By: Zach Arnold

For the first time in 51 years, fans witnessed the shortest race in the Cup Series since 1971. 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 44 seconds was the amount of time the Go Bowling At The Glen 200 took.

The race that currently holds the record for the quickest Cup race in NASCAR history goes a little over five decades back, occurring on August, 28th, 1971 at Hickory Motor Speedway. The duration of this race was 1 hour, 21 minutes, 47 seconds. Bobby Issac won the record-holding race, leading 262 of 276 laps.

The gap between the races is 36.95 minutes. It will be tough to beat the record, as there are no more 100-mile races. This past weekend, 200 miles was the distance of the full race.

One reason that helped the Go Bowling At The Glen 200 become the second shortest race in Cup Series history was the lack of cautions. NASCAR got rid of stage breaks on road courses, meaning the race will run until they have an actual reason to stop. Only one caution occurred at the Glen. Chase Elliott ran out of fuel on lap 55. This was the only break throughout the race; other than that, it ran under green flag racing until the end.

NASCAR heads to Daytona International Speedway to host the final regular-season event. This race will come no where close to beating the record, 400 miles and 160 laps ahead. Catch the race on NBC Sports this Saturday at 7 pm.