With a fantastic bump-and-run move on the final lap, Chris Buescher got around Shane van Gisbergen on the final lap of Sunday’s (Sept. 15) NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen to collect his first win of 2024.
Van Gisbergen cleared Buescher on the race’s overtime restart, but after the former got loose in the bus stop on the final lap, Buescher pounced and bumped the No. 16 out of the way in the carousel.
“Thought we lost it there on that last one,” Buescher told NBC Sports. “He (van Gisbergen) missed it (the bus stop). I tried to cross over and tried to cut. Just hard racing there.”
The win is Buescher’s first since Daytona International Speedway in August of 2023.
Van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, Zane Smith, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10.
Three playoff drivers were involved in a crash on lap 1, with Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin all collected in a stack-up that also involved Kyle Busch, Preece and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The incident caused major damage to Hamlin’s car while also messing up Blaney’s steering column. A frustrated Blaney was relegated to a 38th-place finish, with Stenhouse also deemed out of the race.
The No. 11 team was able to fix Hamlin’s car enough for it to meet minimum speed on the ensuing restart, with pole-sitter Chastain going to the lead. AJ Allmendinger was forced to pit on lap 7, citing a mechanical issue. On lap 9, the No. 13 car was forced to go to the garage area.
Some of the race leaders, including Chastain, made their way down pit road before the end of stage one, with Martin Truex Jr. taking the stage win over Alex Bowman, Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Cindric.
Brad Keselowski sped on pit road during the first road of green-flag pit stops, incurring a penalty under the caution flag. Hamlin barely beat Busch back to the caution flag, earning the free pass and getting back on the lead lap.
Of the cars that came down for service, Truex was the first driver off pit road.
Chastain took the lead on the restart, with Tyler Reddick going for a spin in turn 1. McDowell went through to the second spot, with van Gisbergen running third.
On lap 38, McDowell led a litany of drivers down pit road, including Smith, LaJoie and Truex. Suarez went for a spin in turn 6, causing a caution flag and forcing both Chastain and van Gisbergen to stay on the track rather than pitting before the end of stage two. Chastain won the stage under yellow.
Chastain, van Gisbergen, Logano and more opted to stay out at the stage end, with Ty Gibbs, William Byron and others pitting.
Chastain held the lead on the lap 43 restart, with van Gisbergen holding onto second despite a strong challenge from Briscoe. On lap 47, Hamlin’s rough day was compounded further by a spin in the esses. While on the outside of a three-wide situation, Larson was turned by Keselowski, sending the No. 11 spinning into the guardrail.
The caution flag gave Logano, Smith, Keselowski and others the opportunity to get off-sequence on pit road.
A fantastic restart propelled Chastain to the lead on lap 50, with van Gisbergen clearing McDowell for second. However, the No. 17 of Buescher had much fresher tires, and quickly got around van Gisbergen for second and Chastain for the lead on lap 57.
Chastain and van Gisbergen finally pitted for fresh rubber and fuel on lap 59, along with Briscoe. Buescher pitted on lap 60, with McDowell inheriting the lead. Hocevar, Byron, Juan Pablo Montoya and Erik Jones all pitted on lap 61.
On lap 62, Bell tried to get to pit road, but was spun around on the exit of turn 7. Gibbs also opted to pit on lap 62. Truex and Bowman pitted on lap 64, with Reddick making his final green flag stop on lap 66.
On lap 67, McDowell bit the pit road bullet, coming down for four fresh tires and fuel.
Buescher took the lead from Logano — who was trying to make it to the end of the race after pitting on lap 48 — on lap 74, easily driving away from last week’s winner. In turn 7, Daniel Hemric turned Kaz Grala, sending the No. 15 hard into the outside wall.
Van Gisbergen got around Logano for second with 15 laps to go, setting his sights on Buescher. With 11 laps to go, debris from Harrison Burton‘s cut tire brought out the yellow flag.
On the ensuing restart, Buescher cleared Hocevar and van Gisbergen for the lead. Further back, however, Keselowski and Byron got tangled up, with Byron’s Camaro ending up lodged between Keselowski’s car and the guardrail.
Go Bowling! At the Glen Results
The Cup Series’ next race will be on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol’s second race of 2024 will be the elimination race for the Round of 16, knocking out four playoff drivers and whittling the postseason field down to 12.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.
Being the first to comment the headline is a little misleading as Buescher got to the inside of the squirrely trying to collect it 16. The 16 actually drove into te 17 try to get control.
Not a true bump and run.
First time the Next Gen car actually put on a good road course race.
Very happy with only 2 playoff teams in the top 10. Much more interesting.
Nice job NBC Sports broadcast too. Seemed to be quite well covered.
Short of how the11 got up to 23rd after all the damage.
Why was there a caution when the 11 spun and kept on going but not for the 15 when he was stuck against the wall? Was it because he drives for Reverend Joe and the other driver didn’t? It seems NA$CAR got their carnage highlight on the first lap and used it numerous times during the telecast of Brian’s product. There wouldn’t have been a caution for the 21 but the tire shredded and actually left “debris” on the track.
The Friday Bristol event can be seen on TSN5, KTLA, CW11 and WGN.
Shane overdrove it into the bus stop, that opened the door for Buescher. Shane gave it a shot but couldn’t catch him. It was a good finish.