Shane van Gisbergen has finished 15th in his maiden short-oval Xfinity Series outing at Richmond Raceway in Virginia.
A bold strategy for Kaulig Racing in the final stage failed to pay dividends for their three drivers, who had banked on a late caution to switch tyres for the run to the flag.
All three remained out under a yellow flag called with 77 laps left to run, leaving the field split on whether to stop or wait for another caution.
That next caution never came, and those who had stopped quickly worked past those on older tyres to hit the front.
Van Gisbergen had earlier qualified 12th for the race and dropped back on the outside row off the start, slotting into 17th.
Parker Retzlaff led the early laps off the pole ahead of Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Chandler Smith.
The first caution came on Lap 20 when Ryan Vargas pulled up in the front straight apron with an early brake fire.
Allgaier led from Corey Heim off the Lap 28 restart, with the latter hitting the front before a second caution was called on Lap 42 when Brandon Jones’s motor gave up, leaving a trail of oil over the track. Ryan Sieg, who was following, spun in the fluid. Blaine Perkins came to a halt under the ensuing caution.
Van Gisbergen was one of several drivers to stop under the second yellow, with the Kaulig Racing team giving him fuel and adjusting his car before returning him to the track in 28th.
The Kiwi quickly climbed to 20th before the end of the stage, which Aric Almirola won over Brennan Poole, Heim, Allgaier and Herbst.
Van Gisbergen started Stage 2 from 14th, where he remained on Lap 96 when a caution was called for a spin for debutant Logan Bearden.
Shortly after, all three Kaulig cars ran together for a series of laps, with AJ Allmendinger quickly losing ground. The #97 got caught behind his teammate and dropped as low as 19th before working past.
Almirola finished the second stage with the lead from Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Taylor Gray, and Heim.
Pit road contact hurt several front-runners, with Mayer the biggest loser, forced to come in again with a front flat shortly after the restart.
Van Gisbergen remained 14th on the green and ran in the top 20 until Lap 173 when a caution was required when Joey Gase was spun by Dawson Cram, which sent him hard into the Turn 1 wall.
A frustrated Gase quickly exited his car and pulled off his rear bumper cover, throwing it into Cram’s windshield the next time he drove by.
With 77 laps to run, the field was split on strategy. The leaders all pitted for fresh tyres, but the three Kaulig Racing remained out and banked on a future caution.
Van Gisbergen took the restart sixth, but was quickly swallowed by the pack behind on fresher tyres.
Having stopped under the caution, Chandler Smith hit the front with 50 laps remaining, with Almirola, Gray and Heim following.
The order at the front remained that at the chequered flag, with Chandler Smith taking the win.
Van Gisbergen dropped to 15th until the cars that had stopped tyres began to fade.
Cole Custer stopped under green to take fresh tyres with 27 laps to run and quickly worked his way back from two laps down, lapping over two seconds a lap faster than the field to finish tenth, just off the lead lap.
Van Gisbergen briefly climbed to 13th over the final laps but dropped back to 15th when Custer passed and was followed by Allmendinger.
With six laps to run, Hailie Deegan slowed to a crawl on the apron, threatening to throw the race open with a late caution, but she limped to pit lane to cause no interruption.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action at Martinsville Speedway on April 6.
