Shane van Gisbergen claims fourth road course win of 2025 at Watkins Glen

Shane van Gisbergen captured his fourth consecutive road-course victory in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday at Watkins Glen International. It was also his fifth career win in the series and his first win at the 2.45-mile track.

“It’s amazing. Thank you to Trackhouse, Chevrolet, WeatherTech – all of our partners. To get four of these is very, very special,” a smiling Van Gisbergen said.

“The day went flawlessly, and I can’t believe it. Really enjoyed it. It ain’t going to be easy (in the playoffs), that’s for sure. The first round, there’s some very difficult left-handed tracks for me, but I’m getting better at it, and I’m enjoying myself.”

He was dominant throughout the race in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, showcasing his expertise on road courses. Van Gisbergen led 38 of 90 laps during the Go Bowling at The Glen and won by a margin of 11.116 seconds. He has won four of the five NASCAR Cup Series road-course races on the schedule this season.

Van Gisbergen also joins an elite club, with Chase Elliott and Jeff Gordon as the only drivers to win four consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races on road or street courses. Van Gisbergen now only trails Elliott (7) and Kyle Larson (6) among active drivers on street or road course wins in only 38 career NCS starts.

Christopher Bell passed Chris Buescher on the final lap to finish in second place.

“Happy, yeah. I’m thrilled. We’ve been struggling a little bit to find a rhythm. I feel like the car has been good, but executing the races has been tough for us. Really awesome to have a good day. Frustrated to get our butts kicked by the 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) car. He’s doing a really good job. That team has it going on. We need to find a little bit more, but certainly happy. It was a good day for DEWALT Camry,” Bell said.

Buescher held on for third, William Byron finished fourth, and Chase Briscoe rounded out the top-5 finishers.

“Yeah, it was really tough there at the end. To have to run 18 laps on those tires in practice was difficult, and then to put 36 laps on them, I was just hanging on there at the end. I learned a lot there at the end, just with how to conserve for the next time. The last 10 laps were really difficult, but glad we could get a top-five finish,” Byron said.

“That restart just didn’t go our way and we lost a lot of track position and obviously were able to play the long game there in the end and come home top-five. Overall, a good solid finish in a fast Bass Pro Shops Camry. We will go on to Richmond and see what we can do,” Briscoe said.

Polesitter Ryan Blaney, who led 35 laps, finished in sixth.

“Decent day for our Ford Mustang. We led early and settled into second,” Blaney said. He continued, “We had a little different strategy than the 88 [Shane Van Gisbergen] and it was kind of a split deal. We lost a little bit of pace at the end of the day. The last run, the track changed a little bit and I got too tight and faded to sixth. Overall, a really good weekend. A great showing for our group and hopefully we learned something for the ROVAL.”

Notably, two-time Watkins Glen winner Kyle Larson had brake issues early on and finished 39th.

The race featured three caution flags for eight laps, and eight lead changes among six drivers.

After Watkins Glen International, William Byron leads the series standings by 42 points over Chase Elliott, 81 points over Denny Hamlin, and 85 points over Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson.

Two races remain before the 16-driver field for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is determined. The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway for the Cook Out 400 on Saturday, August 16th at 7:30 pm ET on USA.

*The post-race inspection was clear with no issues.

NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 24

Race Results for the Go Bowling at The Glen – Sunday, August 10, 2025
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road