Van Gisbergen dominated the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen before an awkwardly timed caution compromised his strategy.
While his key rivals chose to pit midway through Stage 3 under the yellow, van Gisbergen stayed out and pitted under green flag conditions.
The driver of the #97 car went on to execute an epic comeback, turning a 29-second deficit into a seven-second lead over runner-up Michael McDowell by the chequered flag.
Van Gisbergen’s road course prowess has been a big benefit to Trackhouse Racing, netting seven wins since his 2023 debut on the streets of Chicago.
His latest win put him just behind Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight) for the most road course race wins in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Speaking post-race, Marks detailed the impact van Gisbergen had had on the organisation.
“When we signed our GM key partner deal, it was a four-year deal. The second half of it, we had to put a car in the playoffs to unlock the next two years,” Marks explained.
“At the end of those first two years, we already had like five or six wins or something like that.
“If you were to ask me when we started Trackhouse that we would have a win total that we’ve got right now, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s just an incredible group of people that we’ve got.
“This new race car has certainly opened the door for us to have the success, along with a lot of other teams, create a lot of parity in the sport.
“We have a race car driver that is at a level that I don’t think this sport has ever seen before on these road courses.
“I thought, seven wins, by this point, the field would have figured out how to close the gap, but he just continues to deliver at such an incredibly high level.
“We’re just so lucky to have him in that car and our new sponsor SuperFile this year to get them into victory lane. It’s always super special to get a new partner in Victory Lane.”
Marks admitted that he feared van Gisbergen would not be able to hunt the leaders down.
However, with supreme outright speed and the front-runners needing to conserve fuel and tyres, it quickly became evident of what was about to play out.
“In our pre-race meeting, we certainly anticipated some falloff,” said Marks.
“We knew it would be a difficult race, be a big track position race. So we’re happy with where we were starting.
“In the first part of the race, it just seemed like it was really hard to pass.
“There was a point in the third stage where I was fairly worried about the #97 strategy, knowing that he had to pit and that so many folks are going to stay out.
“I just didn’t know if there was really enough time to get back there.
“Once he got out of the pits and went for it and I saw that, I just did the calculation of how much faster he was every lap and how many laps were left, it started to get pretty exciting.
“But there was a point there where I was a little nervous about it.”
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