Watkins Glen International played host to Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen, which had everything in it, including major playoff implications, dominance by a driver who is trying to redeem his season after starting on the pole, various accidents and the best in the business duking it out on the final restart. The 2024 season has already been one of the best on paper thus far and this race has further solidified this year as one of the most exciting ever in NASCAR history. Here’s a detailed rundown of Sunday’s banger of a race.
Lap 1 saw championship hopefuls, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney’s days go up in smoke, as they were involved in an accident. Blaney was left empty-handed, as he could not steer his race car and was towed back to the garage, with NASCAR deeming his day done. Despite Blaney’s frustration and race ending before he could complete a lap, the defending champion gained enough points (+28) to remain above the elimination cutline. Hamlin, on the other hand, had his team work on his car under caution and he was able to continue the race.
Pole-sitter Ross Chastain dominated the opening stage and had Martin Truex Jr. and Shane van Gisbergen on his tail to restart the race, but had to pit before the stage ended. He led the most laps in Stage 1, but Truex wounded up winning it, collecting those valuable ten points and one playoff point, with other playoff drivers, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez finishing behind him, respectively.
Stage 2 began with Chastain and Michael McDowell restarting on the front row. Playoff competitor, Tyler Reddick was spun going into the first turn, but was able to continue on. This stage saw Chastain and van Gisbergen reclaim the lead, and Chastain’s #1 Busch Light Chevrolet wound up winning the stage, due to his teammate, Daniel Suarez spinning out in the gravel off track and prompted NASCAR to throw the caution. Joey Logano ended up being the highest finishing playoff driver in the field, as he finished third and collected eight points towards his championship quest.
Denny Hamlin tried to squeeze between fellow playoff drivers, Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski and ended up slamming the inside retaining wall, up the hill in Turns 2 and 3. The crowd began cheering as Hamlin re-fired his damaged #11 FedEx Toyota, showing their approval of Hamlin’s misfortune. Like the first accident, Hamlin was able to continue on.
The race restarted on lap 50, with Chastain once again leading van Gisbergen and another non-playoff driver, Chris Buescher contending for the lead. On lap 62, playoff driver Christopher Bell was spun by Austin Dillon when entering pit road, but both drivers made it to the pits without damage. With ten laps to go, Harrison Burton’s left-rear tire came apart, littering rubber on the racing surface and forced NASCAR to wave the yellow flag to clean it up.
The next restart happened on lap 84, with Buescher and van Gisbergen on the front row. Shane van Gisbergen’s road racing experience was about to put to the test against NASCAR’s finest, when Brad Keselowski and William Byron, two playoff drivers wadded up on each other. Byron’s Chevrolet somehow managed to climb on top of Keselowski’s Ford, but both were able to continue on.
The race resumed on lap 87, this time with a rookie, Carson Hocevar alongside Buster, the race leader. Another caution. came out not long after, as Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch colliding and spinning out. This was the last caution, as the final restart allowed Shane van Gisbergen to surge ahead of Buescher and Hocevar with two laps to go. Announcer Leigh Diffey’s excitement couldn’t be contained as van Gisbergen’s experience began shining. The white flag, signifying the race will be over, leaving Buescher with one lap to get the job done, as he’s been close to victory multiple times this season. Going into the “bus stop” , Buescher gave van Gisbergen’s #16 WeatherTech Chevrolet a bump, getting around the road course ace without destroying their vehicles. The crowd screamed in excitement, as Buescher’s #17 Buildsubmarines.com Ford made its way around the 2.45-mile road course in New York to win the Go Bowling at the Glen. Buescher played spoiler in the playoffs, as he is not in the post-season run for the championship and only two playoff drivers finished in the top-ten, those drivers being Chase Briscoe finishing sixth and Austin Cindric in tenth.
After Watkins Glen, the drivers who are in danger of elimination this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway are Denny Hamlin (-6 behind 12th), Brad Keselowski (-12), Martin Truex Jr. (-14) and Harrison Burton (-20). Daniel Suarez has been impressive, currently fifth in the standings (+36 above the elimination line), as well as Chase Briscoe in 11th (+6). However, only Joey Logano is safe heading to the Northern Tennessee track this weekend, being that he’s still the only driver locked in after his Atlanta victory. Bristol Motor Speedway, which is widely regarded as “the world’s fastest half mile”, will play host to the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 21, on USA Network at 7:30PM EST. You won’t want to miss any of the action, as Bristol is notorious for short tempers, more bump and runs (similar to what Buescher did on the last lap to van Gisbergen) and championship hopes coming to an end. Be sure to tune in this weekend and catch all of the action!
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