Shane van Gisbergen won for the second consecutive time at Watkins Glen international, but he did not have an easy Sunday cruise when it mattered. He had to go from 26th to first in the closing laps.
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The Trackhouse Racing driver chose to stay out on the track on Lap 60 when Joey Logano blew a tire and brought out the caution. Tyler Reddick followed while Ty Gibbs led numerous drivers down pit road.
MORE: Full Watkins Glen Results
This created a split strategy during the final stage of the 100-lap race. Van Gisbergen could not make it to the end of the race without stopping for fuel. Gibbs, Connor Zilisch, Chase Briscoe, and other drivers who made pit stops could aggressively save fuel and reach Lap 100.
Van Gisbergen made his pit stop on Lap 76, one lap after Michael McDowell. He emerged in 26th position and 29.2 seconds behind Gibbs. No one knew if he could erase this deficit and pass all of the cars ahead of him before the checkered flag, but he had a major advantage.
He didn't have to save fuel like so many drivers ahead of him. He could just go as hard as possible.
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
The Trackhouse Racing driver did exactly that. He made up five seconds with 19 laps to go. He then made it to ninth place with 15 laps to go. He moved to seventh place with 13 laps remaining in the race. He was only 12.8 seconds behind.
This progress created some questions among the drivers trying to conserve fuel. Connor Zilisch, in particular, asked, "Is Shane going to get here?" His team only responded by saying "That's gonna be close. That's gonna be close."
As it turns out, it was not close at all. Zilisch ultimately had to pit because he blew a right-front tire, so van Gisbergen solely focused on catching Gibbs. He passed the Joe Gibbs Racing driver with eight laps remaining, and then he built up a lead of more than seven seconds.
Van Gisbergen scored his second consecutive win at Watkins Glen International, and his first win of the season. He also won for the first time since switching to No. 97, a number with special meaning to him and his family.
"Unbelievable to win with 97," he told Fox Sports' Jamie Little. "Yeah, Superfile 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 race car.
"Then Stephen (Doran, crew chief) made great calls. I wasn't sure how it was going to work. Then to run them down, very, very special to do two in a row."
The New Zealand native is not the only driver who mounted a major comeback. Remember McDowell, who made his pit stop on Lap 75? He also worked his way through the field in the closing laps. He passed Gibbs for second with five laps remaining in the race, and he held this position all the way to the checkered flag.
The two drivers who started the race on the front row ultimately ended the day in first and second. The rest of the top 10 also included Gibbs, Briscoe, Reddick, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, and John Hunter Nemechek.
