The driver of the #97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro led 11 laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was a consistent top 10 runner in the rain-shortened 373-lap race.
Van Gisbergen started third after qualifying was rained out, which meant the starting order was set based on the qualifying metric after Watkins Glen.
He made the most of his opportunity to start at the pointy end of the field, bagging stage points in the first three legs of the race en route to 11th.
“I’m not surprised,” said Chastain, who was an early DNF.
“We’re all trying to figure out what our Trackhouse cars want and need for us to drive them.
“People can downplay his oval, banking racing. It’s not true. He can drive a car. He can find the limit.
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“I keep saying, when the car is right he’ll be able to put it there. It definitely is not surprising to me.”
Van Gisbergen had very few complaints about his car during the race. It built tight at times, then loosened up as the sun set and the track cooled.
His lap times were among some of the quickest all day long.
When the car was at its best and van Gisbergen made headway toward the top five, he opened the radio to let out a cheer.
“When I took the lead from the #54 (Ty Gibbs) I might have cheered a little bit, so you’ll probably hear that on the in-car camera. It was awesome,” said van Gisbergen.
“It worked out different. It’s just been good progression and I’ve got such a good group of people, not only at Trackhouse but on the #97 car.
“Just every week it’s so fun going to the race track. I feel like we’re building and building.”
Van Gisbergen admitted he wasn’t happy with the end result.
The team’s decision to gamble and stay out under one of the caution periods lofted him to second, though he slipped back on slightly older tyres.
It was a similarly spirited call by Spire Motorsports that elevated Daniel Suarez to first during the final round of pit stops before going on to win the rain-shortened race.
“Bit pissed with the 11th but it was an awesome day,” said van Gisbergen.
“They did a good job getting the car better and better. All the guys from SuperFile were here, so it was really cool to have them.
“Once I started up the front it was cool to stay there and learn. Just felt confident all day.
“Really fun to run up front and my car seemed to like being up by the wall. It was pretty awesome.
“There are a lot of lightbulb moments still, but I think I’m quite a conservative person or driver still and I really benefit from the longer practice as well. I think that really helps.
“A couple sets of tyres and more time on track. You get to experiment with things and I think that really helps me.
“It’s just taking time. It’s so different this kind of racing and I still learn something every week.”
Van Gisbergen continues his season at Nashville Superspeedway on June 1 (AEST).
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