SHANE van GISBERGEN
No. 97 SafetyCulture Chevrolet Camaro
Shane van Gisbergen qualified 23rd for the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
The No. 97 battled hard to maintain position until 15 laps into the event. A caution came out, and the No. 97 team opted to pit for four fresh tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen restarted the stage 29th. Another yellow flag flew with five laps remaining in the stage, and the No. 97 team opted to stay out, restarting the stage 21st. Van Gisbergen broke into the top 20 in the final laps of the stage, finishing Stage 1 in the 22nd position.
The No. 97 SafetyCulture team started Stage 2 in 16th. Van Gisbergen battled a very tight-handling race car throughout the entire stage. Another caution flag flew with nine laps remaining in the stage and the No. 97 opted to stay out and finish the stage instead of coming in for adjustments. Van Gisbergen restarted eighth, breaking into the top 10 for the first time. Van Gisbergen took the green-and-white checkered flag, 13th, to end the stage.
The No. 97 team came to pit road for adjustments, four new tires and fuel. The left rear tire was slow to come off, lining Van Gisbergen up to start 25th. A caution came out on the first lap of Stage 3, and the No. 97 came to pit road for fuel, restarting the stage in 24th. NASCAR issued a penalty to the No. 97 team for pulling out of line before the start-finish line on the restart, making Van Gisbergen do a pass through on pit road and cycle to the back of the field. Van Gisbergen continued to battle a tight car throughout the remainder of the race. Another caution flew with eight laps remaining in the race. The No. 97 SafetyCulture team chose to come to pit road for adjustments and fuel, restarting 28th. The event went into overtime and Van Gisbergen ultimately took the checkered flag 17th.
“I enjoyed this track, but unfortunately we just didn’t have any speed. It’s hard, we were flat the whole way around so people would just drive away from us. I made an error there on a restart and got a penalty, misjudged that, but still had fun and I’m continuing to learn! On to Daytona next weekend.”
– Shane van Gisbergen
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