Shane van Gisbergen’s Dover Cup Series debut turned into a long, uphill battle after an early tyre issue forced him into the pits just 11 laps into the race.
With rain washing out all of Saturday’s running, there was no practice or qualifying, meaning the Kiwi driver rolled off sixth on the grid based on NASCAR’s performance formula.
It also meant his very first laps around the one-mile concrete oval came during the race itself, an already steep challenge made even harder when trouble struck almost immediately.
Van Gisbergen was running inside the top 10 when he reported a major problem on Lap 11.
“I need to pit, there is a problem,” he told his team over the radio.
Moments later, he brought the No. 88 Chevrolet down pit road under green, where the crew discovered the right-front tyre had just eight pounds of pressure.
It was confirmed as a flat, which could have ended very badly for Van Gisbergen if he hadn’t noticed and reported the issue to his team as early as he did.
“SVG knows, he was confident, he came to pit road, maybe one more corner, and that thing is all but going to the wheel,” said Fox Sports analyst and veteran crew chief Steve Letarte.
“Even seconds off the pace, you’re hitting the wall if you have a flat tyre that goes down completely here at Dover. Nice job by SVG.”
The unscheduled stop dropped van Gisbergen four laps down in the opening stage, effectively ending any hopes of a competitive result. He would eventually fall six laps down as the race wore on, turning the remainder of the 400-lap event into a high-speed learning session.
Despite the setback, the Kiwi remained on track, gaining valuable seat time on a notoriously tricky short oval as he continues to build experience in his rookie Cup season.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend, with the race scheduled for Monday, July 28th, at 6:00 a.m.
Header Image: Steven Taranto via X
