SVG secures COTA win with epic five-in-one pass

Van Gisbergen had been in control of the race with nine laps to go until Sage Karam stopped his #44 Toyota Supra and brought out the fourth caution of an eventful day.

The pit lane came alive, and a slow stop dropped van Gisbergen from the lead to sixth for the restart with five laps to go.

On the final restart, van Gisbergen shot to the inside and slipped by the five cars on his outside thanks to Sam Mayer in the #41 Camaro pushing wide and taking everyone on his outside with him.

The #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro was unchallenged from there, securing victory.

It’s van Gisbergen’s fifth road course win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity Series).

“Good to finally execute. We had an awesome day,” said van Gisbergen.

“The pit crew was awesome. The strategy worked out well.

“I wondered what was going to happen on that last restart and I kind of sucked the #41 in and he took everyone out for me. That was cool.

“What an awesome day. Good to finally win there and hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow.”

SVG to the lead after the restart 😮‍💨

Get to The CW for the finish!!! pic.twitter.com/49vQeTDVnu

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 28, 2026

It’s an ideal warm-up to Monday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, in which van Gisbergen will start 13th.

“I did learn a bit,” said van Gisbergen.

“I tried some things. I wasn’t driving very good earlier today, and we lack in the car – but also, I can be better too.

“Hopefully it’s worthwhile doing these races. Hopefully it helps tomorrow.”

The first two stages were hard-fought between van Gisbergen and his JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch.

Van Gisbergen initially got the jump on Zilisch, going around the outside of the #1 out of Turn 1 to take the lead.

At the end of Lap 1, van Gisbergen led Zilisch, Austin Hill (#21 Camaro), Brandon Jones (#20 Supra), and Justin Allgaier (#7 Camaro).

Van Gisbergen’s time at the front lasted until Lap 6 when Zilisch put a pass on the #9 into the uphill hairpin.

SVG takes the lead from Connor Zilisch with 3 laps to go in Stage 1. pic.twitter.com/Uv43GgThRV

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 28, 2026

Zilisch couldn’t drop van Gisbergen, however, and with three laps to go in Stage 1 they switched places with a change through the Turn 6A shortcut.

Pit stops followed that lap, and Hill inherited the lead to win Stage 1. Sam Mayer was second and Allgaier third while van Gisbergen wound up 10th.

As the front-runners elected to take stage points and pitted under yellow, van Gisbergen resumed the lead of the race for the start of Stage 2.

On the restart, Zilisch got the jump into the hairpin. However, it was 17-year-old Brent Crews in the #19 Supra who made a massive gain and took the lead into the hairpin.

What a restart for the 17-year-old @Brentcrews who is making his @NASCAROReillyAP debut! pic.twitter.com/DDsgTx42JD

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 28, 2026

On the inside, Crews made it four-wide with Smith, van Gisbergen, and Zilisch on his outside.

Van Gisbergen lost out the most as he fell to fourth. Though it wasn’t long before he began to make headway.

On Lap 26, van Gisbergen got by Smith entering the Turn 6 shortcut. A lap later, van Gisbergen did the same to Zilisch.

It was moments later that the #88 began to have brake problems. Those exacerbated and eventually his left rotor blew.

The team elected to make extensive repairs in a move that eventually paid dividends to put Zilisch back in contention. However, that work was undone when he was spun in the closing laps off the nose of Corey Day.

On Lap 29, van Gisbergen took the lead away from Crews, who soon found himself battling to stay at the front.

Smith shot to second before Crews made contact with Creed and spun the #00 Ford Mustang.

Baltazar Leguizamón hits the tire wall hard to bring out the caution. pic.twitter.com/8VWIFRBwKT

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 28, 2026

With six laps to go in Stage 2, Baltazar Leguizamon crashed when his brakes failed into Turn 1.

That set up a two-lap dash to the end of the stage after pit stops.

It was a relatively conservative close to the stage as van Gisbergen restarted from the fourth row and finished fifth.

3 WIDE FOR THE LEAD 😱

SVG back out in front! pic.twitter.com/BxjMU3Iwnb

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 28, 2026

Stage 3 began on Lap 45 with Mayer ahead of Love. Van Gisbergen worked his way up to third, and as the leaders warred, the #9 Camaro pulled off an epic two-for-one pass through the triple-apex right-hander to take the lead.

The final stage was a relatively sedate affair until the decisive caution with nine laps to go. Van Gisbergen had a two-second lead on Love while Smith was another four-and-a-half seconds back.

Van Gisbergen fell to sixth for the final restart but ultimately got back all the ground he lost with the five-in-one pass on the restart thanks to Mayer running deep into Turn 1, which cast everyone on his outside wide.

The final five laps were chaotic. Harrison Burton spun thanks to contact from Taylor Gray coming out of Turn 2.

Connor Zilisch spins off the track during a late push for the front. pic.twitter.com/95ukfAlBaV

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 28, 2026

Moments later, Mayer drove too deep into 6A and parked awkwardly. Rajah Caruth couldn’t avoid the stationary car and ploughed into the tyre barrier, followed in by Carson Kvapil.

With three laps to go, Zilisch was up to fourth until Corey Day spun him coming out of Turn 2.

In the end, van Gisbergen came home just under a second clear of Hill to take the win after 65 laps.

Results: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Circuit of the Americas