Shane Van Gisbergen reminds everyone why road courses are his domain and our card had some real highs and lows in an afternoon that had it all.
Hey race fans, welcome back to Driving on Marbles! What a Sunday afternoon at Watkins Glen International.
Shane Van Gisbergen won the Go Bowling at The Glen, his seventh career NASCAR Cup Series victory and every single one of them on a road or street course. Van Gisbergen overcame a 29-second deficit and 24 positions in just 17 laps, going on to beat Michael McDowell by 7.288 seconds at the finish line.
That’s the headline and honestly the numbers don’t even do it justice. The way SVG closed down on Ty Gibbs in those final laps was one of the most remarkable pieces of driving we’ve seen all season.
Let’s get into the full story.
How the Go Bowling at The Glen Played Out
Shane Van Gisbergen won the pole position with a lap of 71.165 seconds at 123.937 mph, his fifth pole in 62 NASCAR Cup Series races. Michael McDowell qualified second, with Austin Cindric third and Ross Chastain fourth.
Van Gisbergen controlled the pace early, leading the opening 18 laps before surrendering the lead to pit road. Only 15 of the 38 teams opted not to pit before the Stage 1 break and that strategic decision handed Stage 1 to our pick Ross Chastain who stayed out brilliantly to claim the stage.
Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, and AJ Allmendinger completed the top five at the end of the opening segment with Christopher Bell finishing seventh in Stage 1.
Van Gisbergen charged from seventh to first in just two laps to win Stage 2. The Stage 2 results had SVG first, Tyler Reddick second, Ty Gibbs third, Austin Dillon fourth, Kyle Busch fifth, Chris Buescher sixth, Austin Cindric seventh, Connor Zilisch eighth, Chase Briscoe ninth, and Bubba Wallace tenth.
The final stage had multiple twists. SVG led every lap of Stage 2 until a tent blew onto the track at Lap 40 causing the first caution for cause. Six cars stayed out under that caution including Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst, and John Hunter Nemechek.
With 39 laps remaining SVG stayed out during the final caution and was then forced to pit on Lap 76, coming back onto the track in 24th position 29 seconds out of the lead. Gibbs had worked his way to the front on strategy and it genuinely looked like he might hold on. Then SVG happened. Van Gisbergen ran down Gibbs to the tune of 29.2 seconds in 18 laps and took the lead with seven laps to go, pulling away to the finish.
There were four cautions for 12 total laps. SVG led 74 of 100 laps followed by Gibbs with 17, McDowell with 5, and Chastain with 4.
The Storylines Worth Talking About
SVG is simply on another level at road courses
Van Gisbergen led 74 of 100 laps and gained over two seconds per lap in his final 20-lap run to work back through the field. Seven career Cup wins. All on road courses.
The conversation about whether he’s the best road course driver this sport has ever seen is essentially over. In defending last year’s win at The Glen, Van Gisbergen scored his first win of the 2026 season.
Michael McDowell's brilliant second place
McDowell posted his third top-ten finish of 2026 and his fifth top-ten finish in 17 career races at Watkins Glen International. Running a similar pit strategy to SVG he found himself in second place at the finish and absolutely maximized everything the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet had on Sunday.
Austin Dillon's first top 10 of the season
Austin Dillon finished sixth for his first top-ten finish of the 2026 season. A really solid result for Richard Childress Racing who have been searching for form all year.
Zilisch's heartbreaking flat tyre
Connor Zilisch dropped from contention on Lap 92 with a flat right-front tyre and finished 20th after posting the race’s fastest lap. He was running inside the top five and was one of the two fastest cars on the track all afternoon before the flat tyre ended his afternoon. A genuinely tough break for a rookie who has shown genuine world-class road course ability throughout the 2026 season.
A tough day for Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson finished 23rd with teammate Chase Elliott 24th and Alex Bowman 25th. William Byron suffered damage in Stage 2 and finished 36th three laps down. An afternoon to forget for the whole Hendrick organisation.
How Our Picks Did
Alright let’s go through the card honestly pick by pick.
Christopher Bell — Tough Day
Bell finished 21st. He was running inside the top ten through Stage 1, finishing seventh in that opening segment. He lost a chunk of positions in the strategic shuffle after the Lap 40 debris caution and then again in the final restart sequence.
It wasn’t the result we were hoping for after the strong Stage 1 showing but the speed was genuinely there early in the race. His pit road confrontation with Bubba Wallace after the race adds another layer to a frustrating afternoon for the No. 20.
Chris Buescher (Inside Top 12) — Solid
Buescher finished 12th and was running sixth at the end of Stage 2 collecting valuable stage points. Not the top-five result we were hoping for from our inside anchor but a clean consistent points day and stage points in the bank. He keeps his strong championship position at fifth in the standings with 375 points.
Shane Van Gisbergen (Outside Top 12) —Maximum Result
Won the race. Led 74 laps. Won Stage 2. Beat the field by 7.288 seconds. Absolutely everything we could have asked from our outside pick delivered in the most dominant fashion imaginable. The win plus stage points from an outside tier pick is the best possible outcome in any pool format. Outstanding.
Connor Zilisch (Outside Top 12) — Unlucky Miss
Zilisch dropped from contention on Lap 92 with a flat right-front tyre and finished 20th after posting the race’s fastest lap. He was genuinely one of the two fastest drivers on the track all afternoon and was running second in Stage 2 before the flat tyre changed everything. The pick was right. The car was fast. A mechanical failure eight laps from the end robbed us of what would have been a brilliant outside result. Nothing you can do about that.
AJ Allmendinger (Outside Top 12) — Hit
Seventh place and stage points. Allmendinger finished fifth in Stage 1 and came home seventh in the race. The +3000 price we targeted him at versus a seventh-place finish with stage points is excellent pool value. This is exactly why we put him on the card and exactly why Kaulig Racing at road courses is always worth targeting. Really pleased with this one.
Ross Chastain (Outside Top 12) — Stage Win, Tough Race Finish
Chastain led four laps and won Stage 1 exactly as one projection had predicted heading into the weekend. The stage win delivered meaningful stage points for our card. Unfortunately he finished 27th in the race which offset the stage points gain. The Stage 1 win was a genuinely great pool moment and exactly the kind of bold crew chief call we talked about all week. The race result was a disappointment but the stage points from the win kept it from being a complete miss.
The big picture this week at the Glen
SVG wins and dominates. Allmendinger seventh. Buescher 12th with Stage 2 points. Chastain wins Stage 1. That’s meaningful points accumulation across the card.
The painful ones were Bell’s 21st after showing strong Stage 1 pace, and Zilisch’s flat tyre when he was running inside the top five with eight laps to go.
On a week where the road course specialists showed up exactly as predicted, four of our six picks contributed genuine pool points.
We move forward.
Next Up: NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover
The Cup Series travels to Dover Motor Speedway next Sunday for the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 17 at 1:00 PM ET.
The All-Star Race is a non-points event so the pool standings don’t change next week.
We’ll be back with full coverage and then the first points race back is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24 which is one of the most prestigious and gruelling races on the entire calendar.
See you then everyone!
Bryan | Driving on Marbles
Author Profile
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Hey there race fans, welcome to Driving on Marbles, where I break down NASCAR with real insight, smart strategy, and race by race analysis. This isn’t just race recaps and highlight talk, it’s trends, track history, driver momentum, and the little details that actually make a difference on race day.
Whether you’re setting your fantasy lineup, looking for betting angles, or just want to understand why things happen on the track, I’ve got you covered. My goal is simple: help fans see the race the way teams and strategists do, one decision, one adjustment, one edge at a time.
If you love NASCAR and want more than surface level coverage, you’re in the right place.
Let’s get you closer to the action.
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