CHICAGO — Shane van Gisbergen’s attempt at a weekend sweep and back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series victories in the streets of Chicago came to an abrupt end at the beginning of Stage Two.
Running fifth under wet-weather conditions, Chase Briscoe locked up his wheels entering turn six just after a restart, and piled into the tire barrier. In the process, Briscoe barely clipped the rear end of van Gisbergen’s Kaulig Racing machine, sending him sideways into a concrete barrier. He suffered heavy damage to the right side of his car and couldn’t continue.
As rain continued to pick up, the race got red-flagged after the incident for puddling on the course. It resumed approximately one hour and 45 minutes later.
“He just clipped me, there wasn’t anything I could do,” van Gisbergen said from the care center. “I just sort of turned in; it looked pretty good and then just got smacked by (Briscoe). It’s gutting.
“The No. 16 Wendy’s Saucy Nuggs Camaro was really good. We were in the lead for a lot of that race. I felt good taking off in the rain, so that sucks. It’s an unfortunate mistake by him. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”
For the second year in a row, van Gisbergen proved he had a race-winning car. After qualifying fifth, van Gisbergen navigated a slightly damp surface on slick tires to pass Ty Gibbs for the lead on lap 12.
A caution came out for Justin Haley on lap 17 and the race stayed under caution for the remainder of the stage for van Gisbergen’s first career stage win.
But during the lengthy yellow – nearly 30 minutes – rain began to intensify, and teams switched to the wet-weather tires before van Gisbergen’s race-ending incident.
Rain or shine, the Kiwi knew he had a great opportunity to win again in Chicago – just like he did last year and in Saturday’s Xfinity race. Instead of a victory kick of a rugby ball, it’s a last-place finish for the 35-year-old.
“I’m disappointed. We had a really amazing Camaro there,” he said. “Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing, they gave us a great car. We were able to lead and I felt like I was driving well with it, so yeah, it’s a shame to be out so early. It’s a shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at it at the end.
“On slicks, it got a bit dodgy. I hated being the leader. Whoever was the leader, you could see them slowing up, not knowing what the condition would be. As soon as you got to the front, you were unsure of what was happening and had to take it a bit easy.”
Alex Bowman ended up winning in a race shortened to 58 laps from 75.
Van Gisbergen’s next Cup race is in September at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l, but he’ll continue to contest his full-time Xfinity slate. He has a series-best three victories and leads with 17 playoff points.