Shane van Gisbergen started the final stint of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen 29 seconds behind Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch. The gap was created on lap 76, when Trackhouse Racing decided on a green‑flag pit stop for fresh tyres and returned to the track with a full tank and 25 laps left to chase down the leaders. Gibbs and Zilisch had been stretching their fuel and running on degraded compounds since lap 61. In 18 laps, the New Zealander erased the entire margin. He passed Gibbs on lap 93 and opened 7.288 seconds on Michael McDowell to secure his seventh victory in the series, all on road courses, and the first of the 2026 season.

The caution on lap 61 for debris from Joey Logano’s left front tyre forced teams to split into two strategies. Gibbs, Zilisch and five other cars pitted; van Gisbergen and McDowell stayed out. That put the No. 97 in front, but with a half‑empty tank and tyres that would not last to the end. Stephen Doran, Trackhouse’s crew chief, called for a green‑flag stop on lap 76. Van Gisbergen exited the pits sixth, 29 seconds to make up, with fresh rubber and no fuel restrictions. Gibbs and Zilisch inherited the lead but had to complete the final 39 laps nursing a lean mixture and tyres that lost grip lap after lap.

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Spotter Josh Williams updated the New Zealander on the deficit and the laps left every time he crossed Turn 1. Van Gisbergen explained in the press conference that as soon as the deficit in seconds became smaller than the laps remaining, he knew the race was in his hands.

Zilisch gets a puncture, Gibbs runs out of options

Zilisch had won Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts race on the same circuit, but on lap 92 he lost his right front tyre and retired from the fight. One lap later, van Gisbergen passed Gibbs without the No. 54 Toyota being able to fight back: fuel saving left him with no power to block. McDowell, who had followed the same late‑stop strategy, also passed Gibbs on lap 95 and finished second in the Spire Motorsports Chevrolet No. 71.

Gibbs held on for third after leading 17 laps and admitted that having to save fuel took away any chance to fight. Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick completed the top five. Reddick, the championship leader, stretched his advantage over Denny Hamlin to 129 points; Hamlin finished 16th at Watkins Glen.

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Van Gisbergen entered the race 17th in the championship, hovering around the playoff cut line. His performance on ovals still lags far behind what he shows on road courses like The Glen, where on Sunday he led 74 of the 100 laps and won the second stage. The victory came with the number 97 on the door, the same number his family used in his early days, and on Mother’s Day. "I miss my mum, but it’s special to win with the family number," he said.

Austin Dillon finished sixth, his first top 10 of the year. AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and John Hunter Nemechek completed the top ten. The Cup Series now heads to Dover Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s All‑Star Race.