WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Chris Buescher passed Shane van Gisbergen on the last lap to win Sunday’s Cup race at Watkins Glen International.
“Just such an awesome finish,” Buescher said. “To be that good for so much at the end of the race, all race, to get a win, it’s good. We came here to be a spoiler.”
Buescher is not a playoff driver. The race was challenging for many of the playoff drivers. None finished in the top five.
Watkins Glen results and driver points after Chris Buescher’s overtime win
The top five finishers were not playoff drivers Sunday.
Two former Cup champions and Denny Hamlin are below the cutline heading into next weekend’s cutoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ty Gibbs holds the final transfer spot.
Van Gisbergen finished second.
“Driver error,” he said of losing the lead to Buescher. “I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there. As I turned and got a bit loose and clipped the inside wall and driver error. I’m gutted.”
Carson Hocevar placed a career-best third, pole-sitter Ross Chastain finished fourth and Zane Smith completed the top five.
The top playoff driver was Chase Briscoe in sixth. He entered the race last in the points after he was collected in a crash last week at Atlanta. He scored more points (43) than any playoff driver and holds the 11th of 12 transfer spots going into Bristol.
Half of the 16 playoff drivers finished 20th or worse, including Truex (20th), Gibbs (22nd), Hamlin (23rd), Keselowski (26th) and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney (38th).
Keselowski had two pit road penalties and was collected in a crash late in the race. Truex’s car was damaged in an incident that set up the overtime finish.
The race started poorly for some playoff drivers. Corey LaJoie made contact with Kyle Busch in the bus stop on the opening lap. That turned Busch.
His spinning car hit Hamlin’s car in the right front. Ryan Blaney, who entered as the points leader, slammed into the guardrail and was eliminated. Blaney finished last in the 38-car field.
What drivers said after NASCAR Cup playoff race at Watkins Glen
Sunday’s event was the middle race in the opening round of the playoffs.
Blaney was upset that NASCAR ruled his race was over with towing the car back to the garage.
“They didn’t give us a chance to fix it. How are they going to dictate if we are done or not?” Blaney said. “They have no idea of the damage. They said we were done because I couldn’t drive it back to the pit box, but if you have four flats, you get towed back to the pit box. You can’t drive that back. I don’t know what is going on or why they won’t give us a shot to work on it but I don’t agree with it.”
Stage 1 winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Stage 2 winner: Ross Chastain
Who had a good race: Spire Motorsports placed all three cars in the top 10 for the first time in team history. Carson Hocevar finished a career-best third, Zane Smith placed fifth and Corey LaJoie was eighth. … Chase Briscoe’s sixth-place finish tied his career-best result on a road course.
Next: The series races Saturday, Sept. 21 at Bristol (7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).
