It might not have been as dominant as some of his previous wins, but Shane van Gisbergen ran away with the Go Bowling at The Glen with an 11.1-second margin of victory over Christopher Bell. van Gisbergen led 38 laps to pick up his fourth consecutive win on a road/street course, trying Chase Elliott for the second-most all-time and surpassing Jimmie Johnson (2002) and Tony Stewart (1999) for the most wins (four) in a rookie season at the Cup level.
Rounding out the top 10 behind van Gisbergen and Bell were defending Watkins Glen winner Chris Buescher, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Ross Chastain.
NASCAR Cup Series regular-season points and playoff picture after Watkins Glen
Two races remain in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Those final two stops are at 0.75-mile short track Richmond Raceway on Saturday night and 2.5-mile superspeedway Daytona (Aug. 23).
Updated Cup Series standings after the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International
Driver Standings | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|
1. William Byron | 812 | 0 |
2. Chase Elliott | 770 | -42 |
3. Denny Hamlin | 731 | -81 |
4. Christopher Bell | 727 | -85 |
5. Kyle Larson | 727 | -85 |
6. Ryan Blaney | 710 | -102 |
7. Tyler Reddick | 701 | -111 |
8. Chase Briscoe | 674 | -138 |
9. Alex Bowman | 644 | -168 |
10. Chris Buescher | 618 | -194 |
Byron extends his points advantage to 42 points over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Elliott after the No. 9 driver's first finish outside the top 20 this season in 26th. Denny Hamlin and Bell move ahead of Larson after the 2021 champion's last-place finish. Blaney overtakes Reddick for sixth following his stage 2 win and sixth-place finish. Buescher's third-place finish vaults him up the standings to 10th, replacing Wallace.
Notables drivers outside the top 10 in the overall standings include Wallace (11th), Joey Logano (13th), Chastain (14th), Kyle Busch (15th), Brad Keselowski (19th) and Suarez (29th). Austin Cindric (16th), Josh Berry (24th) and van Gisbergen (25th) are in the bottom half of the overall standings, but are locked into the playoffs due to their wins.
NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after Watkins Glen
Position/Driver | Playoff Points | Wins/Points Above or Below Cutline |
|---|---|---|
1. Denny Hamlin | 24 | four wins |
2. Shane van Gisbergen | 22 | four wins |
3. Christopher Bell | 17 | three wins |
4. Kyle Larson | 23 | three wins |
5. William Byron | 17 | two wins |
6. Chase Elliott | 6 | one win |
7. Ryan Blaney | 11 | one win |
8. Chase Briscoe | 7 | one win |
9. Bubba Wallace | 7 | one win |
10. Joey Logano | 7 | one win |
11. Ross Chastain | 6 | one win |
12. Austin Cindric | 8 | one win |
13. Josh Berry | 6 | one win |
14. Tyler Reddick | 1 | +117 |
15. Alex Bowman | 0 | +60 |
16. Chris Buescher | -3 | +34 |
17. Ryan Preece | 2 | -34 |
18. Kyle Busch | 0 | -102 |
19. Ty Gibbs | 0 | -125 |
20. AJ Allmendinger | 0 | -129 |
van Gisbergen is now tied with Hamlin for the most wins in the series with four and sits second in the playoff standings with his 22 playoff points. With only two more races remaining, that means each of the 13 drivers who have won a race in 2025 will make the playoffs. Reddick (+117), Alex Bowman (+60) and Buescher (+34) are the three drivers currently in the field on points.
Buescher gained 11 points on his RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece, who is 34 points out. While there is still a chance for him to point his way in assuming there is not a new winner from below him in the standings, everyone else must win one of the next two races at Richmond or Daytona to qualify for the playoffs.
One thing to keep in mind is the importance of both regular-season points standings and playoff standings. While drivers with wins vault to the top of the playoff standings and guarantee themselves a playoff spot, assuming there are no more than 16 winners, the overall points are equally important. With only two races left and 13 winners so far, there will be no more than 15 different winners prior to the playoffs, assuring those drivers a playoff berth and leaving only three spots available on points after Watkins Glen.
The regular-season champion by season's end will earn an additional 15 playoff points, second place will get 10 and drivers third-to-10th in points will receive points in descending order down to one point for 10th.