Shane van Gisbergen Repeats Chicago Magic as the Kiwi Finally Does Justice to His NASCAR Dream

Shane van Gisbergen has finally grabbed his first Xfinity career win this season at the Portland International Raceway. After a tough battle against the JR Motorsports driver, Justin Allgaier, SVG made the most of his road racing talents and grabbed the lead with a late restart. Additionally, this proved to be a vital moment in the race, as Allgaier, despite sweeping the stage wins, had no answer to the Kiwi Speedsters, late resurgence.

The result is a huge turning point for Shane Van Gisbergen and Kaulig Racing, as this was his first full-time season after bidding farewell to his successful Supercars career. The Chicago Street Race win did put the Kiwi speedster on the map, but today’s win cements his stature as a prominent NASCAR driver who can compete among the best in the sport. Moreover, this win also ensures his entry into the playoffs, thus making him one of the contenders to compete for the championship.

Shane van Gisbergen learnt a crucial lesson from his first Xfinity Series win

By no means was this win a cakewalk for SVG. He had to earn this win the hard way against some of the prominent names in the Xfinity Series. Starting the race on the front row with Sam Mayer. But as the two drivers headed to the first corner, SVG clipped the rear bumper of the #1 car.

Acknowledging his mistake, the driver was quick to apologize to the JRM star in the post-race interview. “Hey, firstly, I’m very sorry to Sam Mayer and the 1 team for the first corner. I just marked up there and clipped him, so very sorry. He got back well.” The #97 team even tried splitting the stages after the first 25 laps, but that strategy didn’t exactly work in their favor.

This saw SVG fighting tooth and nail against the other team during the restarts, and this is where he felt that he could improve as a driver. But, when it mattered the most, the late restart against Allagier, he did make it count. “I need to get better on my restarts and learn how to position, but that was so much fun. Really cool racing; I love these cars; they’re great.”

Moreover, van Gisbergen had a rather unique way of celebrating his first win. Apart from kicking a rugby ball into the stands, he took his #97 car for a drift across the whole length of the race track. But none of this was pre-planned, according to him. “I just so whatever comes to my mind but probably needs a bit tune-up, probably need more steering lock, I spun out so I’ll make that better the next time.”

Meanwhile, this was a bitter defeat for Allagier, who came within touching distance of clinching his second win of the season.

Consecutive runner-up finishes at Portland for the #7 team

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Justin Allgaier was fresh from his Cup Series stint, replacing Kyle Larson at the Coca-Cola 600 race. By all means, the #7 car was in contention to get the victory after sweeping the stage wins at Portland. But he had no answer to Shane van Gisbergen’s late charge in the race. This result, in particular, will be a tough one to take as this was his second consecutive year, finishing the event in the runner-up spot.

“I think that under those restarts, you know, we were so free taking off and the car was struggling to get grip. Once I got those tires hot it was really, really good. And that’s the hardest part, you know, just once he got by me there, I probably overdrove it trying to get back to him and probably didn’t help my cause. To come here two years in a row and finish second stings a little … All in all, it was a rough day. Nothing more to say about it,” Allgaier was quoted saying via FrontStretch.

Apart from these two, Sammy Smith, A.J. Allmendinger, and Edwards Jones finished inside the top 5 positions. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will head to Sonoma Raceway for yet another road course event.