Shane van Gisbergen made NASCAR Cup Series road course racing look easy on Sunday, winning his fourth road course victory of the season at Watkins Glen International. The 36-year-old driver from New Zealand led 38 of 90 laps and crossed the finish line more than 11 seconds ahead of second place finisher Christopher Bell.

Van Gisbergen’s No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet was simply too fast for the competition. He led the final 17 laps and won by 11.116 seconds, making it his second victory this year by more than 10 seconds.

The big win came on the same weekend that Trackhouse Racing announced they had signed van Gisbergen to a multi-year contract extension. It was also sweet revenge for the New Zealand native, who finished second at Watkins Glen last year.

“Good to get that one back,” said van Gisbergen after the race. “What an awesome race. Coming back through the field after my final pit stop, I had a lot of fun. The car was just amazing again. Another win. Awesome.”

Van Gisbergen has now won at Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen this season. His four road course victories tie him with Denny Hamlin for the most wins in the Cup Series this year.

This victory makes van Gisbergen only the second driver in NASCAR history to win his first five Cup Series races on road courses. The other driver to do this was racing legend Dan Gurney decades ago.

In his first full season at NASCAR’s top level, van Gisbergen has been nearly unbeatable on road courses. Other drivers now measure their success by how close they can get to him.

“I’m thrilled today because we’ve been struggling a little bit to find our rhythm,” said Christopher Bell, who finished second. “The cars have been good. Really awesome to have a good day, but frustrated to get our butts kicked by the No. 88 car doing such a great job.”

The race had important playoff implications with just two regular season races remaining. Chris Buescher finished third, which helped him hold onto the final playoff position by 34 points over his RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece.

William Byron, the current points leader, finished fourth and extended his championship lead to 42 points over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. Elliott had a tough day, finishing 26th in his first finish outside the top 20 this season.

The top 10 finishers were: Shane van Gisbergen, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Ross Chastain.

Chase Briscoe made a last-lap pass on pole winner Ryan Blaney to finish fifth, while van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suarez finished seventh.

Thirteen drivers have already locked up playoff spots by winning races this season. The final three playoff positions currently belong to Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, and Chris Buescher.

Ryan Preece and Kyle Busch are the first two drivers outside the playoff field. Preece trails by 34 points while Busch is 102 points behind the cutoff line.

However, everything could change if a new winner emerges in the final two regular season races at Richmond or Daytona. A surprise winner at either track could shake up the entire playoff picture.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway in Virginia for Saturday night’s Cook Out 400. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be shown on USA Network.

With van Gisbergen continuing to dominate road courses and the playoff race heating up, the final two weeks of the regular season promise plenty of excitement as drivers fight for their championship dreams.

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images