The #16 understeered all day long on the mile-and-a-half oval. Van Gisbergen bemoaned tyre life and a “tight” car from the outset that kept him out of the contest.

The Kiwi qualified a lowly 34th in the 37-car field and went a lap down in Stage 1 inside 30 laps.

No new set of tyre set of set-up change could shift the balance of the Camaro.

Van Gisbergen finished Stage 1 in 31st and only improved to 28th at the end of Stage 2 before ultimately coming home 29th and two laps down.

“Tough one there guys,” said van Gisbergen over the radio as he took the chequered flag.

“Sorry if I didn’t give you the right feedback to make it better. Difficult.”

Speaking post-race, van Gisbergen lamented a missed opportunity.

“It was a tough day for our #16 Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Chevrolet team, but we learned a lot,” said van Gisbergen.

“Our car was just super tight, and my team continued to worked on it all day.

“This track is a tough place but we wanted to learn and finish with a clean car and that’s what we did. Just wish we could have gotten a better result.”

The race was won by Team Penske’s Joey Logano who pulled off a fuel saving strategy to beat Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell.

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