The Trackhouse Racing driver qualified a standout fifth at the half-mile paperclip for the 400-lap race.

Van Gisbergen slowly dropped back over the course of the race as he struggled with tyre wear and car positioning on restarts.

An aggressive strategy got him as high as second, but he ultimately wound up finishing 11th.

“That pisses me off – running top 10 and missing it,” van Gisbergen said post-race.

“It was decent, I just wasn’t good enough on the restarts. I’d lose one or two spots every time and then not be able to get them back.

“We had good speed and I could drive back to the guys who passed me, but I just need to get better at the restarts with car position. Pretty decent day really.

“It was tough. I drive conservative but still burnt them off. We can get the car better and I can do a better job too. Still decent.”

It was, nevertheless, the best result of the three Trackhouse Racing drivers.

Ross Chastain finished 16th while Connor Zilisch was an innocent victim of the melee involving Bubba Wallace and Carson Hocevar.

In four starts, 11th represents van Gisbergen’s best finish at Martinsville – an improvement on his debut in 2024 where he finished 12th with Kaulig Racing.

“It’s been a good progression, tracks like this,” said van Gisbergen.

“Every time I’ve come here I’ve gotten better and better. This is my fourth race here now.

“Hopefully I can just keep learning, keep getting what I want from the car.

“We’ve got a good notebook now and I think that is really helping.”

An unintended consequence of his qualifying efforts was being able to stay out of trouble for the bulk of the race.

“People race much nicer up the front. That was nice for a while,” he said.

“When I got 10th on back it was pretty aggressive, and then gave a couple back myself,” van Gisbergen chuckled.

“I really enjoy being further up the front.”

Van Gisbergen will have one weekend off before the Cup Series returns at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13.

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