A look at the weekly NASCAR Cup Series stock watch after the race at Watkins Glen, including Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.
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When it comes to road course racing, the bar isn’t exactly set very high for a race to be entertaining. That said, Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen delivered one of the more compelling NASCAR Cup Series road races in recent memory. Shane van Gisbergen’s breathtaking late-race charge will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Beyond the victor, there are several additional storylines worth unpacking coming out of the weekend. From an organization finding its footing to a championship contender in free-fall, here are the drivers and teams trending up and down after Watkins Glen.
📈Stock Up | NASCAR Cup Series After Watkins Glen
Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing
It has been a rough season for Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing, but the last two weeks have offered a reason for cautious optimism.
A crew chief change prior to Texas appeared to spark some life into the No. 8 camp — Andy Street took over atop the pit box and the results have been immediate. Busch ran inside the top-10 for much of that race before an underwhelming finish undermined what was otherwise an encouraging effort.
Reports out of the RCR paddock suggested the team left Texas motivated, and they backed it up at Watkins Glen with a solid eighth-place finish. Teammate Austin Dillon added to the momentum, crossing the line sixth for his first top-10 of the season. A road course has never been the most natural fit for either driver, which makes the performance even more noteworthy.
The 2026 campaign has been a difficult one for the organization, but back-to-back weekends of genuine speed suggest that Street’s arrival has had a tangible impact. Whether the gains can be replicated at upcoming oval tracks will be the real litmus test going forward.
Ty Gibbs
Twelve races into the 2026 season, Ty Gibbs ranks second among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers in both top-five finishes with six and top-10s with eight. Those are numbers that demand attention, and Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen did nothing to slow the momentum.
Gibbs led late in the race before fuel conservation requirements and old tires prevented him from holding off Shane van Gisbergen’s charge. He ultimately came home third in what was an impressive showing at a track where he has historically struggled.
Along with his breakthrough victory at Bristol last month, Gibbs continues to be one of the most consistent drivers in the field and now finds himself sixth in the points standings. That position carries real significance — the top six at the start of the Chase will have a distinct advantage when it comes to the points reset.
There is still a long way to go before then, but Gibbs has quietly inserted himself into the championship conversation in just his third full Cup Series season. At 23 years old, the ceiling remains high and the results are starting to match the potential that has always surrounded his name.
Trackhouse Racing at Road Courses
In what has otherwise been a disastrous 2026 season, the Go Bowling at The Glen served as a firm reminder that Trackhouse Racing remains tough to beat on road courses. Shane van Gisbergen’s dominant victory was the headliner, but the depth of the organization’s performance ran well beyond the No. 97 car.
Connor Zilisch suffered a tire issue that derailed what was otherwise the most competitive run of his rookie season to date. He was right on SVG’s heels during Stage Two, showing genuine pace that belied both his age and his team’s struggles this year. The setback was unfortunate, but the speed was real and the confidence gained from that kind of performance should carry forward.
Ross Chastain drew the short straw on strategy late in the race, but his Stage One victory salvaged a respectable points day for the No. 1 car and kept him relevant in the standings conversation.
The lingering question is whether Trackhouse can translate this road course excellence back to oval tracks. In a season where it appears unlikely that more than one car from the organization qualifies for the Chase, Sunday was at minimum a positive day. If they can rediscover the oval speed that made them a legitimate contender in years past, the talent is clearly there to be a factor on the broader scale once again.
📉Stock Down | NASCAR Cup Series After Watkins Glen
Joey Logano
It’s time to own a bad call. Roughly one month ago during the bye week, I suggested that Joey Logano was worth a look in the championship futures market at 15-1 odds. A top-10 finish at Bristol in the very next race seemed to validate the pick. What has followed since then has been nothing short of alarming.
A 38th-place finish at Watkins Glen marked the fourth consecutive race in which Logano has crossed the line 30th or worse. To put that in historical context, he hasn’t endured a four-race stretch this poor since the opening ten starts of his NASCAR Cup Series career. The No. 22 team has gone from a futures sleeper to a genuine cause for concern in a matter of weeks.
Logano now sits 18th in points, 38 markers below the cutline with the season approaching its midpoint. Given how poorly Team Penske as a whole has performed at intermediate ovals this season, it is difficult to find much optimism heading into the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte next weekend.
With that, consider the futures recommendation officially retracted. He may not even make The Chase at this rate.
Hendrick Motorsports
From 2018 through 2023, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and William Byron were the kings of Watkins Glen International — combining to win all five NASCAR Cup Series races contested at the track over that span. Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen offered little indication that any of that dominance remains.
The warning signs emerged in qualifying, where all four HMS entries slotted in well below expectations. The race itself was worse. Byron was collected in an incident early and suffered a broken right rear toe link, finishing 36th and three laps down. Larson, Elliott and Bowman crossed the line 23rd, 24th and 25th respectively — none of them ever a factor strategically or on the broadcast. Elliott even attempted to stay out at the end of Stage One to score stage points and didn’t have the pace to do so.
The standings tell a mixed story. Elliott remains third in points, but Larson has slipped to eighth and Byron to 12th. A full panic may not yet be warranted — HMS has shown signs of improvement at ovals recently after an early-season adjustment period to the new Chevrolet body. That said, it is increasingly difficult to ignore the possibility that Hendrick simply may not have what it takes to challenge Toyota for supremacy in 2026.
Bubba Wallace
Bubba Wallace was at it again on pit road following Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen, getting in a driver’s face and gesturing wildly in a heated post-race confrontation. The target of his frustration appeared to be Christopher Bell — though spotter Freddie Kraft suggested on X that Wallace was not actually angry with Bell. This raised the possibility that he was simply venting to a fellow competitor after a frustrating afternoon.
The source of that frustration was understandable. Wallace was spun around by John Hunter Nemechek late in the race and had to settle for a 29th-place finish — another disappointing result for the No. 23 team. Road courses have never been a particular strength for Wallace, but a pattern of on-track incidents in recent weeks adds a layer of concern that goes beyond surface type.
On paper, Wallace’s season isn’t bad — six top-10s and tenth in the points standings represent a reasonable body of work. But teammate Tyler Reddick has been markedly more successful and consistent in 2026, and that gap may be weighing on Wallace more than the results alone suggest. Multiple incidents and the pit road confrontation make him a driver worth monitoring closely heading into Charlotte.
Bonus Stock Down: FOX NASCAR Broadcast
Criticism of FOX’s NASCAR Cup Series broadcast coverage has intensified in recent weeks. Some of it has been warranted and some has been a bit out of line. Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen, however, gave the detractors plenty of ammunition.
The misses were numerous. Cody Ware was involved in a significant late-race incident that damaged his car badly enough to require multiple pit road visits — and the broadcast never showed it. When FOX did eventually cut to the No. 51 limping around the track, zero context was provided.
Then there was Bubba Wallace getting spun by John Hunter Nemechek — a moment that apparently sent him spiraling into a post-race confrontation — that was also not given much of any attention. Best of all, FOX somehow managed to capture near-perfect footage of a tent that got blown onto the track by a wind gust, resulting in a caution. Priorities, apparently.
Simply put, fans should not be forced to piece together what actually happened via X due to poor television coverage. The CW’s coverage of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has quietly set a higher standard in the booth, which only makes the FOX product look worse by comparison.
Sunday marked a tough way to conclude the network’s points-paying race coverage for the year. Fortunately, Amazon Prime will have the opportunity to improve the race day experience for viewers once the All-Star Race is in the rearview mirror.
