Shane van Gisbergen delivered another road course masterclass on Sunday at Watkins Glen International, charging from nearly 30 seconds behind to score his second straight NASCAR Cup Series victory at the famed New York circuit.

Starting from the pole, van Gisbergen once again proved untouchable on a road course. The Trackhouse Racing driver led a race-high 74 laps, won Stage 2, and stormed back through the field in the closing laps to secure the win after an aggressive pit strategy shuffled him deep in traffic during the final stage.

“Unbelievable to win with the No. 97,” van Gisbergen said. “The Superfile Chevy was great. Thank you to Trackhouse. We weren’t very good in practice, and then qualifying was amazing, good tweaks, and then today. So, what a race car and Stephen [Doran] made great calls.

“I wasn’t sure how it was going to work, and then to run them down like that. It’s very, very special to do two in a row here.”

The race strategy played a major role in the outcome. Crew chief Stephen Doran elected to keep van Gisbergen on track at the end of Stage 2 while much of the field pitted. Another caution on Lap 60 again saw several contenders head to pit road, while van Gisbergen stayed out and maintained track position.

That strategy eventually forced van Gisbergen to pit later than many of the leaders during the final green-flag cycle. He surrendered the lead on Lap 75 with 25 laps remaining and rejoined the race deep in the field while Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch inherited the top spots.

At one point, van Gisbergen trailed the leaders by 29.2 seconds.

What followed was another showcase of his road course ability.

With 14 laps remaining, the gap had already been cut in half as van Gisbergen climbed to seventh. Four laps later, he was within striking distance in fifth place. He finally caught Gibbs with eight laps to go and made the winning pass before driving away from the field.

Michael McDowell also mounted an impressive late-race charge and finished second, while Gibbs held on for third after battling fuel concerns throughout the final run.

Chase Briscoe finished fourth, Tyler Reddick came home fifth, and Austin Dillon crossed the line sixth. AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the top 10.

Zilisch appeared to be in contention for the win late in the race but saw his day unravel after suffering a flat tire with eight laps remaining. He was forced to pit and ultimately finished 20th.

Ross Chastain captured the Stage 1 victory but ended the day in 27th after fading during the second half of the race.

Van Gisbergen, Gibbs, McDowell, and Chastain were the only drivers to lead laps during the event, which featured just four cautions, two for stage breaks and two for debris.

The victory marked van Gisbergen’s seventh NASCAR Cup Series win in just 62 starts, with every single one coming on a road course.

“Oh, for sure, but it’s not easy,” van Gisbergen said when asked about his dominance on road courses. “Everyone is really good. There was a lot of pressure there. McDowell was good. Connor was good. Tyler Reddick. There were some really good guys and a lot of pressure. I’m just stoked for these guys to execute every facet of our game.”