Connect with us

NASCAR Cup Series

Shane van Gisbergen Tallies Inaugural Grant Park 220 Win at Chicago

“Maranga, Aotearoa!” may have been the battle cry for Shane van Gisbergen. (Photo: Kevin Bowman | The Podium Finish)

CHICAGO – While Shane van Gisbergen came all the way to America and had a blind date with destiny, he did not hear the sounds of Te Awamutu.

Instead, the 34-year-old racer heard the sounds of his No. 91 Enhance Health Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand. In his NASCAR Cup Series debut with PROJECT91, the three-time and defending Supercars Champion asserted himself comfortably and confidently at the 2.14-mile, 12-turn Chicago Street Course.

From the get go, van Gisbergen took to his stock car with incredible poise, logging the fastest time in practice and qualifying third on Saturday afternoon. By race day on Sunday afternoon, the versatile racer was ready to rock and roll in “The Windy City.”

While the track conditions were slick and damp, van Gisbergen bided his time rather than charge quickly and committing any unforced errors.

In the opening laps, pole sitter Denny Hamlin had an encounter with a tire barrier while regulars like Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson and Erik Jones had their chance moment with the Turn 6 tire barrier.

Meanwhile, van Gisbergen drove to a patient third place result in Stage 1 and fourth place finish in Stage 2. Clearly, the skilled New Zealander had more in his Camaro than he showed in the opening moments of the race.

Upon NASCAR’s decision to shorten the race due to impending darkness, van Gisbergen lost valuable track position as he, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson were among those who had yet to pit prior to Stage 3. With 25 less laps than the scheduled race’s distance, their hands were forced to refuel and take on new slicks on the drying streets of Chicago.

Once Stage 3 was underway, van Gisbergen saw life flash before his eyes in Turn 11 when eight cars bottlenecked in the corner. As van Gisbergen drove to into Turn 11, he made a race saving decision to cut to the right, avoiding the calamity and keeping his Camaro relatively pristine.

After the field sorted itself out, it was game, set and match mode for the driver known as SVG. In methodical fashion, van Gisbergen worked his way back into the top five before passing Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Justin Haley to take the lead on Lap 71.

van Gisbergen kept out of trouble all race long. (Photo: Kevin Bowman | The Podium Finish)

On this occasion, van Gisbergen showcased New Zealand swagger against the best of the Cup Series, taking his first Cup win by 1.259 seconds over Haley. More importantly, it was the first instance within the modern era of a driver winning their first Cup race in their debut.

Suffice to say, van Gisbergen was in awe of his accomplishment with the PROJECT91 team.

“What an experience in the crowd out here,” van Gisbergen said. “This was so cool. This is what you dream of. Hopefully I can come and do more.”

Like Cole Trickle in Days of Thunder, a late race move paved the way for the big opportunity in the closing moments. His keen, sharp decision to take to the right of the clogged Turn 11 mess may have been the big difference between winning or winding up down the scoring order.

“Wow, when we had that strategy back to 18th, I started to worry a bit,” he said. “But had some full stands on some people, and the racing was really good, everyone was respectful. It was tough, but a lot of fun.”

For a driver who has accomplished so much in Australia and New Zealand, the American dream was realized by van Gisbergen. Upon celebrating in the Chicago Street Course, he sounded like a man whose biggest feat was in “The Windy City” versus his incredible feats in one of the world’s most competitive series.

“Anything is possible. But the fans in Australia and New Zealand, the response this week and the coverage has been…. I can’t explain it,” he said. “Like the response and the support I’ve got from everyone and even over here how welcoming everyone is, I can’t believe it. Dream come true.”

Haley was in position to nab a pivotal Playoffs spot in Chicago. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)

On the other hand, Haley netted a much needed runner-up result. Given his experiences in road racing series, the Winamac, Indiana native gave it all he had to hold off van Gisbergen for the win, especially after driving from his 37th starting position.

“I was really struggling under the braking zones,” Haley said. “Felt like I could get off the corner better than anyone, but, I mean, what are you going to do? He had 16 lap fresher tires. Just strategy, and I feel like I put us behind yesterday putting it in the tire barrier. And then from there, it just kind of trickles and whatnot.”

Road course stalwart Elliott had the second most impressive rally in terms of his qualifying position. The record shows that the 2020 Cup champion started 26th but he truly kicked his race off toward the rear of the field in a backup ride following a qualifying accident.

With no pre-race practice time in the unorthodox looking No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet, Elliott tallied a respectable third. Like Haley, a win would have been more preferable.

“I felt like when we got the track position, I was trying to get Justin as quick as I could,” Elliott said. “I knew Shane was coming and I needed to get that pass done quicker and try to get going there, but just needed more pace and needed to be faster in a lot of different areas.

“So, like I said, need to go to work a little bit, but proud of the effort and glad our group never quit.”

Never quitting is an indelible quality for any athlete in their field. Whether it is Elliott or van Gisbergen, racing in the most prestigious form of stock car competition seems to have that calling for the most competitive of racers around the world.

Before the street course reverted back to its familiar presence as roadways in Chicago, van Gisbergen expressed his interest in becoming a regular in NASCAR Cup Series competition.

Look out for SVG in the near future, NASCAR nation. (Photo: Kevin Bowman | The Podium Finish)

“I’m doing one more year in Oz and then I’d love to come over here,” he said.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results
  1. Christopher Bell
  2. Tyler Reddick
  3. Shane van Gisbergen
  4. Martin Truex Jr.
  5. Michael McDowell
  6. Daniel Suárez
  7. Kyle Larson
  8. AJ Allmendinger
  9. Ty Gibbs
  10. Andy Lally
Stage 2 Top 10 Results
  1. Christopher Bell
  2. Kyle Larson
  3. Tyler Reddick
  4. Shane van Gisbergen
  5. Michael McDowell
  6. Ty Gibbs
  7. Daniel Suárez
  8. Martin Truex Jr.
  9. AJ Allmendinger
  10. Chase Briscoe
Grant Park 220 at Chicago Street Course Race Results
Finish Start Car No. Driver Sponsor/Make Status
1 3 91 Shane van Gisbergen Enhance Health Chevrolet Running
2 37 31 Justin Haley Benesch Law Chevrolet Running
3 26 9 Chase Elliott Hooters Chevrolet Running
4 7 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Running
5 18 8 Kyle Busch 3CHI Chevrolet Running
6 31 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford Running
7 6 34 Michael McDowell Chicago Pneumatic Cormpressors Ford Running
8 9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford Running
9 12 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Interstate Batteries Toyota Running
10 15 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford Running
11 1 11 Denny Hamlin Yahoo! Toyota Running
12 24 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford Running
13 22 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet Running
14 19 7 Corey LaJoie Celsius Chevrolet Running
15 28 41 Ryan Preece Operating Engineers Ford Running
16 21 43 Erik Jones DRAIVER Chevrolet Running
17 10 16 AJ Allmendinger Bath Plant by BCI Acrylics Chevrolet Running
18 4 20 Christopher Bell CRAFTSMAN Racing For A Miracle Toyota Running
19 25 38 Todd Gilliland gener8tor Skills Ford Running
20 16 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford Running
21 8 15 Jenson Button Mobil 1 Ford Running
22 34 1 Ross Chastain AdventHealth Chevrolet Running
23 27 78 Josh Bilicki Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet Running
24 20 6 Brad Keselowski Elk Grove Village Ford Running
25 23 42 Noah Gragson (R) Wendy’s Chevrolet Running
26 30 51 Andy Lally Camping World Ford Running
27 5 99 Daniel Suárez Worldwide Express Chevrolet Running
28 2 45 Tyler Reddick Monster Energy Toyota Running
29 35 4 Kevin Harvick GEARWRENCH Ford Running
30 32 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Running
31 14 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s Toyota Running
32 11 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota Running
33 17 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Running
34 36 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Mariano’s/Sunny D Chevrolet Running
35 33 77 Ty Dillon Chicago White Sox Chevrolet Suspension
36 29 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Accident
37 13 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet Accident

Rob Tiongson is a sports writer and editor originally from the Boston area and resides in the Austin, Texas, area. Tiongson has covered motorsports series like NASCAR and INDYCAR since 2008 and NHRA since 2013. Most recently, Tiongson is covering professional basketball, mainly the WNBA, and women's college basketball. While writing and editing for The Podium Finish, Tiongson currently seeks for a long-term sportswriting and sports content creating career. Tiongson enjoys editing and writing articles and features, as well as photography. Moreover, he enjoys time with his family and friends, traveling, cooking, working out and being a fun uncle or "funcle" to his nephew, niece and cat. Tiongson is an alum of Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and St. Bonaventure University's renowned Jandoli School of Communication with a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. reach@techylist.com'

    techylist

    August 22, 2023 at 12:23 am

    Wow! 220 wins for Shane van Gisbergen! That’s an amazing record!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in NASCAR Cup Series