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Chris Buescher gets payback, shoves Shane van Gisbergen out of the way to win at Watkins Glen

JHby:Jonathan Howard•09/15/24•

Jondean25

Chris Buescher SVG Watkins Glen
Screenshot credit: FOX on NASCAR via X.com

In an epic battle with Shane van Gisbergen in overtime, Chris Buescher uses his bumper to get the win at Watkins Glen! Buescher had multiple top-10 finishes in road course races in the NASCAR Cup Series, now he has a win.

Chris Buescher has put in the work on these road courses. If you look at his results, he is almost always in the top-10 in the Next Gen era. To finally break through and get a win must be a relief.

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This is also the first spoiler of the playoffs. Buescher takes an automatic bid to the Round of 12 away from the playoff field. One mistake in the esses was all it took and Buescher went on to win at Watkins Glen.

Chaotic afternoon that ended with one of the best overtime battles of the season.

With Shane van Gisbergen in the race, you know he is going to be involved at the end. This race threw curveballs at all of the drivers today. When it was time for the final overtime restart, Chris Buescher had earned the outside position on the front row and used it to his advantage.

SVG gave a bump to Buescher early on the first lap of overtime. That let him make the pass for the lead. However, going into the essess, SVG hit the wall on the last lap. That mistake gave Buescher what he needed to make contact again.

Trading one bump for another, Chris Buescher got the 16 out of his way and drove it to the finish line.

In 16 Next Gen road course starts, including the Chicago Street Race, Buescher has an average finish of 8.31. If you take out the Chicago races, that improves to 7.35. Today, he put it all together for the win.

Chris Buescher wins, playoff drivers falter

While Chris Buescher played spoiler, NASCAR Playoff drivers had major issues. Chase Briscoe was the top driver in the field of 16 and he only managed a P6 finish. He fared much better than many others.

Denny Hamlin was involved in a Lap 1 incident, as well as Ryan Blaney. Hamlin managed to make repairs while NASCAR ended Blaney’s day early much to his chagrin. There were more incidents throughout the race, including pit road penalties for Kyle Larson and others.

One of the final cautions came out as William Byron and Brad Keselowski wrecked into each other. It was a scary moment as Byron’s right front tire rested on top of the window net of Keselowski.

This race really came down to consistency, making good pit stops, and managing your car. Mistakes, getting mired in traffic, and earning penalties upended many other drivers’ days. Which four drivers will be eliminated after next week’s Bristol Night Race?