Shane van Gisbergen produced one of his most determined oval drives to date, storming from 27th on the grid to finish an impressive 14th in the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, matching his career-best result on a NASCAR oval.
Fresh from his Watkins Glen road course victory last weekend, SVG returned to the 0.75-mile Virginia short track looking to build momentum in his debut NASCAR Cup season.
Qualifying, however, proved troublesome. The Kiwi brushed the wall twice as he started his flying lap and had to settle for 27th on the grid as polesitter Ryan Preece led the field to green.
The opening stage saw Preece control proceedings early, chased by Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski. Van Gisbergen battled Kyle Busch in the midfield and climbed to 26th, but struggled with front turn and complained over the radio that “the balance sucks.”
A flurry of early pit stops set up an intriguing strategy battle, with Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick briefly moving to the front before Reddick powered into the lead and won Stage 1 ahead of Bubba Wallace. SVG sat in 26th place, frustrated but still in the fight.
A pit-road speeding penalty handed to Elliott, Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger shook up the order at the start of Stage 2, while Wallace jumped to the front ahead of Christopher Bell and Reddick.
Van Gisbergen steadily worked forward, cracking the top 20 as others struck trouble. A slow stop midway through the stage proved costly when Ricky Stenhouse Jr clipped SVG exiting his pit stall, dropping him to 30th.
Moments later, Ty Gibbs spun race leader Reddick, triggering a caution that brought SVG the lucky dog.
With 17 laps remaining in Stage 2, a huge multi-car pile-up erupted, catching out Busch, Hamlin, Byron, Elliott, Keselowski and others and forcing Van Gisbergen to choke up, lock the rears to avoid the carnage.
SVG clawed up to 18th by the stage finish, as Wallace claimed his first career short-track stage victory.
The final stage belonged to Austin Dillon. After leap-frogging Wallace and Michael McDowell on pit strategy, the Richard Childress Racing driver dominated the closing 160 laps.
SVG, meanwhile, continued to surge forward – utilising the high line superbly to rise as high as 12th. Late tyre wear forced another stop where he dropped a lap down, but he fought back onto the lead lap in the closing pit cycle.
Despite being put a lap down by Dillon with 36 to go, Van Gisbergen hustled to regain track position and passed McDowell late to make himself the lucky dog candidate should a caution have fallen. No yellow came, but his relentless pace netted him 14th at the flag, equalling his best oval finish set in the Coca-Cola 600.
Up front, Dillon secured the much-needed win, his first of the season and secured a spot in the playoffs, with Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney completing the podium. Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Josh Berry, Keselowski and Hamlin rounded out the top 10.
For Van Gisbergen, it marked another crucial milestone in his oval racing progression. From surviving the multi-car wreck, to making bold high-line moves and digging deep on worn tyres, he continues to look more and more like a serious playoff contender heading into the business end of the season.
The NASCAR Cup Series resumes next weekend at the legendary Daytona International Speedway, with the race set to go green at 11:30 am on Sunday (NZST).
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