Going into the Go Bowling at Glen Race, it was quite evident that Shane van Gisbergen was the driver to beat. Michael McDowell learned that the hard way, as he had no choice but to concede defeat as the Kiwi driver displayed his dominance at the road course. 

During the qualifying for the race at Watkins Glen, the Spire Motorsports driver qualified in second place. Before the race, McDowell looked forward to challenging SVG for a win, but as soon as the race began, he realized he was racing for second place. 

While talking to FOX Sports after the race, McDowell said, “There were moments where I thought, ‘Ahh, maybe we can hang with SVG,’ and it felt like he was just pacing himself off me. He’d take off.”

Throughout the race, SVG seemed to be in a league of his own, and the only real threat he faced was the spire driver during the first stage of the race.

However, a strategic gamble made by the team is what caused the #71 car driver to fall back in the race.

During stage 2 of the race, Travis Peterson, the #71 crew chief, decided to leave the driver out on old tyres, but the strategy soon backfired as the driver was buried in the traffic by the final laps of the stage.

“But in that second stage there, we got a little bit off strategy, and then we recovered well, which Travis did a great job of getting the track position when we needed it," McDowell added. "Just not quite enough to run him down. Like I said, it’s just tough, man.”  

The Spire driver was able to bounce back after pitting in the last green cycle. 

SVG overcomes pit road issues to win Watkins Glen

It was Shane van Gisbergen's seventh career win as he secured pole position for the race. However, it was not smooth sailing throughout the race for the Kiwi.

In the final stage of the race, the driver fell to the back of the pack while coming off the pit road.

But he managed to make up 29.2 seconds and take the lead away from Ty Gibbs with seven laps to go. He won the race with a margin of 7.5 seconds over Michael McDowell in second place. 

While talking to NASCAR post-race, SVG said, "It's not easy. Everyone is really good. There was a lot of pressure there, and I think McDowell was good, …..There was a lot of good guys and a lot of pressure.” 

SVG led a race high of 74 laps to give Trackhouse Racing their first victory of the season.

Both drivers will face each other again in the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 12:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Who do you think will dominate in that race? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Koushik Biswas