There was no luck for Kiwi driver Shane van Gisbergen in Sunday’s 400-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. A flat right front tire on lap 11 dropped Van Gisbergen from sixth to four laps behind the leaders. He spent the rest of the race making up the deficit before finishing 30th.
“Getting that punctured tire there at the start of the race really put us in a hole, then my SafetyCulture Chevrolet was just so tight,” commented van Gisbergen. “My 88 team kept working on the car, but just couldn’t get it quite comfortable.
“Sucks to have a race like this after the momentum we’ve had the past month. We’ll continue to learn from this and get better and try again next weekend.”
Trackhouse Racing teammates Daniel Suárez finished 26th, and Ross Chastain 33rd.
Suárez said he struggled with pace on Sunday as his team tried various strategies to stay on the lead lap. A late pit stop dropped him two laps behind the leaders and left him with a 26th-place finish.
Chastain saw a potential top-15 finish end against the turn two wall with 18 laps remaining. Before the accident, he spent laps inside the top 10.
Heavy rain canceled practice and qualifying on Saturday. NASCAR determined the starting order based on the rule book. Rain returned with 18 laps remaining on Sunday. The race finished after an hour’s delay.
Chastain started 19th and drove to 14th in the first stage while Suárez fell from 18th to 29th but earned the free pass to stay on the lead lap. Van Gisbergen, with the tire issues, started sixth and finished 37th.
In Stage 2, Chastain flirted with the top-10 before finishing 16th. Suárez stretched a pit cycle, led six laps, but couldn’t get the needed caution, finishing 29th and a lap behind the leaders. Van Gisbergen finished 34th.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action on Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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