“I Was Pretty Pissed Off”: Watkins Glen Heartbreak Still on Shane van Gisbergen’s Mind After One Year

Defeating Shane van Gisbergen on a road course is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish in the NASCAR Cup Series. A rare moment in which a driver managed to do that was when Chris Buescher overcame him at Watkins Glen International last year. The former Australian Supercars champion still remembers how painful it was to lose out on victory after the final overtime restart.

On the restart, he had lined up inside of the second row, and entering Turn 1, he moved Buescher up the track to take the lead. It looked like he might run away with the win, but a mistake he made in Turn 5 let the RFK Racing driver grab the position back. He went wide in the inner loop and clipped the grass, allowing Buescher to gain an advantage. The game was over from there.

A year later, SVG still looks back at the race and feels the pain in his chest. He said during a media availability this week, “You know, that’s painful whenever you make a mistake that’s entirely your fault. I’m quite self-analytical. I was pretty pissed off about that, and even when I think of it now, you know, it’s just, it’s a mistake I made, and it frustrates me.”

The No. 88 Trackhouse Racing crew has studied all the data from the race and analyzed what their mistakes were. This Sunday, they will look to eliminate them all and have a perfect outing. Van Gisbergen is clear about what his goal is. He added, “I remember [Buescher]. He’s a hard, clean racer, and I went and saw him in Victory Lane after. He’s a nice guy, and, you know, I’m trying to get him back this year.”

Shane van Gisbergen vs. the rest of the field

The Cup Series field will already be aware that the fight on Sunday will be against van Gisbergen. He has an average finish of 2.25 in the four road course races so far this year, a number that is the result of wins in Mexico, Sonoma, and Chicago. Only Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has been able to beat him at a road course (COTA) this season.

Going into this weekend, van Gisbergen has a huge target on his back. His image as the best road course driver gives an additional motive for his competitors to best him. But the job won’t be easy, by any means. He is the favorite to win the upcoming event for a reason. He has been completely dominant on the road courses, beating the others by a huge margin.

In Mexico, he won with a lead of over 16 seconds. In Sonoma, he led 97 of the 110 laps. This sheer dominance is simply too much of a mountain to climb. It is going to take serious skill and a strong mindset to defeat him and enter Victory Lane.