Shane van Gisbergen has won the latest NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. A bold, brilliant move moment after the final restart of Saturday’s Focused Health 250, saw van Gisbergen take the lead and then the chequered flag.
Taking the inside line into Turn 1 after the restart with five laps left, van Gisbergen made a four-wide pass for the lead from the sixth position and pulled away to win the fifth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race of his career, this time by 0.780 seconds over runner-up Austin Hill.
In a rough-and-tumble event with more than its share of contact, van Gisbergen led five times for 31 laps, including the last five after the decisive move, as then-leader and Stage 2 winner Sam Mayer ran wide in the first corner, clearing the inside lane for the winning pass.
“I was a bit unsure there, starting sixth on the outside,” van Gisbergen said. “I kind of got to the inside, which was good, and nosed in on the 41 (Mayer), and he reacted. When he reacted, I thought no way he’s stopping that, and he kind of pushed everyone wide, which was awesome, and it worked out for us.”
The win was SVG’s first at COTA in his second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track. He is winless in two NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Texas road course.
“I’ve always been fast here but never managed to win,” van Gisbergen said. “So I’m pretty stoked to finally get it done — pretty flawless day.”
Van Gisbergen’s victory was the 10th straight on road courses for JR Motorsports and the 106th for the organization overall.
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