Van Gisbergen fights his way to maiden Xfinity victory

A late charge has pushed Shane van Gisbergen to a hard-fought maiden NASCAR Xfinity Series win after overcoming a fast Justin Allgaier at Portland International Raceway.

It was far from an easy drive to victory lane as it was a mostly an up and down day for SVG as the #97 bounced up and down the top 10 throughout the first two stages with contact and offs affecting him.

But it all came together in the final stanza. Restarting 10th after a tough run on pit road, van Gisbergen flew through the field to be in the top three within a handful of laps and then a caution arrived at the perfect time.

It wiped out Allgaier’s lead, while another big crash set-up a four-lap sprint to the flag and van Gisbergen snatched the lead with a smartly setup a move from Turns 3 to 5.

The Kiwi then pulled away from Allgaier to secure a stunning maiden second teir win on a day he had to fight throughout.

It was clear it meant a lot to van Gisbergen as he sent smoke signals all over the circuit post the chequered flag, having seen a certain win robbed at COTA.

The first win came in just the Kiwi’s 13th NASCAR Xfinity Series start, while Marcos Ambrose achieved his in his 59th and now the Kaulig Racing driver has booked a Playoffs berth in his rookie year.

Read special SVG feature in latest AUTO ACTION digital

Van Gisbergen started on the front row on the outside of Sam Mayer but neither of them would lead after a dramatic first corner.

Mayer got a great start and appeared to enjoy an untroubled run into Turn 1, only to spin around.

Meanwhile van Gisbergen was on the defensive and could not stop Riley Herbst and Allgaier from flying past.

He eventually settled into third, but the race came to the Kiwi, snatching second from Allgaier on Lap 15.

A lap later the Kaulig Racing driver was able to perform the switchback on Herbst at Turns 1 and 2 to hit the lead.

Van Gisbergen was cruising and built more than 2s lead over Allgaier before pitting under green with two to go.

After the rest of the field pitted at the end of the stage, van Gisbergen returned to the lead at the restart, but he was swallowed up by the pack and dropped to fourth by Turn 1.

Then contact with Cole Custer at Turn 2 saw him lose more momentum and fall to fifth.

To make matters worse his front right guard started rubbing, but this did not stop the Kiwi from mounting a fightback.

He picked off his rivals and by Lap 10 he returned to the top three.

Keen to carry on his momentum moments after returning to the top three, van Gisbergen pushed too hard through the Turn 10-11 chicane.

The Kiwi fired off and lost valuable ground, slipping from third to seventh.

This forced him to spend the remaining 14 laps of the second stage reclaiming time.

He passed Herbst instantly for sixth as Anthony Alfredo suffered a flat tyre.

39and Parker Kligerman both made similar mistakes.

With three to go van Gisbergen caught Smith and a lap later returned to the top five.

The combination of Matt Dibenedetto stopped on track and a dog going for a joyful run in it ensured the second stage ended under caution with Allgaier remaining unchallenged up front.

The entire field boxed under yellow and the #97 lost five spots, dropping down to 10th as Allgaier retained his lead.

The final stage began with 20 laps to go and there was drama as Josh Bilicki spun and three cars led by Herbst went through the run off.

This allowed van Gisbergen to climb to sixth, while Allgaier was able to overcome Creed in a tight fight for the lead.

Only one more lap was required for the Kiwi to surge into the top four and with 18 laps still to run, he looked dangerous.

On the following lap van Gisbergen made an opportunistic dive down the inside of Smith to snatch third at Turn 7.

With 15 to go van Gisbergen launched two attacks on Creed but could not quite get the job done.

A third attempt at Turn 7 proved successful but the skirmishes had allowed Allgaier to surge the best part of 3s ahead of the field.

Van Gisbergen had 13 laps to hunt him down and a caution for Hailie Deegan’s departing flat tyre played right into his hands.

The #97 restarted on the outside of the #7 with nine laps to go.

Van Gisbergen got a poor launch, which saw both Creed and Mayer dive down the inside of him before Turn 1.

He was able to regain third within a handful of corners but the yellows returned at the final corner where seven cars were caught up in a big shunt.

To give van Gisbergen a further boost, Creed dropped out of second during the caution with mechancial dramas.

At the restart with four to go SVG was on the outside but Allgaier held firm.

However, van Gisbergen got a great run out of the chicane and after three corners of going side by side, the Kiwi snatched the lead.

Behind them Sam Mayer whacked the wall on the outside of the final corner which left him with a flat tyre and saw him drop out of third.

But all eyes were on the leaders as Allgaier started to reel in SVG as they took the white flag.

However, van Gisbergen had the answer and pulled away from the #7 on the final lap to seal a special win.