They say there are two things that are inevitable in life: death and taxes. At this rate, we might have to add a third item to the list: Shane van Gisbergen winning at road courses.
The New Zealander led 38 of 90 laps to win the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, Aug. 10. This marks SVG’s fourth Cup Series win of 2025, tying Denny Hamlin for most victories on the season. It is also van Gisbergen’s fourth consecutive road course win, tying him with Chase Elliott for the second-longest road course win streak in Cup Series history.
The Winning Strategy
Crew chief Stephen Doran kept it simple for the No. 88 team, opting for a three-stop strategy for van Gisbergen. They opted to flip the opening two stages, pitting on lap 18 before the end of stage one and lap 37 prior to the end of stage two.
As for the 50-lap final stage, Doran chose to split it roughly in half, calling van Gisbergen down pit road on lap 63. The later stop in the green flag cycle gave van Gisbergen fresher tires than many of his competitors, and he did a good job of conserving his rubber during the first half of the final run to the checkered flag.
With a strong car and the dominant road course racer of the year, Doran and the No. 88 crew could afford to keep things simple with pit strategy.
Drivers and Teams Jockey for Stage and Playoff Points
With the Cup Series playoffs quickly approaching on the horizon, teams vying for the final few spots or the regular season title adjusted their pit strategies to maximize stage and playoff points.
That was on full display when, at the end of stage one, the top three finishers were all drivers around the cut line who stayed out for stage points. Chris Buescher led the way with stage win and playoff point, followed by Alex Bowman and Ryan Preece. For stage two, Bowman racked up a few more stage points in seventh, Preece snuck in at 10th for a single point, and Buescher was the outside looking in at 13th.
All told, Bowman collected the second-most stage points on the day at 13, which helped compensate for his lackluster 20th-place finish in the No. 48 Chevrolet. As a result, Bowman only lost three points to the cut line, sitting 60 points ahead of Preece with two regular season races left. Buescher, meanwhile, gained 13 points on Preece after his third-place showing, now 36 points above his RFK Racing teammate for the final playoff spot.
So, who is the only driver who collected more stage points than Bowman? That would be Ryan Blaney with 14, most of which he acquired by keeping the No. 12 Team Penske Ford on the racetrack for the stage two win and a valuable playoff point. This move, coupled with a sixth-place finish, allowed Blaney to make up ground in the regular season points battle.
| Cup Series Regular Season Standings | |
| Before Watkins Glen | After Watkins Glen |
| William Byron – 770 | William Byron – 812 |
| Chase Elliott – 752 | Chase Elliott – 770 |
| Kyle Larson – 725 | Denny Hamlin – 731 |
| Denny Hamlin – 719 | Larson/Bell – 727 |
| Christopher Bell – 684 | Ryan Blaney – 710 |
| Tyler Reddick – 673 | Tyler Reddick – 701 |
| Ryan Blaney – 665 | |
Not only did Blaney leapfrog Tyler Reddick, but he also closed the gap on a few other drivers ahead of him. Catching William Byron for the regular season title is probably out of the question, but I could see Blaney getting as high as third if the cards fall right. A higher regular season points finish means more playoff points for the No. 12 team.
While Blaney could have pitted with van Gisbergen to see if he had anything for the No. 88, that might have ultimately been a net loss in points without the stage victory. At the end of the day, staying out for the stage two victory was probably the right call by crew chief Jonathan Hassler.
Reverse Pit Stops Trip Up Some Crews
Watkins Glen presents a unique challenge to pit crews as one of the few tracks on the schedule where they pit the cars in reverse, starting with the left side of the car. The different routine can lead to mistakes, which was the case for two teams.
On lap 28, Elliott was pitting when the gas man on the No. 9 crew stumbled trying to get out of the way of the rear tire changer, leading to a slow stop. Elliott never fully recovered the lost ground, coming home in 26th and losing significant ground to Byron in the regular season points battle.
Later, on lap 59, the jackman on the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing crew lost control of the jack, carrying it the opposite way he usually does. This cost them precious seconds on pit road, part of a disastrous day for Ty Gibbs that ended in 33rd.
Look Ahead to Next Week
The NASCAR Cup Series will get back to short track racing with a Saturday night under the lights at Richmond Raceway for the Cook Out 400 on Saturday, Aug. 16. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. on the USA Network for the series’ only trip to Richmond this season.
One factor that has come up frequently in the last few Richmond races has been tire strategy. Some teams have opted to stop more frequently for tires, while others will try to stretch their tires further for track position. Which strategy will win out? You’ll have to tune in on Saturday night to find out.
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.