‘Epic’ Kansas Rally Keeps Van Gisbergen In Playoff Picture

Shane van Gisbergen (97) battles Kyle Weatherman Saturday at Kansas Speedway. (Rusty Jarrett/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen has used many adjectives in describing his experiences during his first full season of NASCAR competition.

After Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 – the opening race of the Xfinity Series playoffs – the word “epic” jumped near the top of the list in terms of frequency.

Not only did the Kiwi use that descriptor several times over the radio at Kansas Speedway, van Gisbergen also reiterated it with a big grin after an out-of-nowhere eighth place finish with the No. 97 Safety Culture Chevrolet Camaro.

The Kaulig Racing driver started 22nd and was buried outside the top 20 for most of the first two stages with a car he described as “super loose” across the board.

While van Gisbergen and crew chief Kevin Walter dug their heels in and kept swinging at the handling, the team’s biggest break of the day came with 56 laps left, when a tire escaped from Parker Retzlaff’s crew on pit road and forced NASCAR officials to call a caution flag in the middle of green-flag stops.

Having played the long game at that point, van Gisbergen had yet to make his final trip down pit lane for service and was running sixth when the yellow came out, allowing him to gain a substantial amount of track position that he largely held over the 49-lap green flag run that closed out the race.

After restarting 10th, van Gisbergen dipped as far back as 14th before his long-run pace came in late in the going. He broke back into the top 10 with 21 laps left, got past Josh Williams for ninth coming to 13 to go, and then chased down Jesse Love to make the pass for eighth on the final lap.

It was a “huge result” that kept van Gisbergen above the playoff cut line with two races remaining in the opening round of the postseason.

“Our SafetyCulture Camaro looked good, but didn’t drive very well for a lot of the race, so I’m proud of my Kaulig Racing team for not giving up and continuing to make adjustments to help me feel comfortable in the car,” said van Gisbergen. “This was my first time at Kansas, and it was epic running up close to the wall. I learned to be up high, and would feel good for a while, but then the wall kind of saved me countless times (laughter).

“An eighth-place finish is amazing for how we ran most of the day,” he added. “I joked on the radio [about] the number of times I hit the wall at turn four, but yet the thing was still in the same bloody place. I didn’t make [the track] any wider, but it was fun out there.”

Van Gisbergen heads to the always unpredictable Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway eight points ahead of ninth-place Justin Allgaier, who entered the playoff opener as the top seed but left as the first driver in danger of being eliminated with two races left in the Round of 12.

It’s a buffer on paper, but van Gisbergen admitted that “we know no one’s safe” going to the 2.66-mile behemoth. Leaving Kansas in positive territory was a huge first step for the Xfinity Series rookie, however.

“I’ve tried to approach [the playoffs] just like I would every other weekend, especially at [Kansas], where it was my first time here,” explained van Gisbergen, whose three regular season wins all came on road courses. “I’ve sort of examined the [NASCAR Cup Series] guys and what happened at Bristol, how people reacted under pressure … but thankfully we had a good day and leave plus eight on the board.

“We’re still near the cut line, but we just have to keep chipping away. If we have a decent week at Talladega, we should be fine at the [Charlotte] ROVAL. We just have to get the simple things right.”

An epic Kansas race, where van Gisbergen improved the most positions relative to his starting spot of anyone in the field, was exactly what he needed to kickstart the playoffs in the proper fashion.

If he can keep it going, a berth in the second round of the postseason might not be out of reach.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs continue at Talladega with the running of the United Rentals 250. Van Gisbergen’s teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, won the most recent playoff race at the track in 2022.

Broadcast coverage is slated for Saturday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.