Shane van Gisbergen eyes Watkins Glen redemption after last-lap error

Rising NASCAR star Shane van Gisbergen is keen to make amends for a costly mistake at Watkins Glen last year, as he returns to the iconic road course in upstate New York this weekend.

Then driving for Kaulig Racing as a part-time driver, Van Gisbergen had made a brilliant restart during overtime to grab the lead of the race from fourth place.

However, on the final lap, he made a rare error at the Bus Stop chicane, allowing RFK Racing rival Chris Buescher to barge past him and snatch victory by 0.9s.

It’s a moment that still frustrates the Kiwi nearly a year on. But now back at The Glen with Trackhouse Racing, van Gisbergen believes he has what it takes to finish the job.

“I studied it a lot,” van Gisbergen said. “That’s painful whenever you make a mistake that’s entirely your fault. I’m quite self-analytical. I was pretty pissed off about that, and even when I think of it now, it’s a mistake I made, and it frustrates me.

“It’s good knowing…. we looked at all last year’s history on Monday, and all our sectors were good, apart from a couple, and it’s something to work on for this year.

“But yeah, I had confidence knowing we were the fastest car by far last year, and we just need to keep building on that and keep getting better.

“But we had a good race last year. I remember [Buescher]. He’s a hard, clean racer, and I went and saw him in Victory Lane after, and he’s a nice guy, and I’m trying to get him back this year.”

Since missing out on victory at Watkins Glen, Van Gisbergen has cemented his dominance on road courses, winning at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma in his first full Cup Series campaign.

In fact, there has only been one other driver who has triumphed at a road course this year: Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who triumphed at Austin as part of his early-season three-peat.

Van Gisbergen believes he has now become the new standard-setter on road courses in the Cup Series.

“I really love the racing here,” van Gisbergen said. “I don’t feel like anyone targets me on the track and tries to take me out or anything. But, I feel like we’re the benchmark, which is really awesome to be.

“It’s the best thing on the road course. I’ve never really raced the same guy. Every week, there’s someone different. Like, the spread of talent is quite high here, and whoever nails it on a weekend will be up front. It’s pretty cool.”