SVG DEFIES THE ODDS WITH SPECTACULAR TOP-5 FINISH IN NASHVILLE CHAOS

Shane van Gisbergen locked in his best-ever NASCAR Cup Series oval finish, crossing the line in 5th place at the action packed Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

The race, which started late due to an 80-minute rain delay saw a record-breaking 31 lead changes, 12 cautions, and an incredibly chaotic finish.

Here is a breakdown of how the Kiwi conquered the 1.33-mile concrete oval.

Race Overview & SVG’s Performance

• Starting Position: 10th (set by owner points after qualifying was washed out by rain).

• Finishing Position: 5th

• Laps Led: 12 laps

• Current Standings: The top-5 surge vaults van Gisbergen to 12th in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings, a major statement in his first full-time season.

Van Gisbergen’s crew chief made an aggressive strategy call during a competition caution on Lap 41, electing to take just two tyres. The gamble put the No. 97 Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge Chevrolet right at the front of the field. SVG restarted as the leader and confidently paced the field for 12 laps, even going wheel-to-wheel in a thrilling “over-and-under” battle with NASCAR heavyweight Kyle Larson before giving up the top spot on Lap 54.

Like we said last week (LOL) he’s known primarily as a road-course specialist, van Gisbergen showed incredible growth on the tricky Nashville concrete. He stayed inside the top 10 for all three stages. While the team’s car lacked pace when utilising a standard four tyre strategy, reverting back to a two tyre strategy late in the race dialed the car’s balance right back in, allowing him to run down the leaders.

SVG crossed the finish line safely in 5th (initally shown as 7th), but missed a massive wreck by mere centimetres. Just behind him, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick made contact right after taking the checkered flag, sending Reddick hard into the inside wall. Van Gisbergen had a front-row seat in his rearview mirror as he narrowly escaped the debris.

Up front, it was a Joe Gibbs Racing powerhouse show. Denny Hamlin overcame a costly pass through penalty at the start of the race to win a wild, three-wide, four lap dash to the finish over teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. claimed 4th, finishing just 0.6 seconds ahead of van Gisbergen.

SVG had this to say after the race: “It was a pretty awesome day for this No. 97 Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge Chevrolet team. Starting up front obviously helps, but it was cool to lead some laps and battle at the front. Our Chevy was running really well all night. I really enjoyed myself tonight. I learned a lot. I learned to be comfortable moving around in (turns) one and two, which I’ve never been able to do before. We just got the balance better on the two-tire strategy. When we were on a four-tire strategy, we were lacking that. The two-tire stop at the end, we were able to get the balance back again. It was a lot of fun. It definitely feels like we’re making headway.”

This 5th-place finish eclipses his previous oval personal best of 7th (secured at Atlanta earlier this year) and proves that the Kiwi is fast becoming a threat on every style of track NASCAR throws at him.

The NASCAR circus moves on to FireKeepers Casino 400 next weekend at the Michigan International Speedway.  Stay tuned for more.

TrackHouse Racing Report:

• Shane van Gisbergen led Trackhouse Racing with a fifth-place finish in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on Sunday night. Ross Chastain placed 37th and Connor Zilisch was credited with 38th-place after both experienced a mechanical issue and ended their night prematurely.
• Van Gisbergen started 10th after the lineup was set by the metric system due to inclement weather on Saturday. From the start, van Gisbergen battled to maintain top 10 position before the competition caution fell on lap 36. The No. 97 team opted for a two tires pit stop and restarted the stage in the first position with 50 laps remaining. Van Gisbergen led 12 laps before dropping to third, until another caution flew on lap 72. Van Gisbergen came to pit road for service and ultimately finished the stage, 14th. In stage two, van Gisbergen started 16th and battled the handling of his Tootsies Chevrolet as he slowly made his way back into the top 10. The No. 97 team opted to come to pit road when a caution flew on lap 174 and restarted 13th with four laps remaining in the stage. Van Gisbergen was just shy of scoring stage points and finished 11th. In the final stage, van Gisbergen started fifth and maintained top 10 track position in the caution filled final 110 laps. The No. 97 team made a scheduled pit stop on lap 258 under green and reentered the field 22nd with 42 laps remaining. Van Gisbergen cycled back up to seventh after the pit cycle concluded. A late race caution flew on lap 288 and van Gisbergen lined up sixth with four laps to go in the race. Van Gisbergen took the checkered flag, fifth, a career best finish on an oval track.

Photos: supplied & TrackHouse FB

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