By David Morgan, Associate Editor
CONCORD, N.C. – Shane van Gisbergen is inevitable.
For the fifth straight race on a road course, it was the New Zealander and the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet that ended the day on the top of the scoring pylon.
After starting the day on the outside of the front row, van Gisbergen was able to move to the lead on Lap 4 and would remain there for most of the day, leading eight separate times for a total of 57 laps.
Following a spirited battle with defending Charlotte ROVAL winner Kyle Larson, van Gisbergen assumed the lead for the final time with 12 laps to go, stretching his lead to the eventual 15.160 second margin of victory over Larson and Christopher Bell.
The victory now brings van Gisbergen to within one of Jeff Gordon’s consecutive road course wins record, which stands at six.
“Amazing day,” said van Gisbergen. “Kyle was just unbelievable. Yeah, I think we did a pretty good job making some tweaks from yesterday, and first two stages it was pretty nice balance and able to make some gaps. Then start of that third stage, Kyle and Christopher were really good. I lost the lead, lost control of the race, and just couldn’t match them really. They were a bit better than me.
“And then whatever we did, or whatever Stephen did at the pit stop, our car just came alive. And, yeah, the last two stints were just magic. Just ran them down and able to pass them and had some really good battles, pretty aggressive, but a lot of fun too.”
Van Gisbergen gave credit to both Larson and Bell for racing him hard, but clean throughout the day, making him earn the victory, which wasn’t a shoe-in by any means as many expected coming into the weekend.
“I always enjoy a battle, but you also want to win by half a minute as well, you know, but yeah, I was having fun in that battle. Especially it was frustrating at the start of the last stage when they passed me, but it’s still enjoyable,” said van Gisbergen.
“Then trying to understand how to be better and I was trying to study them, see what they were doing better to me, so yeah, battling like that is a lot of fun, but you also want to win easily too.”
Larson explained that his team gave it their best effort to try and dethrone van Gisbergen, but the Kiwi was eventually too much for them in the end.
“I’m happy with a second-place finish for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. Shane van Gisbergen (race winner) is just so good,” said Larson.
“It was a fun battle with Christopher (Bell), too. To start the final stage, we were trying to break up his (SVG) rhythm and race, and I thought it was playing out well. He was just so fast. I tried riding. I tried saving my tires, but I just can’t do it as well as he does. But overall, it was a great finish and momentum to head into the Round of 8.”
Chris Buescher would finish the race in fourth-place, followed by Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, A.J. Allmendinger, and Tyler Reddick to round out the top-10.
The final transfer spot into the Round of 8 went to Joey Logano after he finished the day in 20th place, surpassing Ross Chastain on the final lap after Chastain made a banzai move on Denny Hamlin in the final chicane to try and secure a berth in the next round.
Logano was all smiles afterwards, moving on in the postseason as he looks to defend his championship run from a year ago.
“Everybody was telling me how close it was gonna be there. We’re still in,” said Logano, who ultimately advanced by four points.
“We’re still alive, baby. I’m so excited. It was such a close finish there. I knew it was within a point there and I knew we were gonna be tied there at the end and Ross was gonna do whatever he had to do to make it happen.
“I just wasn’t quite fast enough today with our car, but, overall, it’s the drama of the Playoffs. If you want drama, the Playoffs bring it every time. What an entertaining finish there. To come down to, like I said, a tie there basically at the end before the wreck.
“I’m proud of Paul Wolfe. He made some really hard calls today. Three-stopping the end there. That was kind of an audible at the because our fall off was a little bit too much. Making that call there at the end was ultimately what kept us in the game with just a few left, so that’s a championship performance from the team. I wish I was a little faster, but, overall, I couldn’t be more proud of the team.
“We’ve still got a shot.”
Along with Chastain, the 23XI Racing duo of Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, along with Austin Cindric were eliminated from the Playoffs.
The next round of the Playoffs kicks off next Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the running of the South Point 400 at 5:30 pm ET on USA Network.
Be the first to comment