Kiwi driver Shane van Gisbergen led Trackhouse Racing with a fifth-place finish in the Window World 450 NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway on Sunday evening with teammates Ross Chastain placed 27th and Connor Zilisch finished 32nd.
“It was an awesome night for the No. 97 Wendy’s Chevrolet team,” commented SVG. “It was pretty cool to get the lead. I just wasn’t good enough on the long run.
“But overall, I had a lot of fun. Thank you to Wendy’s, Chevrolet, everyone at Trackhouse Racing for the support. Everyone on this team did a great job. It was a good points race, which is what we really needed.”
Van Gisbergen started eighth for the 450-lap race after the lineup was set per the metric due to inclement weather on Saturday.
Having held position before a caution flew on lap 40 and the No. 97 team came to pit road for two right-side tires. Van Gisbergen restarted the first stage, fourth and quickly took the lead on lap 52.
He then led for 28 laps but was passed on the final lap of the stage and finished second, scoring nine stage points.
To start the second stage, van Gisbergen lined up second and quickly took the lead for the first 20 laps before dropping back to second. Van Gisbergen struggled to maintain position as he battled the handling of his Wendy’s Chevrolet during the long run and faded back to fourth before a caution flew on lap 184.
The No. 97 team came to service the Chevrolet during the caution, lining up fourth for the restart. He then battled inside the top-5 and finished the stage fifth, collecting more stage points.
In the final stage, van Gisbergen started sixth and battled inside the top-5 before for coming to pit road for service on lap 368. Van Gisbergen cycled back to fourth and ultimately took the checkered flag, fifth.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action Sunday, July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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