AUSTIN, TEXAS — Shane van Gisbergen delivered a thrilling performance at the Circuit of the Americas, securing a hard-fought second-place finish in a historic race.

Todays points haull sawSVG rocket up the series ladder 11 places to sit in 5th place.

​Starting in 13th, the road-course ace wasted no time, slicing through the field to grab 9th on the opening lap. After opting to stay out for valuable Stage 1 points alongside Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain, SVG found himself restarting Stage 2 in 16th.

A spectacular four-wide move into Turn 1 quickly vaulted him back into the top 10. As Ty Gibbs claimed Stage 2, van Gisbergen pitted from 4th to align his tire strategy for the final sprint.

​Restarting Stage 3 in the top 10, SVG ran a quiet stint before pitting with 25 laps to go, keeping pace with the leaders’ strategy. A mid-stage caution then bunched the field, igniting a high-stakes duel.

With 10 laps remaining, van Gisbergen was glued to race leader Tyler Reddick’s bumper, applying immense pressure. However, the No. 97 Chevrolet ultimately ran out of grip in the closing corners.

SVG brought it home in an impressive second place, while Reddick crossed the line to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win the opening three races of a season.

SVG said; “Needed just a little bit of everything. We lacked a little bit of turn and a little bit of drive. Tyler (Reddick, race winner) was just amazing. The way he was driving was really good and his car was good. We just didn’t quite have enough, but it was a great points day for this No. 97 SafetyCulture Chevrolet team, which is what we need for getting into the Chase. It was still an amazing result, but you’re always disappointed with second when the expectations are so high. But overall, it was a really good day.”

By Matthew Paul – Velocity Magazine NASCAR reporter

Photos: Trackhouse Racing & SVG FB

TrackHouse Racing race report:

• Shane van Gisbergen led Trackhouse Racing with a runner-up finish in the NASCAR Cup Series Race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (COTA) on Sunday afternoon. Connor Zilisch finished 14th while Ross Chastain was credited with a 35th-place finish.
• Van Gisbergen posted his second top 10 finish in three Cup Series races at COTA. It is his second top 10 finish in 2026.
• In the first stage, Chastain led the Trackhouse Racing entries to the green from the second position. He maintained top five track position throughout the first stage before leading three laps and going on to win the stage, his first of the season. Van Gisbergen started 13th but quickly moved his way through the front of the field, gaining six spots in six laps. Van Gisbergen finished the stage in second place, to collect stage points. Zilisch started 25th and steadily worked his way through traffic to climbed up to 16th-place. Zilisch made his scheduled pit stop on lap 17, three laps from the end of the opening segment. The move was a strategy call to give Zilisch improved track position for the start of Stage 2.
• In Stage 2, van Gisbergen pitted at the stage break caution and started the stage 16th. He quickly entered the top 10 off turn 1. The No. 97 team opted to make a scheduled pit stop on lap 44, and van Gisbergen reentered the field 10th to finish the stage. Chastain restarted mid-pack after some drivers stayed out and he stalled the car while leaving his pit box costing him a couple of spots. He worked his way up to the 14th position and then pitted before ending the stage in 11th. Zilisch restarted eighth but was clipped by another car and spun at the entrance to Turn 1 moments after the green flag waved to begin the stage, dropping him to the tail end of the field. He had excessive tire wear from the spin and was credited with 31st-place when the segment ended.
• In the final stage, van Gisbergen started fourth and fought to maintain position the first couple of laps. He battled his way into the top three, before taking the lead on lap 70 for two laps before making a scheduled pit stop. Van Gisbergen reentered the field eighth. A caution flew with 20 laps remaining in the event. The No. 97 team opted to stay out, restarting the final 17 laps in third. Van Gisbergen quickly took over the second position and was in contention for the lead but ultimately came up one spot short.
• Zilisch charged his way into contention for a top five finish in the final stage. He restarted 22nd on lap 50 and then motored his way up to fifth place by lap 66. Unfortunately, on lap 78 Zilisch was hit on the left side in Turn 1 moments after the final restart of the race and was shuffled deep in the pack. He recovered over the final 18 laps, clawing his way back into the top 20.
• On lap 59, Chastain reached the seventh position before Zilisch passed him a few laps later. Chastain found himself third just before pitting on lap 71. On lap 74, Chastain lost a right rear wheel and the caution came out. He quickly made it to pit road for service and served a two-lap penalty. The penalty put him deep in the field, resulting in a 35th-place finish.
• At one point in the final stage, all three Trackhouse Racing entries were running in the top 10.

The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action next Sunday, March 8 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

Road ace! Shane van Gisbergen wins O’Reilly Series race at COTA

By NASCAR

AUSTIN, Texas — With a bold, brilliant move moments after the final restart of Saturday’s Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas, Shane van Gisbergen once again exhibited his road course supremacy.

Taking the inside line into Turn 1 after the restart with five laps left, van Gisbergen made a four-wide pass for the lead from the sixth position and pulled away to win the fifth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race of his career, this time by 0.780 seconds over runner-up Austin Hill.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

In a rough-and-tumble event with more than its share of contact, van Gisbergen led five times for 31 laps, including the last five after the decisive move, as then-leader and Stage 2 winner Sam Mayer ran wide in the first corner, clearing the inside lane for the winning pass.

Related Story

 

Brent Crews rolls to top 10 at COTA in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut

“I was a bit unsure there, starting sixth on the outside,” van Gisbergen said. “I kind of got to the inside, which was good, and nosed in on the 41 (Mayer), and he reacted. When he reacted, I thought no way he’s stopping that, and he kind of pushed everyone wide, which was awesome, and it worked out for us.”

The win was SVG’s first at COTA in his second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track. He is winless in two NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Texas road course.

“I’ve always been fast here but never managed to win,” van Gisbergen said. “So I’m pretty stoked to finally get it done — pretty flawless day.”

Van Gisbergen’s victory was the 10th straight on road courses for JR Motorsports and the 106th for the organization overall.

Austin Hill’s runner-up finish was his third in five starts at the 2.4-mile track.

“I made a lot of mistakes out there today, but that’s going to happen on these road courses,” said Hill, the series points leader through three races. “Stage 2, I was struggling a little bit, just trying to figure out what I needed to be better.

“That (last) restart, I did a really good job getting left. As soon as they went off into the corner, I knew that they were going to slide up, and I was able to file in there in second, and then I had to go to work on SVG.

“He’s just so good at the first three laps of a run. He can really get away. I was struggling a little bit with front turn for the first two or three laps, and he kind of got that gap and was able to manage from there. Hats off to those guys. A better guy beat us today.”

In a race billed as a matchup between van Gisbergen and pole winner Connor Zilisch, Sammy Smith finished third, followed by Jesse Love and Corey Day, as Zilisch suffered a litany of issues that dropped him to 21st at the end.

After Zilisch led 12 laps during the first stage, the left-rear brake rotor on his No. 1 Chevrolet sheared, and the 19-year-old prodigy quickly dropped through the field. After stopping for repairs to the rear brakes, Zilisch started the final stage in 29th but just as rapidly worked his way forward.

With fewer than three laps left, he had just cleared Day’s No. 17 Chevrolet for fourth when contact from Day’s car sent Zilisch spinning to damage his Camaro.

WATCH: Zilisch wants an apology from Day

“He got right in front of me there, and as soon as he did, he crossed over my nose, I lost a little bit of what I had left (of front turn),” Day said. “It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t want to wreck him.”

The accident ruined Zilisch’s impressive charge from the back of the field.

“Really unfortunate,” Zilisch said. “Hopefully, he can figure it out … All I want is an apology, but he just stands over there and stares at me and makes it worse. But he’ll figure it out.”

Seventeen-year-old Brent Crews finished sixth in his series debut after taking the lead on the Stage 2 restart. Crews is the first driver under 18 to lead laps in the series since Casey Atwood accomplished the feat in 1998.

William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Brennan Poole completed the top 10.

The O’Reilly Series heads west next Saturday for the Govx 200 at Phoenix Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Inspection in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage was completed with no issues, confirming van Gisbergen as the winner.

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