Van Gisbergen wins on NASCAR debut

Shane van Gisbergen has taken America by storm by winning his first ever NASCAR Cup Series race in Chicago.

Less than a week ago, Van Gisbergen had never driven a NASCAR before, but he defeated all of the seasoned pros to drive the Project 91 Camaro into victory lane and complete a 60-year first.

The Kiwi won a late-race scrap with Justin Haley after a thrilling finale filled with incidents as drivers struggled in mixed conditions, with the Kiwi star also having to survive a late restart with only two laps to run and overtime.

With just 16 laps to go, Van Gisbergen sat eighth, but cut through the field on fresher tyres and completed the win by pouncing at restart with five to go and surviving overtime.

“This is what you dream of, hopefully we can do more,” Van Gisbergen said after the race.

“Had some full sends on some people, the racing was really good, everyone was respectful, it was tough but it was really fun.

“…I can’t believe it, it’s a dream come true…I’m doing one more year in OZ, then I’d love to come over here!”

Shane van Gisbergen, leads Ty Dillon around the streets of Chicago. Photo by Nigel Kinrade / NKP / LAT Images

With the PROJECT 91 sponsor Enhance Health telling AUTO ACTION during the race that they want him back for more, SVG was the fastest on track over the closing stages, as he charged through the field.

The Kiwi had kept his nose clean on a difficult track where there was no grip off the racing line.

After being up front early and having one leading lap classified to his name, the three-time Supercars champion avoided a big snarl up, but was put back into P18 after an order reshuffle.

Holding a tyre advantage, he worked his way up into the top-ten and began another restart in P8 after Tyler Reddick went into the tyre wall.

With 16 laps to run he was +2.563 off the leading car in Justin Haley, moving into P7 with 14 to run.

Shane van Gisbergen us the first driver since Johnny Rutherford at Daytona in 1963 to win on NASCAR Cup Series debut. Photo by Nigel Kinrade / NKP / LAT Images)

After Dillon went into the wall from P2, SVG made his way into P6 and was in a battle with Austin Cindric for a top-five finish.

He took fifth from Cindric and started to get aggressive in the chase, pushing hard into P3 and was only one second off the lead with a 16 lap tyre advantage.

SVG hung on Elliot’s bumper with the leader in Hayley unable to pull away with 8 laps to run.

Van Gisbergen then took Elliot before he stole the lead right as a caution came with a crash at Turn 1, meaning he had to give back the lead.

With 5 laps to run on the restart Hayley got a good jump before SVG went ahead at Turn 2 as he started to gap Hayley on fresher tyres.

That gap pushed out to over a second as a remarkable feat loomed large, and was going to be the first driver to win on NASCAR debut since 1963.

With two laps to go it was looking assured, but Bubba Watson put Stenhouse Jr into the wall, bringing out a caution.

Under dark skies, overtime kicked off with Haley and Elliot desperate for points and looking to charge with 2 laps left to negotiate.

He got the jump and looked in command once again over the bumpy Chicago Streets and was comfortably out of Haley’s braking zone with one lap to go.

When Haley locked up he was safe as he took the middle of the track and powered home for an historic win.

In the 75 year history of the sport, only seven drivers have won on debut.

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