Shane van Gisbergen Stuns NASCAR Field to Win at Watkins Glen

SVG Surges Through the Field to WinsWatkins GlenChris Graythen - Getty Images

Shane van Gisbergen captured his first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season at Watkins Glen after pitting from the lead with 25 laps remaining Sunday afternoon.

SVG emerged from the pits in 26th position and needed to make up 30 seconds and run through the field. He was back to the lead with seven laps remaining, cutting through on fresh tires for his seventh career road course victory. In the end, he won by 7.288 seconds.

This was the New Zealand driver's first win in his iconic No. 97, which he adopted for his sophomore season, as Connor Zilisch inherited the No. 88. Michael McDowell also ran through the field to finish second as the best of the rest, and tight tips who led while Van Ginsbergen was making his way back to the field settled for third. Chase Briscoe had his best finish at the track in fourth but was knocked out of a playoff position with Van Ginsbergen's win.

Tyler Reddick, who beat Van Ginsbergen at the Circuit of the Americas to complete his trio of wins to start the season, finished fifth and stays on top of the points.

Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, and John Hunter Nemechek completed the top five.

Busch's eighth-place finish was his best of the season, in his second race with a new crew chief and a stomach bug to boot.

Zilisch, who won the O'Reilly's race on Saturday, was a strong contender on Sunday as the teenager looked for at least his first top five in the series; instead, a cut tire in the closing stage ruined his chances and ultimately finished 20th without enough time to race through the field.

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