Van Gisbergen takes dive in NASCAR Cup Series points
After his remarkable recovery in Phoenix netted him 11th, the Trackhouse Racing driver was riding high on the table. However, he came crashing down – almost literally – at Las Vegas. Damage on the opening lap from a high-speed slide onto the apron meant van Gisbergen spent the remaining 266 laps ...
After his remarkable recovery in Phoenix netted him 11th, the Trackhouse Racing driver was riding high on the table. However, he came crashing down – almost literally – at Las Vegas.
Damage on the opening lap from a high-speed slide onto the apron meant van Gisbergen spent the remaining 266 laps battling an imbalance with the front splitter dragging on the road.
The day had promised a lot, having qualified 16th and ahead of his two Trackhouse Racing teammates Ross Chastain (17th) and Connor Zilisch (25th). Van Gisbergen finished last.
“Tough, long day,” said van Gisbergen.
“Thought our race was going to go better than that but got some damage on lap one when I made a mistake.
“Then, just continued to struggle the rest of the day. Thanks to my #97 guys for continuing to work on my SuperFile Chevy. We’ll move on to Darlington.”
Trackhouse Racing struggled on the whole. Zilisch spun after nose-to-tail contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the #47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro and finished 32nd.
“We didn’t really fire off great,” said Zilisch.
“I felt like we could be good on the long run and make ground up, and then on the restart, we would just fall back and lose all the ground we would make up.
“I don’t know what happened with Ricky. He was pitting and I didn’t see him wave us off.
“It just caught me by surprise when he checked up in the middle of the corner and that kind of ended our day from there.”
Chastain, meanwhile, was only 17th as he battled car handling issues.
“We worked on the handling all day,” said Chastain.
“The long green flag runs didn’t help us any but we kept working at it.”
Van Gisbergen shares 16th in the standings with former Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez and Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger.
The points are still led by 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick ahead of teammate Bubba Wallace.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney slipped one place to third while Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin surged from 12th to fourth thanks to his Las Vegas win. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott holds fifth.
The NASCAR Cup Series resumes at Darlington on March 23.
2026 NASCAR Cup Series Points (After Las Vegas Motor Speedway)
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Gain/Loss | Points | Diff | Gap |
| 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | 0 | 255 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | -1 | 194 | 61 | 61 |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | 1 | 188 | 67 | 6 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | -8 | 177 | 78 | 11 |
| 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | +1 | 168 | 87 | 9 |
| 6 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | 0 | 164 | 91 | 4 |
| 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | -3 | 157 | 98 | 7 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | -3 | 157 | 98 | 0 |
| 9 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | 0 | 146 | 109 | 11 |
| 10 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | -5 | 140 | 115 | 6 |
| 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | +4 | 135 | 120 | 5 |
| 12 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | -4 | 127 | 128 | 8 |
| 13 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | -5 | 125 | 130 | 2 |
| 14 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | +6 | 122 | 133 | 3 |
| 15 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | +1 | 118 | 137 | 4 |
| 16 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | +11 | 117 | 138 | 1 |
| 17 | 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports | 0 | 117 | 138 | 0 |
| 18 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | +5 | 117 | 138 | 0 |
| 19 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | 0 | 108 | 147 | 9 |
| 20 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | -3 | 94 | 161 | 14 |
| 21 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | -1 | 91 | 164 | 3 |
| 22 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | +2 | 90 | 165 | 1 |
| 23 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | -1 | 86 | 169 | 4 |
| 24 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | -5 | 81 | 174 | 5 |
| 25 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | +4 | 80 | 175 | 1 |
| 26 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | -7 | 76 | 179 | 4 |
| 27 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | -1 | 76 | 179 | 0 |
| 28 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | +3 | 73 | 182 | 3 |
| 29 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | +2 | 72 | 183 | 1 |
| 30 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | 0 | 71 | 184 | 1 |
| 31 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | +5 | 68 | 187 | 3 |
| 32 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | +1 | 56 | 199 | 12 |
| 33 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | +1 | 52 | 203 | 4 |
| 34 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | -1 | 52 | 203 | 0 |
| 35 | 88 | Connor Zilisch # | Trackhouse Racing | +1 | 50 | 205 | 2 |
| 36 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | 0 | 23 | 232 | 27 |
