Shane van Gisbergen will start from 28th on the grid in this afternoon’s TSport 200 Truck Series Race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Join us for live updates of the 200-lap race, which begins at 1.00 pm NZ Time.
Live Updates
Chequered Flag: SVG finishes 19th! Promising signs in his oval debut, he moved forward from his starting position and matched the pace of those in the mid-field.
Majeski takes a comfortable race win, leading 179 of the 200 laps. Eckes finishes second, and Layne Riggs third. Smith was fifth, while Heim recovered from his penalty to come home eighth.
Majeski does a ‘burnout’, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Lets hope we see one of those on Sunday.
Race report to follow.
Lap 190: 10 laps to go, and SVG is a lap down once again. Still in 19th, but there’s now a considerable gap to those ahead.
Lap 180: Back to 19th. There are gaps opening on those ahead. Leaders approach behind again. Seems to be the tyres.
Lap 170: Drops a couple of places and sits 18th. Dropping a bit of time here. The truck looks good on short to medium runs, but the tyres seem to be fading as we approach the final 25 laps.
Lap 160: 40 laps to go. Van Gisbergen running clean and up to 15th briefly but drops to 16th. Majeski remains in the lead over Eckes and Carson Hocevar. It’s heating up a bit out there, with plenty of three-wide action and a bit of rubbing in the pack.
Incredible racing from van Gisbergen, who runs on the outside of a three-wide battle between Chase Purdy and Jake Drew and makes good ground.
Lap 149: Back under green, and SVG gains a spot to 16th.
Lap 140: We’re green again, and Heim immediately gets his man! But there’s another caution! Deegan is hard into the wall.
Van Gisbergen is 17th at this caution. 58 laps to go.
Lap 131: Carnage! Dean Thompson is spun into the wall and is collected HARD in the rear by the trailing Spencer Boyd. A lot of damage to both cars. Both drivers are OK.
Van Gisbergen moves up to 16th but has Heim behind, who had been running second until copping a penalty.
Lap 128: Green again, and Enfinger quickly passes the Kiwi and puts him 19th. Majeski leads over Christian Eckes and Smith.
Lap 120: Stage 2 finishes under caution, with Majeski leading Heim and Grant Enfinger to the line under caution.
Pits are open, and cars are coming in en masse. Front three remains the same, and Smith’s charge forward continues as he emerges fourth.
Van Gisbergen emerges 19th and has regained his lost lap back.
Heim is penalised for a pit lane infringement and forced to drop to the rear of the pack, while Enfinger is forced to return to the lane and drops in behind van Gisbergen, who inherits 18th.
Lap 115: End of Stage 2 approaching. Van Gisbergen gains a spot, and the race goes under caution as Chris Hacker goes spins into the inside wall unassisted.
Lap 110: Shane van Gisbergen goes a lap down. Still 22nd.
Lap 100: We’re halfway. Still running 22nd as the leaders are approaching from behind to put him a lap down. Not something he would be used to, and it’s no cause for concern. It’s a frequent scene on short ovals.
Lap 85: Approaching the mid-point of Stage 2 and van Gisbergen remains in his battle pack, sitting 22nd. Majeski has continued where he left off at the end of Stage 1, pulling to a 2.5-second lead over Heim. Only 24 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 73: He’s finding his groove! Briefly moves into 19th but drops back to 21st the following lap.
Lap 71: Green again! SVG is back in 22nd following the first round of stops.
Lap 64: Several cars coming in for their first stops while the race remains neutralised.
Lap 60: End of Stage 1, van Gisbergen has moved to 20th. There’s a 4-second gap ahead between the 18th and 19th positions, but van Gisbergen remains in a pack of three until the Safety Car brings the field back together at the end of the stage.
Stages are relevant for the truck series championship battle but not for van Gisbergen, given his one-off drive.
Lap 56: Drama at the front! Majeski has built a three-second lead and makes contact with lapped traffic. He recovers and retains his position.
Lap 50: Keeps moving forward. Now 21st at quarter distance.
Lap 42: Up to 21st. Leaders beginning to approach lapped traffic.
Lap 30: Position regained, SVG back to 23rd. Smith continues his charge forward, is 12th, having started last.
Lap 22: Green again! Van Gisbergen drops a spot of the restart to be 24th.
Lap 17: We’re under caution. Four-car collision in the mid-field. SVG is not involved. It’s Landen Lewis, Greg Van Alst, Hailie Deegan and Tyler Ankrum.
SVG remains 23rd. Smith, who started at the rear, is already up to 19th.
Lap 10: A rhythm quick to settle in. The battle up front is between Ty Majeski and Corey Heim. Van Gisbergen is 22nd in a tight mid-field pack and 9 seconds off the leaders.
Lap 1: And we’re green! everyone through the first lap ok. Van Gisbergen is already up to 22nd.
Falling into formation behind the Safety Car, not long now…
Van Gisbergen is now to start 27th after a competitor ahead, Zane Smith, is moved to the rear for an unapproved adjustment in qualifying.
“Racers, start your engines!”
Drivers are now in their cars.
While we wait for green, check out some other news of the day. Marcus Armstrong qualified seventh in IndyCar at Indianapolis, while Tom Blomqvist has been announced to join the grid full-time in 2024. There was also success for Hunter McElrea- more on that later.
“I haven’t done too many laps still, but it’s been an awesome experience so far,” says SVG from the grid on the Fox Sports 1 broadcast.
12.45 pm: We’re 15 minutes away from green. Trucks are on the grid for a 1.00 pm (NZ Time) start.
It will be great to see all these great kiwi drivers do well. Thanks