Shane van Gisbergen battles Connor Zilisch as flying tent halts Watkins Glen NASCAR race

A caution came out with 10 laps to go in Stage 2, and for an unusual reason. Debris on the track caused NASCAR to throw the flag and slow the drivers on the track.

But not just any debris. In fact, it was a flying tent.

The wind at Watkins Glen has been fierce, and it took its toll on the race on Sunday evening when it swept up a poorly nailed down tent and took it for a ride. The tent got an impressive amount of air, looking like a scene out of Mary Poppins for a moment before ultimately fluttering down toward the track and resting on it.

"Hey, has anyone seen my tent?"- A Watkins Glen fan

A tent blew out on the track for a caution 😂 pic.twitter.com/gcnECkrQNB

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 10, 2026

The good news? Easy enough cleanup.

And NASCAR will likely make some sort of announcement on the grounds at Watkins Glen to encourage fans to make sure all their belongings are properly tied down. As for the race itself, it was a good one.

Shane van Gisbergen was predictably battling toward the front of the pack, with Connor Zilisch in hot pursuit. That’s the battle many fans wanted to see going into the weekend. Zilisch, of course, won the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Watkins Glen on Saturday, edging out Jesse Love and Taylor Gray for the win. The two also dueled in the Truck Series on Friday, with Zilisch finishing second and van Gisbergen finishing third.

Shane van Gisbergen wins pole, Harvick’s picks to win

Shane van Gisbergen qualified on the pole for Watkins Glen. Now, the questions becomes, who will win at Watkins Glen? That’s a question that Kevin Harvick and his cohort attempted to tackle on the latest episode of the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. SVG, as you might imagine, figured to be a popular choice after his dominance at NASCAR road courses a year ago.

But host Kaitlyn Vincie went a different direction as the first on the podcast to make a pick for Watkins Glen. She admitted it was a surprise: “I think mine is going to surprise you guys, but whatever,” Vincie said. “My heart wanted to pick SVG, but I’m a show-me-lately kind of person and I’m just not feeling it. So I’m going with Chris Buescher because he has been good there in the past and he’s been very good as of late at all tracks.”

It didn’t take Harvick very long to make his selection after that. After all, when you leave one of the most track-dominant racers available at Watkins Glen, that’s opportunity: “Well thank you, I’ll take SVG,” Harvick said. Of course, that is last year’s NASCAR winner at Watkins Glen.

The final host to make his pick on the podcast was Mamba Smith. He also went with a recent winner, though not at Watkins Glen: “I think I came in here with a strategy and I really, it’s out the window,” he said. “You know what? Is Michael Jordan going to be there this weekend? Tyler Reddick.”

On3 will have more on this developing story shortly.