Kaulig Racing struggled to find the right balance for the #97 Chevrolet Camaro on the one-and-a-half-mile oval.

Countless changes were made to get van Gisbergen comfortable but most swings left the New Zealander struggling with corner entry oversteer, mid-corner understeer, and corner exit oversteer.

At one point, he labelled his car “undriveable” with “zero grip” to play with.

Having qualified 22nd, van Gisbergen never threatened the top 10 on pace across the first two stages. He wound up 23rd at the end of Stage 1 and 20th by Stage 2.

In an attempt to get van Gisbergen competitive, the team took a big swing at tyre pressures during Stage 2 to match the leading Chevrolets.

That proved to be one in a handful of missteps. During the Stage 2 break, the team pitted just to take air out of the tyres.

“I don’t know what you need to do, but f***ing start again,” he told his crew chief Kevin Walter midway through the 200-lapper.

“Oh my god. Sorry, it’s hard to be positive, but we are so far off.”

During the final round of pit stops, van Gisbergen was given a massive free kick when a rogue tyre made its way onto the infield and brought the full course caution.

The #97 ran long and was able to avoid making a green flag pit stop. Under yellow, van Gisbergen pitted for the final time with just over 50 laps to go.

“Let’s reset,” van Gisbergen chimed over the radio.

Van Gisbergen restarted 11th and lost places initially, complaining that his long list of issues had only gotten worse.

However, as the laps wore down and van Gisbergen found speed on the high line, his tyre advantage by pitting later began to pay dividends.

One by one, van Gisbergen began picking off cars and matched the pace of the race leaders.

With two laps to go, van Gisbergen rose to eighth with a pass on Jesse Love, letting out a “woo hoo” along the way.

“Good recovery, thanks guys,” said van Gisbergen as he took the chequered flag in eighth.

“Thanks for sticking with it. Good job not giving up there Kevin. Awesome.”

Van Gisbergen’s eighth place finish represents a strong start to the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, putting him eight points above the cut-off line.

The 200-lap race was won by Aric Almirola who put a late race pass on Cole Custer to win by 0.660s. Chandler Smith led the most laps but faded in the final stage to finish third.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Talladega Speedway on October 6.

Results: NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300, Kansas Speedway

(P) – Playoff driver

For more of the latest NASCAR news stories, visit MotorRacing.com