The Kaulig Racing driver endured a rollercoaster ride with an ill-handling #97 Chevrolet Camaro.

The Kiwi bemoaned brake issues in the early going and by Lap 23 said he had “no front brakes left”.

“Man, I feel like I’m driving on ice,” said van Gisbergen.

“I can’t even see going into the corner any more, the vibration is terrible.”

At the end of Stage 1, van Gisbergen added: “Oh man, I feel like the dash is going to fly through the windscreen when I brake.

“It felt decent at the start and felt like I was cruising then blew the tyres off it.”

Van Gisbergen’s crew chief said the team would take a swing at the set-up.

“Take as much time as you need,” van Gisbergen laughed.

A crash between Stefan Parsons and Anthony Alfredo on Lap 61 brought the first caution out.

“I feel like I’m in another class of car,’ van Gisbergen bemoaned.

“I feel like I’m driving on eggshells.”

By the end of Stage 1, van Gisbergen was pegged to the bottom of the lead lap on the timing totem, ending the stage in 24th. Stage 2 wasn’t any better, ending it 25th.

“Oh man, I’m just so slow. I’m just trying not to get run over. I just have zero grip. No grip at all.”

The team took a sizable swing at the chassis swing and van Gisbergen went quiet on his radio – a sure sign that the car was handling better.

Van Gisbergen began to make headway and inside 75 laps to go cracked the top 10.

“I’ve got a lot more grip, obviously,” he chuckled.

“But it’s starting to build pretty tight now.”

The yellow came out with 46 laps to go when Alfredo went into the wall on his own.

Van Gisbergen continued to hover around the top 10 but fell out as the car began to suffer understeer.

“Really, really tight,” he said.

“It’s been like that the whole run.”

With 20 laps to go, van Gisbergen was 13th.

“I’m just hanging on man now. I’ve got nothing.”

When the #42 crashed with four laps to go, bringing the frontrunners to the pit lane for a new set of tyres.

Van Gisbergen survived two overtime finishes and ultimately wound up 12th.

“Nice job guys making it better,” van Gisbegen remarked as he took the chequered flag.

The race was won by Riley Herbst who beat Justin Allgaier in a two-lap dash.

In the most unlikely circumstances, Allgaier recovered from one lap down to take the title.

He was penalised for falling out of line on the Stage 3 restart and was penalised again for speeding.

Allgaier was given a massive free kick when the yellow came out in the middle of the pit stop sequence.

Having got back onto the lead, he was able to pit and put himself back into a competitive position.

Allgaier worked his way back to the front and challenged Cole Custer for the championship-winning position before the second-to-last caution.

The race-defining move came when he fitted his Chevrolet Camaro with new tyres. None of his championship rivals had new tyres for the final pit stop.

With a significant tyre advantage, Allgaier passed two of his title combatants, Custer and Austin Hill, to shoot to second on the final restart and take the title win.

Results: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race, Phoenix Raceway

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