It’s no easy feat to beat Australian Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen at his own game – that is, in a road course race in the Cup Series. But Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse, did just that at Watkins Glen on September 15th, 2024. He moved Van Gisbergen out of the way to win the Cup Series race, which is definitely something he should be proud of.
Travis Peterson and Drew Blickensderfer took a closer look at the data in the latest episode of Inside the Race and outlined exactly how Buescher pulled off his upset win at the Glen on Sunday. They pointed out that Van Gisbergen’s No. 16 Chevy Camaro ZL1 carried a little too much momentum going into the infamous “bus stop” turn, which caused him to get loose and tap the wall, scrubbing off precious speed as Buescher closed on him.
Buescher, meanwhile, hugged the left side of the track as Van Gisbergen fought with his loose race car. Buescher was running the “normal” line, which allowed him to cut the distance as Van Gisbergen swung wide and had to take a sharper turn to. And then, the contact. Buescher looked to the inside of Van Gisbergen and their two race cars touched.
“Chris isn’t really trying to run in the back of him that much,” Blickensderfer says. “SVG may not be trying to pinch him off, he’s just out of control… he thinks, ‘If I can just keep me next to [Buescher] off the carousel, I might have a shot to win this race.”
That’s not what happened, though. While Van Gisbergen tried valiantly to keep Buescher in his sights, Buescher set sail and sliced down in front of him.
In short, Buescher’s No. 17 NASCAR Ford was smart and took advantage of the fact that veteran Van Gisbergen slipped up, then passed the out-of-control race car with ease and went on to win the race. Of course, the win was a bittersweet one for Buescher, who narrowly missed making the postseason Playoffs, something a win earlier in the season would have qualified him for.
Comment
The lead driver knew a pit maneuver was coming and only chance was to try to avoid it but when you can use the lead car to stop you, braking later and bumping them out of the way, as permitted in this series, gives the following car the advantage. Nothing new, being the superior driver and leading on the last lap,is no longer an advantage unless a caution comes out, as then the lead car can then be the winner. Critical to have a team car wreck at the right time to cause a yellow! It’s a show folks with great drivers in large billboard size cars.