Van Gisbergen pleased with strong oval result

Shane van Gisbergen has carried on his strong form by equalling his career best oval result in his rookie NASCAR Cup Series season

Van Gisbergen finished the Cook Out 400 14th at Richmond Raceway, matching his best result also achieved at Charlotte during the oval races of his NASCAR Cup Series rookie season.

Following his win at Watkins Glen, the Kiwi carried plenty of confidence and ran as high as the top 10 during the race.

Having worked his way from 27th on the grid, the Trackhouse Racing Kiwi was thrilled with the result.

“That was fun!” Van Gisbergen said.

“A good recovery and great result in my first Cup start at Richmond. 

“Tyre strategy was huge tonight and my 88 WeatherTech team did an awesome job executing. 

“Some good momentum for us as we get closer to the playoffs. Looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish at Daytona.”

Being the penultimate race of the regular season, the pressure was on for those below the cut line to steal the final tickets to the Playoff.

History repeated as Austin Dillion took the win yet again, this time holding off Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney.

However, unlike in 2024 there was no controversary this time as he led a race-high 107 of the 400 laps.

Due to his actions of taking the lead last year, he lost the Playoffs berth, but he wont lose this one.

“Man, that feels good,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said.

“I really wanted that one. Last year hurt really bad, just going through the whole process of it. But this one feels so sweet. Man, I love Richmond.

“Tyre management. I’m probably the slowest to get going on some of these tracks when it really comes to high grip. But when it comes to these places and taking care of your stuff, I’ll go against the best of them.”

The final race of the regular season and last chance to get a ticket to the Playoffs in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

image: Supplied

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