In what became more of a spirited battle compared to his other road course wins, Shane van Gisbergen nonetheless continued his campaign as the king of the road in the NASCAR Cup Series with another win on the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Facing the most resistance on a road course this season, van Gisbergen fell behind Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell early in the final stage before rallying to pass both on either side of the penultimate green flag pit cycle. He once again ran both down after coming off pit road with 18 laps remaining en route to his fifth win of the season, all on road courses.
Larson took home the runner-up position, while Bell finished third. Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell rounded out the top five.
Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger and Tyler Reddick completed the top 10.
“What an awesome race, Kyle and Christopher were driving good; the battle was awesome,” van Gisbergen told USA Network post-race. “Really enjoyed that.”
As a result of their finishes, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Reddick and Austin Cindric were eliminated from the playoffs.
Chastain in particular was close to the cut line going into the final lap, needing to get past eighth-place Joey Logano in points. Needing any positions he could get, Chastain spun Denny Hamlin in the final corner, sending both drivers in reverse; Chastain ended up backing up his No. 1 across the finish line but was still ultimately unable to advance.
Tires were a focal point right from the drop of the green flag, with some drivers electing to split the stage in half while others ran it out. Buescher and polesitter Reddick would eventually freefall through the field as tires wore significantly. Van Gisbergen, among others, wrestled their way through traffic as he took the stage one win.
The second stage provided more differences in strategy. Teams were all over the place with the way they used extra sets of tires, bringing Ryan Blaney to the front with more comers and goers. Blaney stayed out to claim the second stage, while Chastain continued his stretch of gaining points on Logano. What was a double-digit point deficit was effectively down to two points once the final stretch run got underway.
A caution for Austin Dillon reset the field with less than 50 laps remaining, with teams needing wins like 23XI Racing debating to throw on more tires.
After Larson took the lead on the ensuing restart, he set sail for the rest of the stint, as van Gisbergen kept him and Bell within arm’s reach.
Both Chevrolet drivers got into it with less than 20 laps remaining, as Larson dished back what van Gisbergen gave heading into the backstretch chicane. The Trackhouse Racing driver stayed out while the rest of the contenders pitted and didn’t look back from there.
While that took shape, the race between Chastain and Logano heated up along the playoff cut line. Chastain sped on pit road after being in the wrong gear, going back and forth with the defending champion. The No. 1 elected to stay out while the No. 22 pitted, as he attempted to hold on for dear life. Chastain fell into a tiebreaker that he lost to Logano as Hamlin passed him in turn 7 on the final lap, before the aforementioned last-corner scuffle.
Cup ROVAL Results
The Cup playoffs continues next weekend, as the Round of 8 kicks off in Las Vegas Motor Speedway at 5:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network.
Thomas is in his first year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college football in the Bay Area, also writing about the California Golden Bears.