Shane van Gisbergen has had another great oval performance, showing his ability to race up the front with some of the series’ most experienced drivers, while many drivers were forced to retire from the race with brake rotor issues.
After a lengthy rain delay of over an hour and a half, a icy oval race got underway with little rubber on the track.
Van Gisbergen started from tenth position after qualifying was once again rained out, starting well ahead of Trackhouse teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch, who took the green flag in thirty-fifth and thirty-eighth.
Immediately off the start, pole sitter Denny Hamlin took off before the restart zone, giving himself a drive-through penalty. Van Gisbergen moved into eighth as Hamilin went through the lane, holding a small margin over Erik Jones.
As Stage 1 progressed, Tyler Reddick held a comfortable lead over Christopher Bell, while Kyle Larson made moves forward to sit in third.
Van Gisbergen lost a position to Jones but was soon able to get past Coca-Cola 600 winner and former teammate Daniel Suárez as he fell back down the order after the rainout in qualifying left him starting third.
The first competition caution came out on lap thirty-five and brought the field back together. Van Gisbergen remained in eighth at this point, putting in a clean performance so far on a very slippery track.
Most of the field headed into the lane, and van Gisbergen elected for a shorter, two tyre stop, promoting him to the race lead ahead of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.
Van Gisbergen initially held the lead from Logano, stretching out a small advantage over the field. Reddick, the leader before the caution and the first driver on the four tyres, soon closed up to the Kiwi but started to get pressure behind from Larson, allowing van Gisbergen to have some more breathing room out the front.
As Larson took the high line to go around the outside, van Gisbergen and Larson started to rub paint, putting in a stellar performance and showing the world he can hold his own. The battle continued as van Gisbergen, Larson, and Bell closed up near each other and traded paint.
After almost twenty laps fighting up at the front, van Gisbergen eventually slotted into third, trailing Bell and Larson. Larson quickly took the lead over Bell, and van Gisbergen fell to three seconds back, but was able to hold third.
The first incident prompted caution, which came out with 19 laps to go in stage 1 after Zilisch’s right front brake rotor exploded, leaving the young American a passenger as he went straight into the wall. He was able to drive the car back into the pit lane and was unharmed.
Drivers filtered back into lane, and van Gisbergen elected for four tyres, leaving him fourteenth on the restart.
Another caution quickly came out as Chastain found the wall, with reports coming in, it was another rotor failure on a Trackhouse car, sending worries through the #97 crew that the same fate that has found van Gisbergen’s teammate may find him.
The stage restarted with one lap to go, with van Gisbergen in thirteenth, and ending the stage in fourteenth.
On the stage two start, van Gisbergen started ninth and soon moved into eighth.
As the stage progressed, van Gisbergen started to slip back into the clutches of the mid pack, and was sitting in eleventh twenty laps into the stage.
Out front, Larson and Chase Briscoe started to battle it out until Briscoe came into the lane for a set of tyres. At this stage, Hamlin had made big moves to be up the front of the race, while van Gisbergen moved up as drivers started to head into the lane.
A caution came out as Austin Dillon found himself spinning out after a small tap while trying to avoid Keselowski, van Gisbergen was buried down in the pack on the restart, down in eighteenth with thirty laps remaining in the stage.
Out front, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliot, and AJ Allmendinger started to fight for the lead. Michael McDowell was also in the mix, and Reddick was trailing close behind.
The brake rotor issues soon found Allmendinger, as he found the wall in a heavy crash and parked up on the infield. With twelve laps to go in the second stage, the caution was out again.
Van Gisbergen started voicing concerns over the radio that his brake pedal was starting to go long and that his rears were locking on corner entry.
The race restarted with four laps to go, with van Gisbergen sitting just outside of the top 10. The Kiwi had a big slide on the restart but the race was neutralised with another caution, bringing an end to the stage.
The final 115 lap stage started with van Gisbergen in fifth, with Hamlin back in the lead after his earlier penalty. Austin Cindric and Keselowski got together after Dillon got into the #6 car, sending both cars into the wall and bringing out another caution.
Racing soon resumed and van Gisbergen was now sitting in seventh. However, another caution came out after Bubba Wallace got together with William Byron and Alex Bowman.
On the restart, van Gisbergen was able to move up to eighth. He was able to stay here through the majority of stage three, and held position until he pitted with majority of the field.
He was able to cycle back up to seventh before Chris Buescher hit the wall in yet another rotor failure, bringing out the eleventh caution of the race.
With four laps to go, van Gisbergen sat in sixth. He moved into fifth next to Elliot on the restart with three to go, and hold position in a thrilling finish.
Hamlin was able to complete a phenomenal comeback after getting sent to the back of the field before the race even started. He pipped Bell to the line, and finished just ahead of Briscoe.
Van Gisbergen was lucky to get out of some post-race drama scot-free, as Reddick and Elliot crashed next to the Kiwi across the line.
After such a positive weekend in Nashville, van Gisbergen and the Trackhouse team will be back at the track to race at the Michigan International Raceway on June 8th.
