race.

GRID RANKING

Week 19 saw no changes in the NASCAR GRID Rating, but with Christopher Bell, William Byron and Chase Briscoe finishing inside the top five, those three drivers move closer to Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.

The next race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 16. Coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. on USA Network.

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