Van Gisbergen falls just short in NASCAR Xfinity thriller

Shane van Gisbergen fell heartbreakingly short of a NASCAR Xfinity Series win after Kyle Larson stole a double overtime nail-biter at COTA.

In just his fifth race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, van Gisbergen finished second at the flag but was hit by a 30s penalty for track limits.

The results sheet will state the #97 down in 27th but that barely touches the truth after the three-time Supercars champion appeared certain to take a special maiden Xfinity victory after winning a tense race-long battle with Kaulig Racing teammate and road course specialist AJ Allmendinger.

The Kiwi was cruising to victory only for a caution to arrive with four laps to go due to the spinning #24 of Ed Jones.

This put the race into overtime and a move to run his rivals wide at turn 1 at the restart meant the Kiwi retained the lead.

However, a big cash for the #42 Leland Honeyman #43 Ryan Ellis and #98 Riley Herbst created another caution and forced a second restart.

Van Gisbergen tried to make the same move but was shoved by Austin Hill who charged into the lead as the Kiwi fell to third.

He snatched second from the #25 and by the end of the penultimate lap he was all over the back of Hill.

But there was a third element in the battle as Larson was on the charge from behind on fresh tyres.

As van Gisbergen tried to force his way into the lead at turn 15, Larson slipped beneath them both on better rubber to steal the win.

Despite dominating the race, Van Gisbergen had to settle for second, 1.2s behind Larson before it became 27th with the penalty.

Starting on the front row alongside teammate AJ Allmendinger as pole man Larson went to the back due to a brake problem.

“Feeling good and ready to go for this race. Pretty excited to turn right again,” van Gisbergen said pre race and he made an instant impact.

The Kiwi caught his teammate napping at the rolling start, blazing into the lead instantly as Chandler Smith split the two Kaulig Racing Camaros, only for Allmendinger to retake second at the turn 11 hairpin. Not much later the #81 was spun by Sammy Smith.

The chaos allowed the Kaulig Racing drivers to check out up front, pulling 6s on third place Karam.

Although SVG was setting a hot pace up front, Allmendinger did not let him drive into the distance.

After leading the first nine laps, van Gisbergen went off at turn 9 and Allmendinger pounced to snatch the lead.

Van Gisbergen pitted with two laps to go in the opening stage but a slow getaway from the box proved costly, falling to 10th at the end of the stage.

Once the pits were made under caution the Kaulig Racing 1-2 was restored.

However at the restart the #97 dropped to fifth as the choice of the outside line through turn 1 did not pay off and Allmendinger blitzed the jump this time.

Larson, Jesse Love and Gibbs all dived down the inside of van Gisbergen forcing him to regain ground in the opening period of the second stage.

On lap 5 he picked off Love while 17 laps later he snatched third from Gibbs with an impressive move at turn 1. 

The Kaulig Racing driver was actually on the outside as they charged down the pit straight but in the uphill braking zone, he backed off slightly and instead swooped to the inside behind his rival.

Gibbs had little response to the big lunge and tried to fight back at the following right hander but SVG prevailed around the outside.

It caught the attention of the commentators calling it “incredible, they don’t happen in America.”

As Allmendinger and Larson fought for the lead, van Gisbergen joined in the fun and muscled his way by Larson at the tight turn 15.

The entire top three pitted on the penultimate lap and Larson regained track position on van Gisbergen and as a result the trio took the flag at the end of Stage 2 won by Brian Jones fourth, fifth and sixth.

Over the radio van Gisbergen claimed he was “lacking grip, especially on the rear.”

When the field filtered out after the caution period, Allmendinger led Larson and van Gisbergen for the final 13 laps.

Van Gisbergen once again went to the outside but could not wrestle second from Larson.

The Kiwi made another challenge on the run down the main straight and made it stick on the inside of turn 12.

It proved to be a critical move as it meant van Gisbergen could stay on the back of Allmendinger before the leader could pull away.

The battle for the lead ignited with nine to go when the Kiwi pounced on a mistake by his teammate through turns 8-9 which allowed the #97 to dive down the inside at turn 11.

Determined to not lose bragging rights, Allmendinger was all over the back of the Kiwi, setting up a breathtaking battle to the chequered.

A scare took place when Anthony Alfredo spun but the race stayed green, while with six to go Patrick Gallagher almost got stuck in the sand.

But the late yellow did arrive with four laps to go when the #24 spun on the exit of turn 11.

SVG was praying to avoid a caution having now pulled a second on his teammate.

Under the caution Larson pitted for new tyres and this proved to be a masterstroke as he flew past both Hill and van Gisberegn to snatch the win in a final lap thriller.

Tomorrow van Gisbergen will take on the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time and will start the COTA race from 12th and the race begins at 06.30 AEDT.

Photo by Nigel Kinrade / NKP / LAT Images

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