Shane van Gisbergen racing from 26th to first in 18 laps became the story of Sunday's Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, but another incident created conversations after the checkered flag flew.
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A hard crash involving Rick Ware Racing driver Cody Ware actually broke one of the walls at the New York road course.
The incident occurred in the closing laps of the race as van Gisbergen chase down Ty Gibbs. Contact between Josh Berry and Ware sent the No. 51 Chevrolet spinning out of control. It slammed hard into one of the tire packs.
This collision was so violent that it actually broke the ARMCO barrier sitting directly behind the tire pack.
Per fan photos at @WGI, Cody Ware's crash broke the ARMCO Barrier behind the tire pack.#NASCAR | #GoBowlingAtTheGlen | @jeff_gluck https://t.co/eWdOio3a75
— Seth Eggert (@SethEggert91) May 10, 2026
Yet, Ware still continued driving. He made multiple trips down pit road, and then he tried to limp the car to the checkered flag. He did not have the same pace near the end of 100 laps, which made the Fox Sports booth wonder if the caution would fly and force a late restart.
Race Control did not throw this caution. It's possible they did not see the crash or the broken wall. The reason remains unknown as of Sunday night.
The race remained green as van Gisbergen won his seventh career Cup Series race. He became Trackhouse Racing's all-time winningest driver, and he moved above The Chase cutline.
Ware ultimately failed to finish the race. He had to take the car to the garage with 10 laps remaining. This dropped him to a 37th-place finish. He had raced inside the top 15 with 15 laps remaining, but the crash with 12 laps remaining ruined his day.
Our result in the #GoBowlingAtTheGlen not indicative of the effort. Fought hard at @WGI, just got caught up in someone else’s chain reaction. Focus forward. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/jBZJHMfGgd
— Rick Ware Racing (@RickWareRacing) May 10, 2026
Ware is not the only driver who had a late incident at Watkins Glen International. Berry spun off the nose of Carson Hocevar in Turn 1 on the final lap of the race. Berry also spun after contact from Cole Custer.
Bubba Wallace ended up spinning after contact from John Hunter Nemechek. He ultimately finished 29th.
