2026 Go Bowling at the Glen (Watkins Glen) Race Recap

By Adam Carabine

Shane Van Gisbergen showed why he is the absolute road course GOAT, and made up a 29-second gap to win for the second year in a row!

Let’s have a look at how it all shook down!

Lap 1:  Shane Van Gisbergen starts on the pole, with Michael McDowell next to him.  SVG takes the lead off the start, though McDowell keeps pace pretty well.

Lap 9:  SVG’s lead over McDowell is now up to 2 seconds, Connor Zilisch is in third, 5.8 seconds back. 

Lap 16:  Austin Dillon comes to pit road – a little earlier than expected for those who were going to jump the stage end, but he was complaining of tire wear.

Lap 17:  Tyler Reddick and some others start pitting as well.

Lap 18:  McDowell and Zilisch pit from P2 and P3, among many others.

Lap 19:  SVG pits from the lead, just as the pits close with 2 to go.

Lap 20:  Ross Chastain takes over the lead and wins Stage One.  SVG came back out and got stage points in 8^th, McDowell finished 10^th.

Lap 22:  Chastain wins the race off pit road, for the cars that stayed out for stage points.  John Hunter Nemechek gets a penalty for crew over the wall too soon.

Lap 25:  Green flag for Stage Two – SVG and McDowell again on the front row.

Lap 27:  Connor Zilisch takes P2 from McDowell.

Lap 40:  CAUTION – A wild windstorm picked up a spectator’s tent and threw it onto the track.  Caution is officially for debris.

Lap 41:  Leader SVG pits with most everyone else.  Six stay out, including McDowell who will be the new leader.

Lap 44:  Back to green, 7 to go in the stage.  Riley Herbst spins at Turn One, but it stays green.  Then some big carnage at the bus stop involving William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Todd Gilliland and a few others, but again it stays green!

Lap 45:  Byron limps his car to pit road with a broken toe link.

Lap 46:  Christopher Bell blows the entrance to the bus stop and must come to a complete stop before resuming racing.

Lap 47:  SVG retakes the lead from Michael McDowell at the bus stop – a place on the track where SVG seems to really excel and make up time.

Lap 48:  McDowell’s tires are much older, as he stayed out at the previous caution, and he starts fading.  Reddick takes over P2.

Lap 49:  McDowell’s backwards slide continues, and he’s already at P7 by the time he makes it back to the bus stop.

Lap 50:  SVG stays out to win Stage Two.  McDowell ends up finishing P12, and doesn’t score any stage points.

Lap 52:  Pit road opens, the front runners stay out as it’s too early to get enough fuel to the end of the race.

Lap 55:  Final stage is green!  SVG leads Tyler Reddick.

Lap 60:  CAUTION – Joey Logano has a tire go down, and then through some contact ends up losing the tire carcass.  No penalty, but it brings out the caution.

Lap 61:  SVG and Reddick stay out again, most others pit.

Lap 62:  Speeding penalty for Riley Herbst.  Meanwhile Kyle Busch is requesting medical attention for after the race, as he reportedly is dealing with a bad head cold in the car.  He says he’ll finish the race, though.

Lap 64:  Back to green – SVG and Reddick who both didn’t pit.

Lap 69:  Tyler Reddick is starting to fade now, falls back to P5.  Ty Gibbs up to 4^th.

Lap 71:  There’s some contact with Josh Bilicki and Katherine Legge.  Tyler Reddick’s team believes a caution is coming and so he ducks to pit road immediately – but it stays green. 

Lap 74:  Ty Gibbs is up to P3 now.

Lap 76:  Michael McDowell pits from P2.

Lap 77:  SVG pits, Ty Gibbs takes the lead.  SVG comes back out in 26^th place.

Lap 83:  Connor Zilisch has gained on Ty Gibbs, the gap is now only half a second.

Lap 86:  Bubba Wallace spins, but gets it back up and rolling again – no caution.

Lap 87:  SVG has worked his way through the field with fresher tires, he’s now up to P7. 

Lap 89:  SVG now up to 6^th, only 10 seconds back.

Lap 90:  10 to go, SVG gained 5 seconds in that last lap alone, up to P5.

Lap 91:  SVG is now up to P3, just absolutely flying.  Only three seconds off of leader Ty Gibbs.

Lap 92:  Connor Zilisch appears to have a tire go down from P2, SVG takes it from him and now the gap to the leader is only 1.3 seconds.

Lap 93:  SVG gets the lead at the bus stop!  And he’s got fresher tires than most anyone else on the track, and enough fuel to the end.

Lap 94:  Cody Ware super slow on the track, but it stays green.

Lap 95:  SVG has stretched his lead over Ty Gibbs to 5 seconds.  McDowell moves to P2.

Lap 100:  SVG WINS in convincing fashion!  McDowell finishes P2, 7 seconds behind SVG.  Ty Gibbs is in third, 16.5 seconds behind the lead.

An absolute road course clinic by Shane Van Gisbergen, he wins again on the lefts and rights.  Initially the broadcast thought he was in trouble pitting when he did, but he made quick work of the rest of the field.

Next week is the All-Star race at Dover!