Shane van Gisbergen has come home a tidy 18th in this morning’s Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, where just 0.002 seconds separated winner Sam Mayer and runner-up Ryan Sieg.
A tangle between Kyle Weatherman and Hailie Deegan with 17 laps to run made for a sprint finish, with Sieg leading Mayer off the final restart and clearing out, only for the latter to close the gap to under one second with five laps to run.
Mayer got a better run through turns one and two on the final circuit to cut under for the lead down the back straight. Sieg cut under himself through turns three and four, and the duo exchanged paint as they ran side-by-side to the line.
Sieg, making his 342nd Xfinity Series start from 12 years in the competition, finished an agonising 0.002 seconds short of his maiden win in the series.
Jesse Love had earlier led the field to green but was quickly overcome by Chandler Smith before the race’s first caution when Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Dye spun.
On resumption, Justin Allgaier took the lead and went on to win the opening stage from Smith, Riley Herbst, Brandon Jones and Ryan Truex.
Van Gisbergen’s Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger, who finished ninth in Stage 1, missed his pit box during the end-of-stage caution and dropped to the rear as he returned to the lane following circuit.
An incident for Leland Honeyman towards the end of Stage 2 set up a thrilling six-lap dash for the line before the caution, with Truex and Smith taking damage in an action-filled dash for the green and white chequered.
Allgaier emerged to claim his second stage victory of the day, ahead of Cole Custer, Herbst, Jones, Sieg and Sammy Smith. Allmendinger had worked his way back through the field and was again ninth.
A tidy start to Stage 3 saw green flag stops beginning with 60 laps remaining in the 200-lap affair. Several drivers ran long in search of a yellow that never came.
Allgaier returned to the lead once Austin Hill finally came in with 30 laps to run but made contact with Honeyman while lapping him, sending the #42 into the wall and bringing out a caution.
Twenty-one laps remained on the hectic restart, where Jones took the lead and was followed by Mayer. Sieg, who was tenth on resumption, emerged behind the duo and quickly took the lead before another caution was called for an incident between Weatherman, Deegan and Creed.
Van Gisbergen had climbed into the top 20 ahead of the yellow and dropped back to 21st on green, only to climb back to 18th on the run to the chequered.
Sieg built an early sizeable gap over the field on the dash to the flag, but Mayer closed in to take the lead on the final lap for a tight win.
Allgaier was third across the line, ahead of Allmendinger, Custer, Hill, Truex, Sammy Smith, Love and Anthony Alfredo, who completed the top ten.
Van Gisbergen was 10.410 seconds off the lead duo, behind Corey Heim and ahead of Sheldon Creed.
The Kiwi will be back in action next weekend at the Talladega Super Speedway, where he’ll run double-duties in the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing.
