Buescher Pushes Past SVG in Last-Lap Pass for Watkins Glen Win
It had been a frustrating season for RFK Racing's Chris Buescher heading into Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. However, at the end of an overtime finish, the driver of the No. 17 Buildsubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse had plenty of reason to smile again as he came out on top of a duel with Shane van Gisbergen for his first race win of the season.
Related: NASCAR Cup Go Bowling at The Glen Race Results
After scorching his Goodyear racing tires into the pavement to the delight of the sold out crowd in attendance, Buescher admitted that he felt he had lost the race on the final restart of the race as van Gisbergen was able to get around him in a three-way battle with Carson Hocevar for the race win.
"I thought we lost it there on that last [restart]," Buescher explained. "Just man, to stay right there with him, that was the spot that he was better than us, and he missed it. He missed it, and so I tried to crossover and went to cut, and just hard racing there. But just such an awesome finish. To be that good for so much of the end of that race -- the whole race -- to get a win, it's good. We came here to be spoiler, and we're going to do that."
After SVG grabbed the lead, Buescher settled into the runner-up spot on the green-white-checkered finish attempt. The driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford then chased down one of the best road course racers there has ever been, and he forced him into a mistake in the bus stop.
Entering the bus stop, both drivers pushed their cars to the limit of what was possible under braking. Buescher said he had to risk it all heading into the bus stop as he felt that was his last-ditch effort to pull off the win.
"I knew it was. I got in there deeper than I had been, and I think he was still going," Buescher quipped. "So, I had a good shot or a good feeling that it was probably going to bottom out. [The rumble strips are] smoother, it's not smooth. So, big moment, big opportunity for us, and we were able to roll by."
Here is a video of Buescher's race-winning pass on SVG:
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 15, 2024
CHRIS BUESCHER PASSES SHANE VAN GISBERGEN TO WIN AT WATKINS GLEN! #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/ZYjaSJuZ8f
Buescher, who failed to advance to the Playoffs despite multiple close calls on chances at wins this season, says the win at The Glen definitely makes up for missing the Playoffs.
"Yeah, certainly. We would have liked to have won a couple of weeks ago, but this is huge," Buescher stated with happiness. "This is such a big win for us. Everybody at RFK has worked so hard and to finally get a road course win, man. We've been so close so many times, to finally pull it off, that's fantastic."
While Buescher was able to taste the spoils of victory lane for the sixth time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, and for the first time at a road course, van Gisbergen couldn't help but kick himself. He knew he had the race won, but just made a mistake in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro, which handed the win to Buescher.
"Driver error," van Gisbergen said of how he lost the race. "I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there. As I turned and got a bit loose and clipped the inside wall and driver error. I'm gutted. WeatherTech Chevrolet was really good. The race was awesome with Ross [Chastain] and Chris and the others at the end. I'm gutted we couldn't get it, but I had a lot of fun, but I'm pretty angry at myself."
Part of why van Gisbergen says he pushed his car so hard going into the bus stop on the final lap was that he knew he had payback coming after he took the lead from Buescher with contact. He was trying to avoid a shove, and in doing so, made a costly error.
"I think [it was a fair move]. It was a little bump to get him wide. I knew I was going to get it back, so that's why I was pushing so hard. It is what it is, but just gutted," van Gisbergen languished.
Behind Buescher and SVG was NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year contender Carson Hocevar, who scored a career-best third-place finish in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.
Polesitter Ross Chastain came home in fourth, and Hocevar's teammate and fellow Rookie of the Year contender Zane Smith finished the day in fifth, his second top-five finish of the 2024 campaign.
On what was a rough day for NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders, Chase Briscoe finished highest of them all with a solid sixth-place run. With the run, Briscoe was able to erase the 21-point deficit he had to the Playoff cutline following an early-race crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend.
Briscoe will head to next weekend's Round of 16 finale six points above the Playoff cutline.
In all, just two of the 16 Playoff drivers finished the race inside the top-10. The other Playoff driver inside the top-10 at the checkered flag was Team Penske's Austin Cindric, who has had an excellent start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The driver of the No. 2 machine continued the momentum with a 10th-place finish.
Here is a breakdown of where all of the Playoff drivers finish in the Go Bowling at The Glen:
Fin | No. | Driver |
|---|---|---|
6 | 14 | Chase Briscoe |
10 | 2 | Austin Cindric |
12 | 5 | Kyle Larson |
13 | 99 | Daniel Suarez |
14 | 20 | Christopher Bell |
15 | 22 | Joey Logano |
18 | 48 | Alex Bowman |
19 | 9 | Chase Elliott |
20 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. |
22 | 54 | Ty Gibbs |
23 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
24 | 21 | Harrison Burton |
26 | 6 | Brad Keselowski |
27 | 45 | Tyler Reddick |
34 | 24 | William Byron |
38 | 12 | Ryan Blaney |
After the up, and mostly down, day for the Playoff contenders, there is major potential for some upset eliminations in the Round of 16 of the Playoffs as the Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend.
Denny Hamlin (-6 points), Brad Keselowski (-12), Martin Truex Jr. (-14), and Harrison Burton (-20) are the four drivers outside of the Playoff cutline heading into next weekend's elimination event. Two of those drivers are NASCAR Cup Series champions, and Hamlin has been a perennial contender for the title for the last 19 years.
Ryan Blaney, who will carry a 29-point advantage over the cutline to Bristol next weekend, was credited with a last-place finish after being swept up in a first-lap crash with Corey LaJoie, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and others.
Hamlin would spin again in an incident with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson on Lap 47. But the big accident of the day involving Playoff drivers was a scary crash between Keselowski and William Byron on Lap 84.
In the incident at the exit of the esses, Byron's car was launched into the air, and after slamming into the Armco barrier, Byron's car slammed back down onto Keselowski's car. It came to a rest on Keselowski's driver's side window. Fortunately, the window net held up, and neither driver was injured. Incredibly, they were both able to finish the race.
Next weekend's NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which will decide the 12-driver Playoff field for the Round of 12, is schedule for Saturday, September 21. That race will be televised by USA Network beginning at 7 PM ET. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio call of the event.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.