NASCAR
Shane van Gisbergen Rallies Late for Second-Straight Watkins Glen Triumph
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Extended to 100 laps in distance, very little changed at Watkins Glen with another Shane van Gisbergen masterclass. Pitting on lap 76 and coming out 30 seconds off the lead, the Trackhouse No. 97 put up a monster charge back to the point. 18 laps was all it took for the New Zealander to take the top spot again. Eventually driving off to a seven-second gap, SVG claims Cup win number seven in another New York beatdown.
From the pole, Shane van Gisbergen built up a giant 14-second lead in only 18 laps before pitting. This sequence gave the Stage 1 points to Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain. SVG regained the lead to start Stage 2, with major pressure from Connor Zilisch. Not even a late yellow in this stint could keep the 97 out of the lead for long.
Van Gisbergen did not pit again until midway through the final stage, rejoining the race in 26th-place. The ensuing 18 laps saw the 97 string together a blistering run back to the point. At times SVG was over two seconds faster than anyone. Van Gisbergen eventually got by Ty Gibbs for good with seven laps left, and drove off unopposed to another impressive victory.
SVG to the lead with 8 laps to go at Watkins Glen! What a drive to the front that was. pic.twitter.com/RLpVb7Kzfk
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 10, 2026
“Unbelievable to win with 97,” van Gisbergen said on taking his father’s number to victory lane. “The Super File Chevy was great, thank you to Trackhouse. We weren’t very good in practice and then qualifying was amazing, good tweaks. And then today, what a racecar. Stephen (Doran, crew chief) made great calls. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work and then to run them down like that. Very very special to do two in a row.”
“It’s not easy, everyone’s really good. There was a lot of pressure there. I think McDowell was good, Connor [Zilisch] was good, Tyler Reddick, there were some really good guys and a lot of pressure. Just stoked for these guys, to execute every facet of our game. Speechless, this is so cool.”
Pitting a lap earlier than van Gisbergen but finishing seven seconds behind him would be Michael McDowell. The top-five was rounded out by Toyotas of: Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, and Tyler Reddick. The rest of Watkins Glen’s top-10 were: Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, and John Hunter Nemechek.
Reddick was one of only two drivers from the top 10 in points to finish well at Watkins Glen. Thanks to the No. 45’s fifth place finish, he now trumps Denny Hamlin by 129 points. Shane van Gisbergen also breaks into the 16-man Chase cut after his win. The points after 12 weeks can be seen below.
Updated #NASCAR Cup Series Chase standings after @WGI.
Reddick now has a 129-point lead after finishing 5th.
SVG now +6 as the last man over Briscoe in after his win pic.twitter.com/ljQfSPY50H
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) May 10, 2026
Points racing will take a brief pause for the All-Star Race next weekend. $1 million is up for grabs on the treacherous Monster Mile of Dover Motor Speedway. The winner-take-all show goes green Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
