Chris Buescher Wins at Watkins Glen NASCAR Cup Race

Shane Gardner - Getty Images

WATKINS GLEN, NY – RIS – In a wild finish, Chris Buescher passed Shane van Gisbergen with a little nudge and went on to claim victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at The Glen in an overtime finish.  In the final lap of overtime, Shane Van Gisbergen put the bumper to Chris Buescher to snatch away the race lead. He held a slim advantage on the final lap but touched the Armco on entry to the bus stop chicane. This unsettled his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, allowing Buescher to close in on him with the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford and go on to victory.

The two drivers made significant contact into the carousel and Buescher surged ahead. Van Gisbergen closed back in for one last dive into the final corner, but slid sideways and nearly crashed. He maintained control, but had to settle for second as Buescher captured the checkered flag. Buescher had been denied a place in the playoffs earlier, and he was determined to win somewhere to give RFK two victories on the season.

Our long-run speed was just phenomenal," said a grinning Buescher after the race. "Thought we lost it there on the last one. That was the spot where he was better than us and he missed it. Tried to cross-over, he went to cut, but just hard racing there. Just such an awesome finish. To get a win is good. We came here to be spoilers and we're gonna do that."

Van Gisbergen ended up as the runner up, with Carson Hocevar finishing third in a career-best finish, pole-sitter Ross Chastain was fourth, and Zane Smith finished fifth. Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, and Austin Cindric rounded out the top-ten.

The race was chaotic from the beginning with.  a multi-car crash on the opening lap, collecting several drivers in the bus stop chicane. Among those with damage were playoff drivers Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, and Brad Keselowski. It started when Corey LaJoie got into the side of Kyle Busch, sending him spinning. Blaney was unable to continue, finishing last.

Chastain dominated from pole position, leading over half the race, but he was among those who chose to pit early while playoff drivers stayed out for valuable points. Martin Truex Jr., who came into this race 19 points below the cut line, won the opening stage.  The second stage promised more of the same, but things quieted down, and it looked like Van Gisenberg and Buescher would battel for the win, and it came down to that with some scrapes along the way.

As the race continued, a caution for the shredded remains of Harrison Burton's left-rear tire set up a sprint the finish. While the leaders kept it clean, Brad Keselowski crashed in the esses. William Byron ended up going airborne before landing on top of Keselowski's car. Somehow, the cars got disconnected and continued rolling, but it was not the end of the carnage. The race went into overtime, which led to another crash entering the esses. Truex, Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Elliott were just some of the drivers involved.

In the end, Buescher, long a good road course driver, made the move that won the race.  the following drivers will enter the Round of 16 elimination race at Bristol Drivers below the cut-line were Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., and Harrison Burton.

Unofficial Results: Go Bowling at The Glen, September 15, 2024 - Watkins Glen International
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 24, Chris Buescher, No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 92, , , 3, 19, 5, 40, Running
2) 3, Shane Van Gisbergen(i), No. 16 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 92, , 2, 1, 1, , 0, Running
3) 29, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Mattress Warehouse Chevrolet, 92, , , 1, 1, , 34, Running
4) 1, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet, 92, , 1, 2, 51, 1, 43, Running
5) 19, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 92, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 12, Chase Briscoe (P), No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 92, 3, 7, , , , 43, Running
7) 10, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Benebone Ford, 92, , , 1, 7, , 30, Running
8) 18, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 92, , , 1, 2, , 29, Running
9) 21, Ryan Preece, No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford, 92, , 9, , , , 30, Running
10) 5, Austin Cindric (P), No. 2 Autotrader Ford, 92, 5, , , , , 33, Running
11) 9, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford, 92, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 20, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 92, 8, , , , , 28, Running
13) 8, Daniel Suarez (P), No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 92, 4, , , , , 31, Running
14) 17, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 DEWALT Outdoor Solutions Toyota, 92, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 7, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 92, , 3, 1, 6, , 30, Running
16) 37, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Boozy Jerky! Ford, 92, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 32, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Mobil 1 Toyota, 92, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 4, Alex Bowman (P), No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 92, 2, 8, 1, 1, , 31, Running
19) 14, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 92, 6, , , , , 23, Running
20) 2, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Reser's Fine Foods Toyota, 92, 1, , 1, 4, 1, 27, Running
21) 35, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota, 92, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 15, Ty Gibbs (P), No. 54 CW Sports Toyota, 92, , 4, , , , 22, Running
23) 22, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FexEx Toyota, 92, , 10, , , , 15, Running
24) 33, Harrison Burton (P), No. 21 Freightliner Ford, 92, , 6, , , , 18, Running
25) 31, Josh Berry #, No. 4 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford, 92, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 28, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 6 King's Hawaiian Ford, 92, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 16, Tyler Reddick (P), No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota, 92, 7, , , , , 14, Running
28) 23, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet, 92, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 36, Justin Haley, No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford, 92, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 13, Kyle Busch, No. 8 zone Chevrolet, 92, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 27, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, 92, 10, , , , , 7, Running
32) 34, Juan Pablo Montoya*, No. 50 Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Toyota, 91, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 25, Erik Jones, No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota, 90, 9, , , , , 6, Running
34) 11, William Byron (P), No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 90, , 5, , , , 9, Running
35) 38, Kaz Grala #, No. 15 MEAT N' BONE Ford, 87, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 6, AJ Allmendinger*(i), No. 13 Go Bowling Chevrolet, 6, , , , , , 0, Transmission
37) 26, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Old El Paso Chevrolet, 2, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 30, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, 0, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (*) Must qualify on time, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Race Length: 92 Laps, 225.4 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 38 Mins, 41 Secs.
Average Speed: 85.226 MPH
Margin of Victory: .979 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 48, 14, 99, 2, 9, 45, 5, 43, 31
Stage 2 Top 10: 1, 16, 22, 54, 24, 21, 14, 48, 41, 11

Comments: Chris Buescher has won the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International, his sixth career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 38, 77 (Unapproved Adjustments). 

Cautions: 7 for 21 laps;
Laps: 2-5 (No. 12, 8 Stalled On Track [None]);
22-24 (Stage 1 Conclusion [11]);
39-42 (No. 99 Stalled In Turn 6 / Stage 2 Conclusion [8]);
48-49 (No. 5, 6, 11 Incident Turn 2 [99]);
81-83 (Debris Turn 6 [None]);
85-87 (No. 6, 24 Incident Turn 2 [21]);
89-90 (No. 8, 45 Incident Turn 2 [11]).

Lead Changes: 11 among 9 drivers;
R. Chastain 1-17;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 18-21;
A. Bowman (P) 22;
R. Chastain 23-56;
C. Buescher 57-58;
M. McDowell 59-65;
C. LaJoie 66-67;
J. Logano (P) 68-73;
C. Buescher 74-89;
C. Hocevar # 90;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 91;
C. Buescher 92.