What Happened?
After getting moved out of the way on the final lap a year ago, Shane van Gisbergen had no worries at all during the final lap at Watkins Glen International this year. The Trackhouse Racing driver bested Christopher Bell by more than 11 seconds at the checkered flag, picking up his fourth win of the season.
Last year’s winner Chris Buescher was shuffled to third on the final lap. William Byron and Ryan Blaney finished fourth and fifth.
Meanwhile, van Gisbergen continues to make NASCAR history, becoming the first ever rookie to win four races. His four race wins have also come in the last four road course races, tying the second-longest road course win streak in Cup Series history.
What Really Happened?
When SVG shocked the NASCAR world by winning his first-ever race in the inaugural Chicago street course event, Kyle Larson said, “It shows that we all have room to improve.”
Teammate Chase Elliott told NBC, “he made us look really, really bad. He’s going to go home and tell all his friends how bad we are. I’m looking forward to getting to work. Hopefully we can figure out how to run with him at the next one he comes to.”
Those drivers made those comments with a sort of bewildered smile, still trying to process what had happened. More than two years later, Bell made a similar statement, saying he was “frustrated to get our butts kicked by the [No.] 88 car. He’s doing a really good job.”
The Cup field did figure out how to run with SVG at his second start on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and the Cup field went undefeated against the Kiwi on road courses in 2024.
In his first full-time season, however, van Gisbergen has flipped around his road course record. In fact, his only blemish came at the Circuit of the Americas, which was just the third race of the year. This summer, the No. 88 Chevrolet has gone a perfect four for four on road courses, winning in Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma Raceway, and now Watkins Glen.
Not only did he win those races; he absolutely dominated, leading to comments like the one Bell made.
The talent in the Cup Series field has much more depth on the road courses compared to a decade ago. The emphasis on adding road races to the schedule means many of today’s younger drivers have much more experience going left and right, even if they still primarily raced ovals.
However, van Gisbergen’s road course reign shows that there is actually a very large talent gap between the Cup veterans and this road-ringing rookie.
Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell thinks it’s more of a mental battle that SVG is winning while the rest of the field is losing.
“I just don’t think he’s that far ahead,” McDowell said. “I know everybody else does, but I don’t.” … “A lot of people come into these races beat. I don’t get it. I don’t understand it. You can’t. How could you come to the racetrack feeling like you’re already beat?”
At Mexico City, SVG started the weekend on an equal playing field and used his prowess to adapt to that race track quicker, and the Chicago street course quickly turned into his playground.
At Sonoma and Watkins Glen, however, the expectations turned back to the Cup veterans, thinking their experience would at least allow them to close the gap to the No. 88. That didn’t happen.
A year ago, SVG was slightly better than the rest of the field. This weekend, he was miles ahead – literally – when the checkered flag dropped.
For two years now, drivers have made comments about being frustrated, maybe slightly embarrassed, by the dominating performances SVG has been handing out to them.
Maybe McDowell and others think it’s a mental game, but there is an obvious skill gap. If drivers are truly tired of getting beat by this guy, then they need to start working hard on their own road course craft.
If not, they can kneel before the road course king for the foreseeable future.
Who Stood Out?
I know people don’t think of Bubba Wallace as a good road course racer. I would argue that he’s drastically improved ever since Tyler Reddick joined 23XI Racing as his teammate. Wallace has flown under-the-radar on a number of road courses, but this week, he finally got the finish to match the speed.
An eighth-place finish for Wallace helps the driver of the No. 23 Toyota earn his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, tying the longest top-10 streak of his career. That team is sneaky fast, with the playoffs quickly approaching.
Just behind Wallace, Daniel Suarez notched a ninth-place finish. It’s the best run for Suarez and the No. 99 group since Texas all the way back in May. It also helped Trackhouse Racing secure a triple top-10 day for the first time ever.
Who Fell Flat?
It’s hard to believe that Elliott had yet to finish outside of the top 20 before this weekend. It might be even harder to believe that Elliott recorded his worst finish of the year – 26th – at Watkins Glen, of all places.
The No. 9 team decided not to pit after staying out at the end of the first stage. Tires did make a difference, and Elliott lost a ton of track position in the opening laps of stage two. Elliott did make his way back into the top 15, but the speed really fell off at the end.
Another solid road course racer with a disappointing finish was Ty Gibbs. The No. 54 sort of yo-yo’d through the field with some alternate strategy, but the young driver grew increasingly frustrated with his car – and his team – which led to an angry radio conversation. Gibbs finished 33rd.
Better Than Last Time?
It was not ‘shades of [Marcos] Ambrose and [Brad] Keselowski’ as Leigh Diffey called at the end of the exciting finish in 2024. There were slight shades of Buescher and van Gisbergen for a few laps, but Buescher was nowhere near close enough to even apply a minimal amount of pressure.
At least in the 2024 race, SVG didn’t pull out to a massive lead. That, and some late chaos, combined with the exciting finish to put on an entertaining race. Sure, watching SVG make history is neat, but it did not compare to last year’s race.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Turning the calendar to August means the countdown to football season is nearly over. For some, the new year is already underway, including preseason NFL games.
College sports are a new world nowadays, with Name, Image & Likeness (NIL ) talks dominating headlines and causing chaos in the transfer portal. It has been neat, however, to see some schools and their NIL collectives find sponsorship spots on race cars.
The most recent example came this weekend with J.J. Yeley and the No. 44 NY Racing Team.
I’m no Syracuse fan, but seeing a football helmet on the side of a race car has me a little more excited to see some action here shortly. Plus, the car really popped in the New York sunlight, and Syracuse University is only 90 minutes away from Watkins Glen.
What’s Next?
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway for the only time this season, but if you go looking for a race on Sunday afternoon, you’ll be out of luck. The Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway is Saturday, Aug. 16, and it starts at 7:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network.
Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!