Despite an almost-perfect day of NASCAR racing, Kiwi Shane van Gibsergen has seen his Xfinity championship hopes end with a third placing at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
In a convoluted format, four of the top 12 contenders faced elimination over the 'roval' course — part road, part oval — with SVG languishing below the cutline in 10th, after a disastrous failure to finish at Talladega last week.
He helped his cause by taking pole position in qualifying, before doubling up with pole in the NASCAR Cup event on Monday (NZ time).
Still below the playoff cutline, van Gisbergen had to chase points across the three stages that make up Xfinity races. A mistake on a chicane put the Kiwi back in sixth, but he recovered to finish second on the opening stage, behind Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger.
Stage two was marred by several incidents that brought out caution flags. Van Gisbergen continued to bring his Supercars skills to bear, repeatedly taking the inside line on lefthand hairpin at turn seven to make up ground on his opponents.
He finished the stage in seventh, edging above the cutline, and crucially, some of his playoff rivals were among those worst affected by crashes.
Through the third and final stage, van Gisbergen worked his way to second with a mere two-point advantage over Justin Allgaier for the final qualifying spot, as Allgaier made up placings back in the field.
Under caution, SVG gambled by not pitting and that came back to bite him. He took the lead off a restart with 11 laps remaining, but lost it to Parker Kligerman, who had fresher tyres, also losing his playoff spot to Allgaier in the process. Sam Mayer and Allmendinger also went past, but he was thrown a lifeline, when the race went under caution before the final lap and entered overtime.
Will Davison walked away from the wreak, but faces massive repairs before Sunday's big race.
Motorsport
Sat, Oct 12
0:22
Defending champion Richie Stanaway is the top NZ qualifier in fourth.
Motorsport
6:37am
0:20
Shane Van Gisbergen completed a qualifying sweep by winning the pole for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series races this weekend.
Motorsport
8:48am
Reduced to a one-lap drag race, Mayer passed Kligerman for victory and automatic progress to the next stage. Allmedinger and van Gisbergen also passed Kligerman, but the Kiwi lost his playoff spot to fellow rookie Jesse Love, who began the day well above the cutline, but finished 19th to cut things fine.
Van Gisbergen will continue to race Xfinity events for the remainder of the season, but is now out of contention for the crown. He turns his attention to the Cup race, as he chases his second career win at the top level.
