Watkins Glen Race Results: Finish Order, Winner, and Key Takeaways

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Watkins Glen Race Results: Finish Order, Winner, and Key Takeaways

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Thomas Carelli | Last updated May 10, 2026 7:17 PM ET

Shane van Gisbergen dominated at Watkins Glen, winning the Go Bowling at the Glen by over 7 seconds to Michael McDowell. The road course ringer is seemingly unstoppable, having led nearly 75% of laps run in the race. The victory is now his 7th career win on a NASCAR Cup Series road course.

The rest of the top 5 was rounded out by a, once again, strong contingent of Toyotas, with Ty Gibbs in 3rd, Chase Briscoe in 4th, and Tyler Reddick in 5th. Joey Logano, who originally was running strong, finished 15 laps down in dead-last place.

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Watkins Glen Race Results


Finishing Position	Driver
1	Shane van Gisbergen
2	Michael McDowell
3	Ty Gibbs
4	Chase Briscoe
5	Tyler Reddick
6	Austin Dillon
7	AJ Allmendinger
8	Kyle Busch
9	Austin Cindric
10	John Hunter Nemechek
11	Ryan Blaney
12	Chris Buescher
13	Daniel Suarez
14	Ryan Preece
15	Cole Custer
16	Denny Hamlin
17	Todd Gilliland
18	Zane Smith
19	Erik Jones
20	Connor Zilisch
21	Christopher Bell
22	Kyle Larson
23	Noah Gragson
24	Chase Elliott
25	Alex Bowman
26	Riley Herbst
27	Ross Chastain
28	Carson Hocevar
29	Josh Berry
30	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
31	Brad Keselowski
32	Bubba Wallace
33	Ty Dillon
34	Josh Bilicki
35	Ketherine Legge
36	William Byron
37	Cody Ware
38	Joey Logano

Best Performances of the Day

Shane van Gisbergen Punts a Rugby Ball after Winning at Watkins Glen. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Shane van Gisbergen won with 74/100 laps led on the day. Much of those laps un-led were due to his short-pitting strategy, which gunned for the win over stage points. That strategy worked overwhelmingly well, as van Gisbergen gained over 2 seconds per lap in his final 20-lap run, moving to the front of the field.

Michael McDowell qualified in 2nd place, and while his result was uncertain, he finished with a strong 2nd-place effort. McDowell was 9 seconds best of 3rd place.

Ty Gibbs keeps on running extremely well when not ailing mid-race. Racing cleanly, Gibbs finished 3rd and can be argued to be the most consistent race car driver in 2026.

Worst Performers of the Day

Joey Logano dealt with a flat left front tire on lap 61, which brought out the caution. He finished in dead-last 38th place, 15 laps down running.

William Byron was collected in tight racing, spinning on lap 44. His day faltered from there, earning a 37th-place finish, 3 laps down.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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