Shane Van Gisbergen 'Gutted' After Rare Mistake Results in Runner-Up Finish
After spending much of the race at the front of the pack, Shane Van Gisbergen was able to sit back and study leaders Chris Buescher and Carson Hocevar as they nailed restart after restart in the late stages of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event at Watkins Glen International.
It took until the final restart, in NASCAR Overtime, for the Auckland, New Zealand native to execute the perfect three-wide move into the first corner, escaping with the race-lead and attempting to run away from the No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang.
Despite the raw pace shown by the No. 16 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro throughout the afternoon, the immensely talented road course driver couldn't quite breakaway from Buescher by the time the field got back to the white flag, leaving the RFK Racing driver in striking distance.
When the leaders went through the interloop on the final lap, things looked to meet the status quo, until Van Gisbergen suddenly lost momentum on the exit, allowing Buescher to muscle to the right-hand side of the No. 16 in the carousel, muscling his way past and to the victory.
It took several replays after the race for anybody to notice the slightest of errors entering the 'bus stop' chicane, as the three-time Supercars champion skimmed the Armco barriers, messing up his entire set of corners and taking the wind out his sails.
"Yeah, not hit the wall," Van Gisbergen said when asked what he needed to do in order to bring home the victory. "I don't know, it was a hard one. I gave him a little bump to get the spot, and I knew it was going to come back. So, I was just pushing the entries and trying to get away and just made an error. Pissed because these races are hard to win, and we have had a rough run in the Cup Series this year. The WeatherTech Camaro was really good, fastest car all day, and it just didn't work out."
Van Gisbergen still managed to bring home a second-place result for Kaulig Racing and the No. 16 team on Sunday, although with his second NASCAR Cup Series victory in sight, that probably isn't much consolation to the Xfinity Series championship contender.
Despite the heartbreak of a Cup Series victory slipping away in the race's closing moments, Van Gisbergen was still overall positive about the effort, saying; "The race was awsome with Ross [Chastain] and Chris [Buescher] and the others at the end. I'm gutted we couldn't get it, but I had a lot of fun, I'm pretty angry at myself."
The result also brings the Matt Kaulig-owned operation its best finish of the NASCAR Cup Series campaign, and it's first top-five at NASCAR's top-level since Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Fall of 2023, nearly an entire year ago.
Van Gisbergen will return to the driver's seat of the No. 16 Chevrolet in three more races, at Talladega Superspeedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway, before the end of the current campaign.
This robust part-time schedule is aimed to assist Van Gisbergen in preparing for a full-time NASCAR Cup Series bid in 2025, where he'll drive the No. 88 for Trackhouse Racing, and be a pre-season favorite to capture at least a single victory on a road course.
JOSEPH SRIGLEY