Shane van Gisbergen turned a dismal qualifying result into a gritty and calculated race-day performance at Atlanta Motor Speedway, avoiding multiple wrecks and climbing into the top 10 in a race of survival, speed, and strategy. At one point went side by side with Ty Gibbs for the race lead in Stage 2.
The New Zealander started 35th in a field of 40, with all four Trackhouse Racing drivers struggling in qualifying. Teammates Daniel Suárez, Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch also found themselves near the rear of the grid, prompting the team to poke fun at themselves online, joking “We brought the downforce this week!”
At the front, it was Team Penske’s Joey Logano who led the field to green, with Josh Berry alongside him on the front row and teammates Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric right behind.
Logano led the early laps as the pack stayed tightly bunched, with just six-tenths separating the top ten.
Van Gisbergen began methodically slicing through the field. By lap 12, he was up to 30th after passing Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Corey LaJoie. Briscoe, who had started 10th, fell like a stone and was already back to 32nd by lap 18.
William Byron, meanwhile, was charging through the field, moving from 18th to 8th by lap 24.
Carson Hocevar delivered one of the drives of the race’s opening phase, surging from 30th to 5th in less than 30 laps. Van Gisbergen was also on the move, eventually climbing to 23rd before a brief tussle with teammate Suárez dropped him back to 24th.
The first caution came on lap 36 for a passing rain shower, neutralising the field. Van Gisbergen sat 23rd, nestled between Suárez and Chastain, while Logano led ahead of Cindric, Berry, Keselowski and Byron.
Following a brief red flag to dry the track, the cars returned to racing with 12 laps to go in Stage 1. Van Gisbergen restarted 24th but delivered one of the best charges of the stage, storming into the top 20 and continuing to pick off positions with surgical precision.
With five laps to go, he cracked the top 15, passing AJ Allmendinger, and then narrowly avoided a dramatic multi-car crash triggered by a spin from Christopher Bell. Ryan Blaney took the worst of the damage and retired, his sixth DNF of the season.
Van Gisbergen finished Stage 1 in 9th, claiming valuable stage points and emerging as the highest-placed Trackhouse car. Austin Cindric claimed the stage win, followed by Keselowski, Logano, Byron and Hocevar.
Rounding out the top 10 were Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Berry, Bubba Wallace, Van Gisbergen, and Chase Elliott.
Stage 2 resumed with SVG starting 10th after a lightning-quick pit stop from the Trackhouse crew. But just moments after the restart, disaster struck.
An enormous multi-car pile-up erupted behind Van Gisbergen, triggered in the midfield. Somehow, SVG once again emerged unscathed, escaping a wreck that collected an eye-watering 23 cars, nearly 60% of the field.
Drivers involved – Ross Chastain, Corey Lajoie, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ty Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Joey Logano, William Byron, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Cody Ware, Ryan Preece, Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar, BJ Mcleod and Daniel Suarez.
Van Gisbergen’s sharp instincts and clean driving allowed him to escape damage for a second time.
As green-flag racing resumed, van Gisbergen lined up on the second row in fourth, with Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs on the front row and John Hunter Nemechek in third. With 83 laps remaining in the stage, Gibbs took over the lead, while van Gisbergen powered into second and challenged for the top spot.
SVG briefly went side-by-side with Gibbs for the lead but lost momentum and made light contact with the wall, dropping to 16th with 72 laps to go in the stage. Despite the setback, he quickly began recovering positions and was back inside the top 10 with 60 laps to go.
The race remained unpredictable, with Buescher, Reddick, Smith and Elliott all taking turns at the front. Only 25 cars remained on the lead lap, with a handful of others, Wallace, McDowell, Hocevar, Gragson and Starr, circulating multiple laps down.
A caution flew again after Riley Herbst got loose and made contact with Todd Gilliland. Van Gisbergen narrowly avoided the incident, which sent both cars to the garage for repairs, though both later returned, multiple laps down.
Under caution, SVG pitted from 12th but suffered a slower stop, returning to the track in 13th position.
The restart with 42 laps to go in Stage 2 saw Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman leading the field, followed by Justin Haley and Zane Smith. Van Gisbergen worked his way forward once more, reaching 10th with 34 laps to go and eventually climbing to 6th as the lead pack battled furiously up front.
The final laps of Stage 2 featured relentless side-by-side action among the front-runners. Buescher and Bowman exchanged the lead several times while Elliott, Reddick and Gibbs closed in. With just over 10 to go, Elliott took the lead, but Reddick wasn’t done.
In the closing laps, the two went wheel-to-wheel for the stage win.
In a thrilling photo finish, Reddick edged out Elliott by 0.001s to win Stage 2. Van Gisbergen crossed the line in 7th, securing more valuable stage points.
Final Stage:
Van Gisbergen began the final stage from 7th position, running among the lead pack of Elliott, Buescher, Bowman, Reddick, Keselowski, and Nemechek. Elliott took control early with a push from Buescher to regain the lead.
However, Van Gisbergen’s run took a hit shortly after. Contact with the wall was followed by contact with Gibbs, sending the Kiwi driver into a spin and sliding into the grass.
Although he saved the car from a significant impact, the incident resulted in the sixth caution of the race. SVG pitted for repairs and briefly rejoined the field but was forced to return to pit road again for further work on a steering issue.
The race resumed with 78 laps remaining, with Van Gisbergen now three laps down in 25th position.
Soon after, Wallace spun down the track and into the inside wall, prompting a seventh caution. Van Gisbergen joined a large group of drivers pitting under yellow before the race went green again with 69 laps to go. Preece led the field, with Gibbs, Haley, Buescher and Elliott in pursuit.
Jones brought out the eighth caution after he got loose in front of Zilisch, forcing other drivers to take evasive action. Following the restart, Elliott reclaimed the lead, only to be overtaken by Keselowski moments later.
A ninth caution came with 52 laps to go when Starr, running 18 laps down, made contact with the wall and spun. On the restart, Elliott once again jumped to the front before being passed by both Keselowski and Buescher. The battle at the front intensified with Elliott, Keselowski, Haley, and Buescher all swapping positions.
The tenth caution was triggered when Ty Dillon lost control and made contact with Haley, sending the latter into a spin. The final restart came with 28 laps remaining, and Keselowski resumed command, leading Bowman, Elliott, Smith, and Buescher.
With 22 laps to go, Smith briefly took over the top spot before Keselowski regained control. Reddick made a charge from sixth to second and began challenging Keselowski for the lead with 20 to go, while Bowman also threw his hat into the ring.
In a dramatic shuffle, Smith retook the lead with 13 laps left, only for Bowman to counter with a move of his own. Then, in a surprise surge, Stenhouse Jr. charged to the front with seven laps remaining, only to lose the top spot to Keselowski with five laps to go.
The final lap saw a dramatic move from Elliott, who snatched the lead from Keselowski to take the victory, his first of the season. Keselowski finished second, followed by Bowman, Reddick, and Jones in the top five. Stenhouse Jr., Smith, Austin Dillon, Buescher, and Hocevar rounded out the top ten.
Van Gisbergen, hampered by damage and laps down, finished the race in 24th, three laps behind the leaders. Zilisch, the only Trackhouse Racing driver still running on the lead lap by race’s end, brought the car home in 12th.
Elliott was one of just four drivers who managed to avoid involvement in any incidents throughout the chaotic afternoon.
NASCAR returns next weekend for one of the most iconic events on the calendar—the Chicago Street Race. Shane van Gisbergen will once again pull double duty, competing in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series races on the challenging downtown circuit where he made history with his maiden Cup win in 2023.
The Xfinity Series race is scheduled for Sunday, July 6 at 8:30am NZT, followed by the Cup Series main event on Monday, July 7 at 6:00am NZT.
All eyes will be on the Kiwi as he looks to defend his street course supremacy in the Windy City.
Header Image: Shane Van Gisbergen (Facebook)
