“Driver error,” Shane van Gisbergen lamented after the Cup Series race ended on Sunday. The proceedings at Watkins Glen were wild, to say the least. The 2.4-mile track’s notorious turns called the ‘esses’ ravaged some playoff drivers like Denny Hamlin or Kyle Larson. Meanwhile, Gisbergen was scripting another front-row road course story – until a crucial mistake cost him the win.

Even Chris Buescher was caught off-guard to see the road course ace make such a mistake. Yet the RFK Racing driver did not dilly-dally and took full advantage of it. Gisbergen’s mishap provided the window of opportunity for Buescher. As Denny Hamlin observed, “Buescher won it, but SVG lost this race more than Buescher won it.”

SVG’s failure baffled Denny Hamlin

NASCAR Cup drivers were not prepared for such a bumpy ride at the New York track. Watkins Glen International had its usual tricky turns and heavy braking zones, but one feature stood out. The famous ‘bus stop’ corner was adjusted to be taller, almost resembling a spike. And that is where our Kiwi speedster faltered. On the final overtime restart, SVG was thriving with a race lead. But on entering the bus stop chicane, he grazed the armco and upset his car.

That little mistake was all Buescher needed to charge for the win, as Denny Hamlin explained.

On a recent episode of ‘Actions Detrimental’, Denny Hamlin expressed his surprise. “I thought that you give SVG the lead on a last lap. He’s just not gonna make a mistake. You know, he is disciplined enough.” Hamlin harped on the key moment that sealed SVG’s fate. “Coming off of 1, SVG actually had a decent place there. I think he just got offline slightly through the esses. At the top of the esses, the 17 got a really good run on SVG. I think that was the key moment that allowed him to think about how he was gonna get through that bus stop quickly to gap the 17.”

It was a combination of SVG making a mistake and Buescher striking the iron when it was hot. Denny Hamlin continued: “The 17 was not within striking distance until he got to the bus stop. At that point, SVG made a mistake, and he got too close to the barrier on the right. I think he made slight contact with it, and at that point, he missed his apex…The 17 hit his marks, got a good runoff, and it was all over after that.”

SVG let down his guard, and thus the No. 17 slammed doors with the No. 16 and grabbed the lead. The Auckland native would have achieved his second Cup victory if not for this mistake. Like Denny Hamlin, even Chris Buescher was surprised, considering SVG’s three-race road course victory march in Xfinity this year.

The victor was proud of the last lap

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Shane van Gisbergen made jaws drop when he debuted in NASCAR and immediately seized a Cup trophy at the Chicago Street Race. The three-time Bathurst 1000 winner solidified his signature road course talents further this year at Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago again. So Denny Hamlin knows what a threat he is: “You cannot stay close enough to SVG without absolutely doing a phenomenal job and the 17 did that.” Indeed, Chris Buescher had keen eyes like a hunter, looking for his moment to shine. After he did so, Buescher could not help but laud the moment he defeated SVG.

Buescher exuded pride in fending off a road course ace to achieve his first-ever road course victory, comparing with iconic last-lap battles. “Wanted to make sure we stayed in the hunt and drove the thing hard and kept the pressure on him and made him realize that we were still there and it wasn’t going to be a cruise away. I think that was the ticket to make sure that you get other drivers looking up in their mirror instead of looking forward and it’s a good old-fashioned hard battle at the end. There have been so many fantastic last one or two laps here at The Glen and I certainly feel like I’m going to go back and watch that one, and it’s going to feel like it’s going to add up with some of the old school Ambrose, Keselowski battles or a handful of others.”

Evidently, SVG’s slip-up surprised the entire NASCAR Cup garage. But this means the road course ace will come back stronger than ever when he begins his full-time Cup stint next year.