This year, NASCAR has done away with its win-and-you’re-in play-off format. Instead, the top 16 knock-out will be set on points.
By virtue of his win at Watkins Glen, he was propelled to the front of the field at Charlotte when qualifying was abandoned.
That’s thanks entirely to the performance metric that sets the qualifying order and the grid when qualifying is rained out.
Van Gisbergen was mightily impressive across the first three stages at Charlotte, scoring points en route to a somewhat disappointing 11th place finish.
The same circumstances were true a week later at Nashville, where his performance in the race at Charlotte gave him a good draw when qualifying was rained out for a second week in a row.
He put together his top performance in the Cup Series on an oval, finishing fifth.
In three weeks, van Gisbergen went from below to cut line in 19th to be sitting pretty in 12th.
However, the brutal reality of Trackhouse Racing’s qualifying trauma was back at the forefront of everyone’s mind at Michigan when van Gisbergen was only 30th.
His teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch were even worse off in 32nd and 34th respectively.
Van Gisbergen flirted with a top 20 finish but was stung with two penalties, one for a safety violation and another for speeding, before he was wrecked out of the race through no fault of his own inside the final 50 laps.
That result has dropped van Gisbergen two positions back to 14th in the standing and dangerously close to the cut-off line..
“Unfortunate day for our SafetyCulture team,” said van Gisbergen.
“Just struggled with the balance of the car all day. It’s a shame to have this kind of day after building such great momentum the last couple of weeks.
“But we’ll continue to learn from this and be ready for Pocono.”
Before the lacklustre Michigan showing, NASCAR legend and commentator Dale Earnhardt Jr. said van Gisbergen wasn’t “a lock” for The Chase.
“It’s tight. He could have a couple of bad days and be in a bad spot, but he’s also got the road courses,” he said on the Dale Jr Download.
“If he gets another win or two at a road course, that’s going to put him 50 points up – if not more.
“If he gets another win at a road course, yes. That’s what’s going to lock him in. He should smoke their ass at San Diego. He should.”
NASCAR Cup Series points after Michigan International Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Poins | Diff | Gap | Gain/Loss | Race Wins | Stage Wins |
| 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | 669 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | 618 | -51 | 51 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | 512 | -157 | 106 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | 482 | -187 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | 470 | -199 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | 453 | -216 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | 428 | -241 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | 424 | -245 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports | 418 | -251 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | 410 | -259 | 8 | -3 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | 378 | -291 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | 377 | -292 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | 370 | -299 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | 355 | -314 | 15 | -2 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | 350 | -319 | 5 | -2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | 332 | -337 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | 329 | -340 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | 314 | -355 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | 313 | -356 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | 286 | -383 | 27 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | 286 | -383 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | 282 | -387 | 4 | -2 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | 271 | -398 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | 260 | -409 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | 255 | -414 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | 250 | -419 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | 245 | -424 | 5 | -3 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | 236 | -433 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | 212 | -457 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | 196 | -473 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | 190 | -479 | 6 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | 178 | -491 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | 175 | -494 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | 88 | Connor Zilisch # | Trackhouse Racing | 148 | -521 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | 131 | -538 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
San Diego isn’t far away for SVG.
He has to get through Pocono on June 15 then he’ll have back-to-back opportunities at San Diego and Sonoma to really stamp his authority on the standings.
Thereafter, it’s an eight-race run to The Chase where he’ll have to hope there are improvements across the board, but particularly in qualifying.
In this weeks poll presented by Michelin, we ask you — will Shane van Gisbergen make The Chase?
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