Shane van Gisbergen knew exactly what kept him from the win after losing the lead on the last lap in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen.
“Driver error,” he said.
The three-time Supercars champion did well to position himself for a second NASCAR Cup Series victory. On a weekend when most eyes were on the playoff field, the Kiwi qualified third and ran well enough to find himself second to leader Chris Buescher with the laps winding down.
A trio of late cautions shook up the running order and brought the field together. Van Gisbergen elected to start on the inside of the second row each time. For the first two attempts, the decision didn’t yield fruit, but on a final overtime restart, van Gisbergen was able to give Buescher a small nudge into Turn 1 and make a three-wide move on the bottom.
He cleared Buescher heading into the Esses and emerged with a slim advantage in the Bus Stop, but van Gisbergen also knew he could be due for contact in return from Buescher if the Texan was able to chase him down.
For the next full lap, van Gisbergen was flawless. He made a rare mistake in the final trip through the Bus Stop, though, clipping the inside wall and pushing him off-line. Buescher took advantage, jumped to van Gisbergen’s inside and muscled his way by for the lead.
“I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there,” van Gisbergen said. “As I turned in, I got a little bit loose and clipped the inside wall.”
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Van Gisbergen tried to chase Buescher back down but got loose at the exit of Turn 6 and had to chase his tail heading into the final corner. That left him too out of control to give Buescher a final nudge in the last corner, allowing the RFK Racing veteran to ride off to his first road course win.
“I got in there deeper than I had been and I think [van Gisbergen] was still going, so I had a good feeling that it was probably going to bottom out,” Buescher said of van Gisbergen’s mistake. [The re-profiled chicane is] smoother, not smooth. It was a big moment, big opportunity for us and I was able to roll on by.”
The second-place run was van Gisbergen’s best since he shocked the field to win on debut in the 2023 Chicago Street Race. He’d finished no better than 10th in the ensuing eight starts, though six of them have come on ovals where he has much less experience.
It’s a good sign heading into his first full-time Cup season in 2025, but it was little consolation to the 35-year-old after he gave away a potential win.
“I’m gutted,” van Gisbergen said. “The WeatherTech Camaro was really good. The race was awesome with Ross (Chastain), Chris and the others at the end. I’m gutted that we couldn’t get it. I had a lot of fun, but I’m pretty angry with myself.”