Chase Briscoe claimed his first victory for Joe Gibbs Racing with a commanding performance at Pocono Raceway, mastering fuel strategy and late-race pressure to punch his ticket to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
While Briscoe celebrated in Victory Lane, it was a bruising afternoon for Kiwi rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who was caught in multiple incidents and eventually classified 31st in a frustrating weekend for the Kiwi after coming in on a high from Mexico.
Van Gisbergen arrived at Pocono off the back of a historic road course win in Mexico. He continued his qualifying improvements on ovals by securing 23rd on the grid, matching his best oval starting position so far this season, which he previously achieved at Nashville.
The result was aided by a more favourable qualifying order thanks to his Mexico triumph and marked a clear step forward in one-lap pace for the Kiwi, who has typically struggled in time trials on oval tracks.
His Trackhouse Racing teammates also showed solid pace: Ross Chastain lined up 21st, while Daniel Suárez made it into the top ten with a strong 10th-place qualifying effort.
Pole position went to Pocono specialist Denny Hamlin, with Chris Buescher joining him on the front row. The top five starters were rounded out by Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek, and Cole Custer.
After a two-hour rain delay pushed back the start of the race, action quickly erupted. Hamlin led early, while Van Gisbergen wasted no time picking off cars, climbing to 20th by lap 4. Despite briefly dropping back, a series of green-flag pit stops and a solid run brought the Kiwi up to 17th at the end of Stage 1, which was won by Hamlin.
Stage 2, however, marked the beginning of a frustrating run for Van Gisbergen. After starting the stage 24th, he was involved in a frightening pit lane incident when former Xfinity teammate AJ Allmendinger pulled into the adjacent pit box.
In the chaos, one of Allmendinger’s tyres was launched into SVG’s pit crew, striking rear tyre changer JP Kealy in the torso. Kealy completed the stop but required medical attention immediately after. Van Gisbergen dropped to 34th in the shuffle.
The stage continued under green with a number of high-profile issues, most notably multiple right-front tyre failures tied to brake rotor explosions, first for Riley Herbst, then Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell. These incidents brought out several cautions and dramatically shuffled the field.
Van Gisbergen’s day worsened when he was involved in a multi-car crash triggered by Kyle Busch losing control under Zane Smith. SVG, along with Ty Dillon and Christopher Bell, was collected in the aftermath.
Though he was able to continue, he was penalised for pitting while pit lane was closed and relegated to the rear of the lead lap for the restart.
Briscoe eventually went on to win Stage 2 ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Van Gisbergen managed to recover slightly to finish the segment in 24th.
In the third and final stage, Van Gisbergen initially made up ground, climbing back into the top 20. But car issues persisted. He had earlier complained of corner entry understeer and exit oversteer in Stage 1, prompting a ride height adjustment. The same issues reappeared late in the race, with the Kiwi describing the car as “very, very tight.”
As the leaders settled into a fuel mileage battle, Van Gisbergen’s day unraveled completely with a spin at Turn 2 that brought out the seventh caution of the day. Now a lap down and running in 31st, SVG was unable to mount any further recovery.
At the front, Briscoe held off late pressure from Hamlin and Ryan Blaney to take a landmark victory, his first driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and a crucial win that locks him into the 2025 playoffs.
Buescher, Chase Elliott, Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, and Austin Cindric completed the top ten.
For Van Gisbergen and the Trackhouse Racing camp, it was a race to forget. He was officially classified 31st, while teammates Suárez and Chastain finished 15th and 26th, respectively.
“We missed it all day with our SafetyCulture Chevrolet. We tried but couldn’t make it better; we could only make it worse. That was a tough race for us. We finished, so that was a good thing, but just a tough day.” said Van Gisbergen.
“It was an average day for the No. 99 Chevrolet team. We started the race OK on the short run, but then, in the final stage, we just lost the balance of the car a little bit. We were just way too tight and never got it back.” said Suarez.
“We were on both sides of it today, both tight and loose. We started the race too loose, I thought. When the track was still taking rubber, and then from the second set of tyres on, we were just too tight and sliding the front tyres.” said Chastain.
“I thought we were going to piece together a decent day. On the last restart, I got knocked up into the marbles and, went to the back and never recovered. We were just too tight to pass anybody.”
All three Trackhouse drivers faced similar issues with car balance and setup.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to EchoPark Speedway, formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway, next weekend. Notably, the race will take place earlier than usual for New Zealand viewers, with the green flag scheduled for 11:00 am NZT on Sunday. Van Gisbergen will look to regroup and bounce back as the series heads into the second half of the regular season and the highly anticipated Chicago Street Race the weekend after.
Image: Fox Sports
