Van Gisbergen rallies to top 15 finish at Darlington

Van Gisbergen qualified the #97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro a lowly 33rd and spent the lion’s share of Stage 1 battling to stay on the lead lap.

On Lap 111, the caution came out when Denny Hamlin rear-ended Erik Jones and sent the #34 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry into a spin.

In the laps leading up to the caution, van Gisbergen had gotten himself into the lucky dog position with a storming effort to get back onto the lead lap.

SVG shone in Stage 2, and finished 15th.

On Lap 197, Connor Zilisch tipped Riley Herbst into a spin and brought out the caution. A spirited decision to stay out vaulted van Gisbergen to fourth for the restart.

After the restart, van Gisbergen slipped back outside the top 15 before the final sequence of green flag pit stops.

Van Gisbergen pitted for the final time with a little over 50 laps to go. He lamented understeer, but took care of his tyres to give himself a shot at a late charge.

Inside the final 20 laps, van Gisbergen rose to 14th where he would ultimately finish.

Van Gisbergen sits 15th in the standings and one point ahead of bubble driver Joey Logano of Team Penske.

“Awesome job tuning that car up guys,” van Gisbergen radioed to his team after taking the chequered flag.

“That was a great day.”

The race was won by 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in the #45 Toyota Camry, who defeated RFK Racing owner-driver Brad Keselowski in the #6 Ford Mustang.

Reddick made the decisive move for the lead of the race with 27 laps to go and finished 5.847s clear.

Despite starting from pole position, Reddick’s win didn’t come easy. He had to pit multiple times for various issues, including for a new battery.

Electrical gremlins forced Reddick to shut off his fans, which meant steep cockpit temperature rises. His cool suit failed too, and then brake issues crept in late.

“I know never to give up,” said Reddick.

“I think it’s very fitting that when we finally get our first win here at Darlington, that the Lady in Black would test us like that.

“We’ve been so close so many times and Lap 1 we had the charging problem where the battery wasn’t charging at all, so all day long just not running fans, sweating my tail off inside the car.

“We knew it was going to be physical. Real wore out, but I guess I don’t need as much of that cooling stuff as I normally have.”

RFK Racing’s triple threat looked dominant, but faded in the final stage. Keselowski couldn’t keep up while Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece in the #17 and #60 faded to ninth and 13th respectively.

“We didn’t have the best car today compared to Tyler,” said Keselowski.

“Tyler drove a hell of a race and he’s driving a rocket and he’s making it count right now.

“I think we got the most out of the day. We scored a lot of stage points – second place, first place loser – but that’s okay.

“We’re doing the things we need to do and making the most of the days we have.”

The NASCAR Cup Series returns with the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Monday, March 30.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400, Darlington Raceway