For Shane van Gisbergen, the margin between advancing and being eliminated was just two points. Reflecting on the race, he acknowledged that pitting for fresh tires late, as most of the field did, “certainly would have helped.” However, with several playoff drivers ahead of him and in a must-win scenario, the challenge was always going to be steep, making it a tough situation regardless of strategy.”We’ll never know, but we had a good crack. I thought more would stay out with us, but it is what it is,” Shane van Gisbergen remarked after the race. Despite an eighth-place finish to open the round and a strong third-place finish to close it, his campaign was derailed by bad luck at Talladega, where a wreck in the tri-oval left him with a 35th-place finish.”Probably comes down to last week and the dramas we had and the DNF there, so that’s probably it,” Van Gisbergen reflected. “I’m proud of the guys. We’ve had an amazing year. My first year in NASCAR, and I’ve loved it.”
Shane van Gisbergen’s weekend at Charlotte began with high hopes, securing pole position for both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity races at the Charlotte Roval. In the Xfinity race, he led early but lost out on winning the first stage when teammate AJ Allmendinger passed him, though he still finished second, scoring 13 out of a possible 20 points across both stages. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as other drivers like Justin Allgaier capitalized on stage points, with Allgaier staying out to win Stage 2 and scoring 18 points in total.
With 15 laps to go, a caution sealed van Gisbergen’s fate. Running second, he opted to stay out on older tires while most of the field pitted for fresh ones. On the restart, he couldn’t hold off the field, falling back to fourth. As the race entered overtime, SVG was locked in a battle for advancement with Jesse Love, who was on fresher tires and quickly surged through the pack. Love passed just enough cars on the final lap, eliminating van Gisbergen, who finished third and couldn’t move up further.
Following his elimination, SVG now sits ninth in the championship standings. His rookie NASCAR season was impressive, featuring three wins on road courses and solid performances on ovals, including two top-fives and five top-tens. Next year, he’ll move full-time to the Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing Team.
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