Van Gisbergen gains ground in Dover

The “Monster Mile” threw up all the elements of fire and rain at the NASCAR Xfinity Series field but Shane van Gisbergen still put in another fighting drive.

Despite qualifying 31st, van Gisbergen produced another charge through the field and came home 18th in a near repeat performance of his Texas effort.

The #97 Kaulig Racing driver now sits 14th in the championship.

The race went into Overtime where Ryan Truex and rookie Carson Kvapil went side by side for the win.

Truex was able to edge ahead at Turn 3 moments before a race-ending caution.

Van Gisbergen sat 29th during the early stages before a caution for came with J.J Yeley having a big crash inside the final laps.

Allgaier stayed in control at the restart as SVG lost a position with drivers trying to hug the bottom around the high-banked ovals.

The Kiwi regained 29th just before a scary second caution on Lap 29 when the #39 of Ryan Sieg was engulfed in flames.

The fire started as he entered Turn 1 and when he arrived at Turn 2 the flames were coming from both wheels across the entire front end.

Thankfully Sieg was able to pull over on corner exit and race out of the car.

A lot of the field took to pit road which saw the #97 drop to 32nd bit on fresh tyres the Kaulig Racing driver was flying, surging all the way to 22nd by the end of the opening stage led by Allgaier.

In a further boost for the #97 the early stop allowed it to restart the race all the way up in fifth.

Van Gisbergen fell to 10th on the outside before holding position by eventually reclaiming the important inside line.

But a small moment getting out of shape in Turn 2 on Lap 60 saw the loose #97 get off line slip outside the top 15.

By the end of the stage van Gisbergen crossed the line in 19th as Cole Custer controlled the segment.

From the halfway mark the race ran green all the way until 43 to go when rain arrived.

During this period van Gisbergen sat just outside the top 20 a lap down.

The rain saw the race red flagged for a period before setting up a 22-lap sprint to the chequered.

Van Gisbergen restarted 23rd on the inside line as Austin Hill beat Sheldon Creed into Turn 1.

The yellows returned within seven laps where contact from Sam Mayer saw the third-placed Taylor Gray fire side on into the fence under the bridge at the start of the back straight.

With 10 to go racing resumed and the fight for the lead ignited with the #88 of Kvapil flying from third to first with a thrilling three-wide move on Creed and Hill.

An eighth caution arrived when the #98 of Riley Herbst spun on the exit of the final corner and collected Daniel Dye, Sammy Smith and Kyle Sieg.

The late drama setup another Overtime finish where Hill and Kvapil led the field and van Gisbergen was 18th on the outside.

The first attempt of racing barely lasted a corner as Hill got out of shape from the lead and spun onto the apron.

The second attempt was more successful with Kvapil and Truex going at it side by side.

Truex was bale to edge ahead on the inside at Turn 3 on the penultimate lap and critically took the white flag before the yellows returned to end the race.

The final drama was caused by Allgaier rear ending at the final corner, while Van Gisbergen jumped from 20th to 18th.

Old favourite Darlington Raceway will be held at 3.30 AEST Sunday, May 12.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Dover results

Photo by Nigel Kinrade / NKP / LAT Images