Van Gisbergen started on the back foot after penalties were levelled at the #88 team for making unapproved changes to his Chevrolet Camaro.

The Kiwi was forced to make a stop-and-go penalty in the opening laps and wound up two laps down. He spent the best part of Stage 1 battling over the Lucky Dog position with Michael McDowell, who was also penalised after Spire Motorsports made unapproved changes to the #71 Chevrolet Camaro.

Van Gisbergen fell one position shy of being in the Lucky Dog position at the end of Stage 1 on Lap 80. However, he didn’t have to wait long to get back on the lead lap.

On Lap 89, the caution flew when RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece and John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club collided on the front straight. SVG got the Lucky Dog and got back on the lead lap.

What followed was a turbulent Stage 2. Van Gisbergen’s position ebbed and flowed. He battled a tight race car, and a swing at the car setup didn’t help.

He battled at the start of the stint and fell back outside the top 20, eventually finishing Stage 2 in 19th on Lap 166.

On Lap 212, the caution flew for JJ Yeley, who spun off the nose of Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar. At the time, van Gisbergen was 15th. Pit stops followed, and quick work by Trackhouse vaulted van Gisbergen up to 12th for the restart.

On the Lap 217 restart, there was more carnage as several drivers checked up and set off a chain reaction, causing a pile-up. Among the casualties were Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse, AJ Allmendinger, and Hocevar. Logano was mired in the melee too, but escaped without serious damage.

CHAOS ON THE RESTART‼️ pic.twitter.com/sFuxOejKaB

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 28, 2025

It was an eventful conclusion to the race for van Gisbergen, who, with 41 laps to go in Stage 3, copped a hit from Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron from the #24 Chevrolet Camaro.

That nudged van Gisbergen up the track and into the side of Byron’s teammate, Alex Bowman, who got sandwiched up against the wall. The #48 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro slowed with damage and wound up finishing two laps down.

Van Gisbergen feared that he had damage, radioing to his crew that his car was wounded. However, moments later, he suggested the car “might be okay” and continued unabated.

In Stage 3, van Gisbergen marched forward towards the top 10. With 15 laps to go, the caution flew for debris when Kyle Busch in the #8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro got into the wall.

The race resumed with nine to go, but was short-lived after Carson Hocevar in the #77 Spire Motorsports Camaro got up into the wall and suffered a puncture. With his car stranded in Turn 3, the yellow flew.

The first attempt at an overtime finish was also short. Zane Smith got sandwiched up against the outside wall by Hunter Nemechek. The #38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang rolled onto its side before twice flipping down the banking.

THIS FINAL LAP WAS INSANE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/g9ctVJ1TPx

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 28, 2025

Nemechek took two more cars with him in the melee, wrecking the #54 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry of Ty Gibbs and the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Mustang of Josh Berry.

The race was red-flagged for that clean-up, which included wall repairs and assessing a gouge taken out of the track by Smith’s car.

On the final overtime restart, van Gisbergen restarted ninth and finished 10th ahead of his Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain.

The finish was a frenetic one with the win looking like it would go the way of the Toyotas. However, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace got into each other, opening the door for Chase Elliott to pip them both out of the final turn and win.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Motor Speedway

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