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Seven days ago, Shane van Gisbergen walked away from one of the most frustrating races of his NASCAR Cup Series season.
Sunday afternoon, he could leave Sonoma Raceway with one of its biggest victories.
The Trackhouse Racing driver has already turned the page in emphatic fashion. After seeing a promising run end in last weekend’s multi-car crash at Naval Base Coronado, van Gisbergen responded by winning Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. Hours later, he backed it up with a sixth-place qualifying effort for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.
For a driver sitting just five points below the NASCAR Cup Series Chase cut line entering the weekend, the timing couldn’t be much better.
Van Gisbergen never had much of a chance to salvage his race at Naval Base Coronado.
Running near the front, the No. 97 Chevrolet was collected in a chain-reaction crash after Austin Hill clipped the inside retaining wall and slammed into Connor Zilisch. With nowhere to escape, van Gisbergen became one of nine drivers caught in the incident and limped home 38th.
The result dropped him to 17th in the standings and cost him 15 points to the Chase cut line.
The frustration lingered for several days.
“I feel pretty good today,” van Gisbergen said Friday. “It took me a couple of days, for sure. Pretty pissed about that with a good opportunity gone wasted.”
But by the time Sonoma weekend arrived, his outlook had changed.
“The best thing about the sport is it either brings you back down to earth pretty quickly or picks you back up. You can race the next weekend and reset. Feel pretty reset today.”
No track on the NASCAR schedule has been kinder to van Gisbergen than Sonoma.
If there was ever a place for van Gisbergen to stop the slide, Sonoma was always going to be it.
Last year, he put together one of the most dominant road-course performances in recent Cup Series memory, leading 97 of 110 laps and winning Stage 2 while falling just two points shy of a perfect race.
This weekend has looked familiar.
He captured Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, then qualified sixth for Sunday’s Cup event, immediately establishing himself as one of the favorites to contend for the win.
Van Gisbergen knows what’s at stake.
“I know I have a good opportunity to win the race and we will look at the points after,” he said. “We really need a good weekend. That hurt us on that cutline. Need to get some momentum going again and hopefully this weekend starts it and puts us in a good position for the last few races.”
He also laughed about his opening-round NASCAR In-Season Challenge matchup with Ryan Preece after the pair traded contact over the past two weeks.
“I see he’s been getting pretty lippy online, so that’s a little fun,” van Gisbergen joked. “He’s a good dude. We had a little tussle last week and threw a [expletive] move on me and half-spun me, so I got him back. I look forward to it.”
Momentum in NASCAR can disappear as quickly as it arrives.
Just one week after watching a likely top finish vanish in a wreck he couldn’t avoid, van Gisbergen suddenly finds himself carrying a race-winning streak into Sunday at the circuit where he has already proven he knows exactly how to win.
Continue reading...
Sunday afternoon, he could leave Sonoma Raceway with one of its biggest victories.
The Trackhouse Racing driver has already turned the page in emphatic fashion. After seeing a promising run end in last weekend’s multi-car crash at Naval Base Coronado, van Gisbergen responded by winning Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. Hours later, he backed it up with a sixth-place qualifying effort for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.
For a driver sitting just five points below the NASCAR Cup Series Chase cut line entering the weekend, the timing couldn’t be much better.
Last week’s crash quickly became yesterday’s news
Van Gisbergen never had much of a chance to salvage his race at Naval Base Coronado.
Running near the front, the No. 97 Chevrolet was collected in a chain-reaction crash after Austin Hill clipped the inside retaining wall and slammed into Connor Zilisch. With nowhere to escape, van Gisbergen became one of nine drivers caught in the incident and limped home 38th.
The result dropped him to 17th in the standings and cost him 15 points to the Chase cut line.
The frustration lingered for several days.
“I feel pretty good today,” van Gisbergen said Friday. “It took me a couple of days, for sure. Pretty pissed about that with a good opportunity gone wasted.”
But by the time Sonoma weekend arrived, his outlook had changed.
“The best thing about the sport is it either brings you back down to earth pretty quickly or picks you back up. You can race the next weekend and reset. Feel pretty reset today.”
No track on the NASCAR schedule has been kinder to van Gisbergen than Sonoma.
Sonoma gives Trackhouse star exactly what he needed
If there was ever a place for van Gisbergen to stop the slide, Sonoma was always going to be it.
Last year, he put together one of the most dominant road-course performances in recent Cup Series memory, leading 97 of 110 laps and winning Stage 2 while falling just two points shy of a perfect race.
This weekend has looked familiar.
He captured Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, then qualified sixth for Sunday’s Cup event, immediately establishing himself as one of the favorites to contend for the win.
Van Gisbergen knows what’s at stake.
“I know I have a good opportunity to win the race and we will look at the points after,” he said. “We really need a good weekend. That hurt us on that cutline. Need to get some momentum going again and hopefully this weekend starts it and puts us in a good position for the last few races.”
He also laughed about his opening-round NASCAR In-Season Challenge matchup with Ryan Preece after the pair traded contact over the past two weeks.
“I see he’s been getting pretty lippy online, so that’s a little fun,” van Gisbergen joked. “He’s a good dude. We had a little tussle last week and threw a [expletive] move on me and half-spun me, so I got him back. I look forward to it.”
Momentum in NASCAR can disappear as quickly as it arrives.
Just one week after watching a likely top finish vanish in a wreck he couldn’t avoid, van Gisbergen suddenly finds himself carrying a race-winning streak into Sunday at the circuit where he has already proven he knows exactly how to win.
Continue reading...
