Connor Zilisch led Trackhouse Racing with a fifth-place finish in the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Teammate Shane van Gisbergen placed 19th and Ross Chastain was credited with 29th-place.
“Unfortunately, it just wasn’t our day,” said van Gisbergen. “Couldn’t quite get the balance right on our SafetyCulture Chevy. Got some track position in segment two and ran up front but got turned around and we weren’t able to recover from there.”
Van Gisbergen started 18th in Segment 1 and from the start, battled a super loose handling SafetyCulture Chevrolet. A caution came out on lap 63 and the No. 97 team opted to stay out to gain track position.
On the restart, van Gisbergen dropped to the back due to an ill-handling Chevrolet and finished 19th in Segment 1 after a multi-car accident ended the stage.
Van Gisbergen went on to start Segment 2, second on the front row and raced hard for the lead the first 16 laps before getting spun around. Fortunately, the No. 97 Chevrolet didn’t have any damage.
The Chevrolet driver went one lap down after coming to pit road for service. He received the wave-around with 19 laps to go in Segment 2 and finished 21st. Van Gisbergen started the final 200 laps 21st and struggled to maintain position during a 77-lap green flag run.
The All-Star caution came out and the No. 97 team came to pit road to attempt to fix the handling of the Chevrolet. Van Gisbergen lined up 20th to start the final 120 laps and ultimately finished the race 19th.
“After such a great weekend at Watkins Glen, it’s a bummer to come here and have a day like that,” said SVG. “But learned a lot and we will be ready for Charlotte next weekend.”
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action Sunday, May 24 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
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