Just when Kaulig Racing seemed slated to follow Stewart-Haas Racing’s footsteps, their Xfinity team came back with a bang. Shane Van Gisbergen clinched his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity race win, beaming with pride in Portland. This marked Van Gisbergen’s second win after his jaw-dropping performance in the Chicago Cup race last year.

His teammates, AJ Allmendinger and Josh Williams, also trailed close behind the Kiwi speedster. Yet despite this stellar performance, a Kaulig Racing executive is pacing himself for an even better future.

Kaulig Racing’s top guy looks ahead

Shane van Gisbergen proved himself as a road-course king yet again. He swayed the entire NASCAR community by beating Cup drivers in his inaugural Chicago race. Now again, Van Gisbergen snatched Justin Allgaier’s glory at Portland, another road course. After he clinched a podium finish at Atlanta this year, Kaulig Racing president Chris Rice was confident: “He’s a damn fast learner! Really proud of Shane van Gisbergen and the whole 97 crew.”

Now, after Portland, Rice could shower his teammates with praise as well. Talking to Frontstretch, Rice appreciated A.J. Allmendinger and Williams. “A.J. Allmendinger, you gotta give him credit; he’s built this road course program, and thanks to him…But it’s been a hard day, can’t wait to get out of here. But how about Josh Williams? P7, I think that’s his best finish! …The Road Course King right here.”

But then Chris Rice reined in his cautious approach. Justin Allgaier dominated the race, winning the first and second stages, and was outsmarted by van Gisbergen only at the end. It could be said that a late caution played in the Kaulig Racing Kiwi’s favor. Hence, Chris Rice stressed the need to be better. He drummed up expectations for the next race at Sonoma Raceway, the 2.52-mile road course in California.

Chris Rice explained his ambitious approach for his team as he look forward to more wins. “Well, we expected to win at road courses and we didn’t dominate the day…That’s the key right? We gotta figure it out, we got a week to get to Sonoma, but locking him into the playoffs is pretty big. Outside of the playoffs, it will be pretty tough, all the ovals…Kaulig Racing is one team, it’s not three.”

Given the Kaulig Racing drivers’ stellar performance, they are bound to execute Rice’s ambitions flawlessly. However, even though Shane Van Gisbergen could not lead most of the race, his stint echoed a veteran racer’s experience.

A late-race dominance and surprise

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Back in 1985, Bill Elliott, current Cup driver Chase Elliott’s father, was the star of the show. He won 11 races and 11 poles that year, but strangely, that was not enough for a Winston Cup. That was because of his lack of race dominance. The most notable incident happened at the Talladega spring race. Elliott pitted early for a mechanical failure and fell two laps down. Such an incident would easily destroy a driver’s chances today, but the veteran returned.

Bill Elliott ran the first caution-free 159 laps under green. He swung back into the lead by lap 145 and went on to win the race. This resembles Shane van Gisbergen’s late-race glory at Portland, as he jumped in the last lap to dim Allgaier’s sparkle. Even A.J. Allmendinger’s 2022 Portland win echoed this. After going off track repeatedly in the first half, Allmendinger roared to the lead in the final stage and won the race.

Yet this late-race glory is a bummer for gaining stage points. Hence, Kaulig Racing’s star drivers would need to pay heed to their president to improve this aspect.