Shane van Gisbergen won at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, taking the lead with eight laps to go and beating Michael McDowell by seven seconds after a fuel gamble sent him to the back of the fight. Trackhouse Racing’s strategy left van Gisbergen 29 seconds behind Ty Gibbs with 25 laps remaining, but he sliced through the field and surged clear late.

The victory was van Gisbergen’s seventh Cup win and his first at Watkins Glen, adding to the road-course resume that already includes his breakthrough Cup win on the Chicago street course in 2023. The three-time Australian Supercars champion finished 45 seconds overall faster than Gibbs in his final 25 laps, a margin that underlined how much pace he had once the strategy unfolded his way.

For Trackhouse, it was the kind of result the team badly needed. Justin Marks said the team’s start to the season had been unacceptable and not up to its standards, and called the win a little air in the room while it works through engineering a turnaround. Van Gisbergen’s run also lifted him above the Chase cutline and into 16th in the standings, a crucial shift as the postseason picture tightens.

The call to stay out with 39 laps to go was a calculated risk. Team officials figured van Gisbergen would be three laps short on fuel, so he had to pit under green and still found a way to recover. By the time he got clear, he was chasing from deep in the pack. That made the final 25 laps the defining stretch of the race, with van Gisbergen passing cars and McDowell making a similar strategy work long enough to finish second.

Van Gisbergen said the feel of the car made the difference, calling it the best feeling when a tire advantage and an awesome car come together. He added that he was carving everyone up, noting that some drivers laid over and others had to be passed with good moves. McDowell said the gap looked bigger than it was and that it was probably a tenth of a second a lap, but tires were worth a lot on the day.

The finish also scrambled the standings around him. Ross Chastain was 19th after Watkins Glen and Connor Zilisch was 32nd after a race that had him running second to Gibbs on the same fuel-saving strategy before a flat tire and pit stop dropped him to 20th. Zilisch said he did not think he could beat van Gisbergen, but that being so close was frustrating. Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick were the other names in the mix for similar situations, and Reddick, who won the first road-course race of the season at Circuit of the Americas, finished fifth at Watkins Glen. Chris Buescher, who beat van Gisbergen there in 2024, finished 12th this time.

The result came as NASCAR’s All-Star Race heads to Dover Motor Speedway for the first time as the exhibition event’s host. Past All-Star weekends included an open race for nonqualified drivers to reach the main event, a format that helped make the showcase one of the sport’s more unpredictable nights. Van Gisbergen’s latest road-course clinic did not need that kind of extra drama. He already had enough of his own.