WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — A look at the winners and losers of the weekend at Watkins Glen International.
WINNERS
Chris Buescher — After falling short in the closest finish in series history in May at Kansas, Buescher won one of the most exciting finishes of the year on Sunday. Buescher overtook Shane van Gisbergen on the final lap of overtime to claim his first win of the season.
Drivers who do not participate in the playoffs Sunday’s race was the first of the playoffs in which the top five finishers were drivers who did not participate in the playoffs. Behind winner Chris Buescher were Shane van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain and Zane Smith.
Spire Motorsports — The team placed all three cars in the top 10 for the first time. Carson Hocevar finished third, his best finish on a road course. Zane Smith finished fifth, his best finish on a road course. Corey LaJoie finished eighth, his first top 10 on a road course.
Chasing Briscoe — He entered the race last among the playoff drivers and moved up to 11th in the standings (in a transfer spot) after finishing sixth and scoring 43 points. He scored at least 10 points more than any other playoff driver.
Connor Zilisch — Trackhouse Racing’s 18-year-old developmental driver won Saturday’s Xfinity race in his series debut. That adds to his LMP2 win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, his LMP2 win at Sebring and four ARCA wins this year.
LOSERS
Denny Hamlin — After his strategy backfired at Atlanta, Hamlin needed a good race. Instead, he qualified 22nd, crashed on the opening lap, and then was involved in another incident later in the race. He finished 23rd, six points below the cutoff line heading into Bristol (where he won the last two races).
Ryan Blaney — He entered the field as the points leader, but didn’t last a lap on Sunday. He qualified 30th and crashed on the opening lap to finish last in the 38-car field.
Brad Keselowski — He had two pit penalties and a late-race crash, finishing 26th and 12 points off the cut line (after coming in one point off it). The silver lining is that his team won the race with Chris Buescher.
Martin Truex Jr. He left Watkins Glen frustrated — called the race “ridiculous” after his car was damaged in an incident. He finished 20th and remains below the cut-off line heading into Bristol.