With a fantastic bump and run move on the final lap, Chris Buescher got around Shane van Gisbergen on the final lap of Sunday’s (Sept. 15) NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen, collecting his first win of 2024.
Van Gisbergen cleared Buescher on the race’s overtime restart, but after van Gisbergen got loose in the bus stop on the final lap, Buescher pounced, bumping the No. 16 out of the way in the carousel.
“Thought we lost it there on that last one,” Buescher told NBC Sports. “He (van Gisbergen) missed it (the bus stop). I tried to cross over and tried to cut, just hard racing there.”
The win is Buescher’s first since Daytona in August of 2023.
Van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, Zane Smith, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10.
Three playoff drivers were involved in a crash on lap 1, with Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin all collected in a stack-up that also involved Kyle Busch, Preece and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The incident caused major damage to Hamlin’s car while also messing up Blaney’s steering column. A frustrated Blaney was relegated to a 38th-place finish, with Stenhouse also deemed out of the race.
The No. 11 team was able to fix Hamlin’s car enough for it to meet minimum speed on the ensuing restart, with pole-sitter Chastain going to the lead. AJ Allmendinger was forced to pit on lap 7, citing a mechanical issue. On lap 9, the No. 13 car was forced to go to the garage area.
Some of the race leaders, including Chastain, made their way down pit road before the end of stage one, with Martin Truex Jr. taking the stage win over Alex Bowman, Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Cindric.
Brad Keselowski sped on pit road during the first road of green flag pit stops, incurring a penalty under the caution flag. Hamlin barely beat Busch back to the caution flag, earning the free pass and getting back on the lead lap.
Of the cars that came down for service, Truex was the first driver off pit road.
Chastain took the lead on the restart, with Tyler Reddick going for a spin in turn 1. McDowell went through to the second spot, with van Gisbergen running third.
On lap 38, McDowell led a litany of drivers down pit road, including Smith, LaJoie and Truex. Suarez went for a spin in turn 6, causing a caution flag and forcing both Chastain and van Gisbergen to…
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