NASCAR Race Today: Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Shane van Gisbergen among Winners, Losers from Watkins Glen

Sunday’s Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International wrapped up the NASCAR schedule this weekend, ending a three-race circuit that saw oddities, injuries, car issues and crashes at each level. With the NASCAR race today over and the winner of the Go Bowling at The Glen decided, we’re examining some of the top performances and storylines from Sunday’s race.

Let’s dive into the NASCAR race today, examining the winners and losers from Watkins Glen.

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Shane van Gisbergen is inevitable. The only reason the No. 88 car probably didn’t win the pole at Watkins Glen is that it ran in the first qualifying group, putting him at a significant disadvantage. It didn’t matter — van Gisbergen took over this race when he needed to, and the Cup “rookie” simply knows exactly when to flip the switch to win on road courses. SVG is probably the best road course driver in NASCAR history, and his four wins this season now make him a virtual lock to advance to the Round of 12, where there will be another road race for him to win.

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Denny Hamlin’s hopes for a regular-season championship are effectively over. He started outside the top 20 on Sunday and immediately lost seven spots in the first six laps, dropping behind the likes of Riley Herbst, Erik Jones, and Todd Gilliland. Later, after working his way into the top 15, misfortune struck. On Turn 7 of Lap 46, Hamlin and Kyle Busch collided, damaging the right-front side and tire of the No. 11, which dropped him from the top 15 to outside the top 30. Hamlin finished 25th, and with only two races left, a regular-season title is no longer possible.

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Coming into Watkins Glen, only three races remained before the playoffs. Realistically, that likely meant just two drivers could make it in on points. Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman both played the points game, needing to hold off Ryan Preece, who is on the bubble. Buescher won Stage 1 (earning 10 points and 1 playoff point) and then earned a third-place finish, recording the second-most points on the day (44). Holding the 16th and final playoff spot, Buescher now has a 34-point lead over Preece with two races to go. At the very least, the big points day and SVG’s win improved his playoff odds.

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It was a weekend trip to Watkins Glen for Kyle Larson and the No. 5 team. They qualified 27th on Saturday, moving up one spot before Sunday’s race because of Connor Zilisch’s broken collarbone. Unfortunately for Hendrick Motorsports, the weekend only got worse. On Lap 5, Larson reported “no brakes” on the radio and spun off the track. The seal issue with the brakes forced Larson’s car to the garage for extensive work, effectively ending his day. There was one bright side in his last-place finish: Larson eventually got back out there and picked up a second point with the Xfinity fastest lap.

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Ryan Blaney immediately made his weekend trip to Watkins Glen a worthwhile stop by beating Shane van Gisbergen to earn the pole position. The No. 12 car and Team Penske made the most of it on Sunday afternoon. After pitting right before the end of Stage 1, Blaney placed 7th (earning 4 stage points) and then ran long to win Stage 2 (10 points and 1 playoff point). The strategy pushed him ahead of Tyler Reddick in the regular-season standings and he gave himself some breathing room sitting at sixth place in playoff points.

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Kyle Busch had a reason to feel great entering Sunday. He earned the fifth spot in the NASCAR starting lineup for Watkins Glen, showing the kind of speed that would give him a chance to win and clinch a playoff spot. Two hiccups proved costly. On his first pit stop, Busch overran his pit stall, which caused a multi-second delay. Then, on the final stage, in Turn 7 of Lap 46, Hamlin got nudged by Ross Chastain into a three-wide on his inside, and the No. 8 car collided with Denny Hamlin when trying to come back in. The collision dropped Busch outside the top 20, and the damage to the car was like a parachute, dropping him further back. He finished the day in 22nd.

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Bubba Wallace has been one of the best NASCAR drivers in the last month. He entered Dover clinging to the final playoff spot, narrowly ahead of Ryan Preece on the playoff bubble. Amid the mounting playoff pressure, 23XI Racing also lost its appeal and would have to race as an open team. He’s thrived ever since. After finishing seventh at Dover and then winning the Brickyard 400, Wallace pulled off an insane comeback at Iowa Speedway. In the final stage, he went from being 2 laps down to placing 8th.

Wallace’s hot streak was put to the test at Watkins Glen. While he’s historically struggled at road courses, the driver of the No. 23 car has made real strides this season. It all came together on Sunday afternoon, with Wallace placing 13th. It marks his fourth consecutive top-eight finish. That’s outstanding momentum just two weeks before the playoffs begin.

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Joe Gibbs Racing has done whatever it can to help Ty Gibbs become a great driver. Ahead of the race in Atlanta, JGR tabbed Chris Gabehart to serve as the de facto crew chief for the No. 54 car. He finished 14th in that race and then delivered top-10 finishes at Chicago, Sonoma, and Dover. It was good enough to push Gibbs through the NASCAR In-Season Challenge, allowing him to defeat Ty Dillon easily despite finishing 21st in the Brickyard 400.

One would think that experience, paired with Gabehart’s track record with Denny Hamlin, would be enough to convince Gibbs to trust his strategy. Nope. Gabehart first had to directly tell Gibbs to get his composure together and focus on racing after previous incidents. Then, as the No. 54 started dropping out of the top 20, Gibbs questioned the team’s strategy and said over the radio, “We’re f****** right now, so we’ve got to do something.” Gabehart immediately responded by telling Gibbs, “Well, I’m sure you’ve got a real good understanding then from inside the car. So you know, you can call the strategy if you want or you can keep rolling. But I would do the best I could to go as fast as I can.” Gibbs offered a sarcastic “Ten-four!” in response and was a non-factor for the rest of the race. Gibbs ended the day in 33rd place.

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NASCAR Race Today: Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Shane van Gisbergen among Winners, Losers from Watkins Glen

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