Van Gisbergen suffers spin, pit lane prang at Pocono

The Trackhouse Racing driver struggled with an ill-handling #88 Chevrolet Camaro that oversteered on corner entry and understeered on corner exit.

Moments after bemoaning brake troubles, van Gisberen spun with 36 laps to go in the race.

“I spun out. Touched the ground real hard and just let me go,” said van Gisbergen.

“I hit the back pretty square I think. Hard to tell if it’s up. The tyres are good to keep going around.

“The rears will be killed. The fronts might be okay. They don’t feel too bad.”

Van Gisbergen lost a lap to the leaders and pitted for set of used tyres. The team opted to keep a set of tyres up its sleeve and hope to benefit from a caution and get the Lucky Dog.

That ultimately never came. Van Gisbergen finished 31st and the first car a lap down.

It was the second spin of the day for van Gisbergen after he found himself caught in a mid-race melee when Kyle Busch triggered a caution on Lap 83 of 160 at Pocono Raceway.

Busch made side-to-side contact with the #38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang of Todd Gilliland, sending the #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro into a spin.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell in the #20 Toyota Camry spun to avoid the ensuing chaos while van Gisbergen slid the #88 Trackhouse Racing Camaro after being sideswiped by the #10 Kaulig Racing Camaro of Ty Dillon.

Van Gisbergen had been running 29th at the time. It was the fifth caution of the day and came with just over 10 laps to go in Stage 2.

“I got a hit in the right rear,” van Gisbergen reported, before making an unscheduled pit stop.

Fortunately, van Gisbergen escaped any serious damage save for some tyre marks on the right rear corner.

“What happens as this race gets closer and closer to the finish line, everybody stops giving as much, they start taking more,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. on commentary.

“Kyle Busch knows he wants to take that position. He’s going to force that pass. He probably doesn’t do that early in the race.”

Another look at the incident on Lap 83. pic.twitter.com/YSBiAN039f

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 22, 2025

For pitting while the pit lane was closed, van Gisbergen was relegated to the rear of the lead lap for the restart in 29th. After a nine-lap dash, van Gisbergen finished Stage 2 in 24th.

“Still bad air, but definitely felt more comfortable,” he reported to his team at the end of the stage.

“It’s a bit of an improvement, thank you.”

During Stage 1, van Gisbergen bemoaned corner entry understeer and corner exit oversteer, prompting a ride height adjustment. Those issues returned during Stage 3, reporting a “very, very tight” car.

Ride with @KyleBusch and @CBellRacing. pic.twitter.com/EU5puVgrPv

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 22, 2025

Earlier in the race, van Gisbergen was caught up in an ugly pit stop incident involving former Kaulig Racing Xfinity Series teammate AJ Allmendinger.

Van Gisbergen hit one of Allmendinger’s tyres and sent it flying into one of his own Trackhouse Racing tyre changers.

He reported sore ribs but was able to complete the pit stop before being attended to.

Glad our pit crew teammates on the 88 were okay after this little issue on pit road.

JP is TUFF so we know he’ll be alright. 💪 https://t.co/PKE2ZhNAsB pic.twitter.com/dimhDlqywg

— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) June 22, 2025

“Wild scene on pit road, riding onboard with AJ Allmendinger. He’s coming into pit road. Take a look at this, he’s going to hit his tyre carrier. Watch this tyre,” said Earnhardt Jr.

Co-commentator Steve Letarte weighed in: “The tyre goes bam! Right in the upper torso, the head area of the rear tyre changer for the #88.

“JP Kealey. He’s a D1 (division one) lacrosse player, so he’s taken some hits before – but this right there, that is a vicious hit.

“He drops the gun, you see, he grabs the gun and gets up and finishes the stop. You want to talk about tough and athletic.

“That is a scary situation. So good to see him finish the stop and be checked on right here.”

The Great American Getaway 400 was won by Chase Briscoe, who fuel-saved his way to victory in the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry. Denny Hamlin was second in the sister #11 car.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Great American Getaway 400, Pocono Raceway

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