With just eight laps to go at the Tricky Triangle, the JR Motorsports driver centre-punched the back of the Kaulig Racing entry and sent the #97 into a spin.
“That kind of speaks for itself,” said Jeff Burton on commentary upon watching the replay.
“I don’t know if something happened prior to that.
“You can see right here… Shane is in the corner, he’s not catching the guy in front of him, he’s not also falling back from him and Sam Mayer just completely misjudges that.”
Mayer radioed back to his crew and took the blame for the incident.
“That was my bad,” said the driver of the #1 Chevrolet Camaro.
“It just wouldn’t stop in time… the brake pedal.”
Contact sends the No. 97 spinning.@shanevg97 was running 10th. pic.twitter.com/bLNjbfVByn
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 13, 2024
The 90-lapper was ultimately won by Cole Custer, who edged away from Justin Allgaier and William Byron on the final restart.
Van Gisbergen was classified 31st at the chequered flag after finishing 27th and 20th at the end of stage one and stage two respectively.
“It’s gutting, man. We were getting better and better,” van Gisbergen told Frontstretch for Speedcafe.
“Always on these ovals, third stage, I seem to be getting better and we made a bit of a good call there on strategy and we were on pretty good tyres.
“We had speed as well and then just got run over by Sam. I’m sure he didn’t mean it but gutting.”
Unsighted by broadcast coverage, van Gisbergen said he was involved in another incident late in the race that added salt to his wounds.
“Then at the end, some wobbler just took me out again for 83rd. That sucked,” van Gisbergen continued.
“We had a good WeatherTech Camaro here just a shame we don’t have a top 10.”
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pocono Raceway, Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 results
Pos | Driver | Car No. | Laps | Diff | Best Lap | Best Speed | Best Lap No. |
1 | Cole Custer | 0 | 90 | 54.746 | 164.396 | 64 | |
2 | Justin Allgaier | 7 | 90 | 0.670 | 55.058 | 163.464 | 80 |
3 | William Byron | 17 | 90 | 0.882 | 54.816 | 164.186 | 64 |
4 | Sheldon Creed | 18 | 90 | 3.108 | 55.48 | 162.221 | 81 |
5 | Taylor Gray | 19 | 90 | 3.427 | 55.582 | 161.923 | 65 |
6 | AJ Allmendinger | 16 | 90 | 4.001 | 54.866 | 164.036 | 55 |
7 | Austin Hill | 21 | 90 | 4.231 | 55.304 | 162.737 | 52 |
8 | Parker Kligerman | 48 | 90 | 4.727 | 55.146 | 163.203 | 65 |
9 | Sammy Smith | 8 | 90 | 5.713 | 55.7 | 161.58 | 80 |
10 | Sam Mayer | 1 | 90 | 5.853 | 55.275 | 162.822 | 66 |
11 | Riley Herbst | 98 | 90 | 6.790 | 55.265 | 162.852 | 32 |
12 | Ryan Sieg | 39 | 90 | 7.042 | 54.968 | 163.732 | 79 |
13 | Brandon Jones | 9 | 90 | 7.103 | 55.829 | 161.207 | 53 |
14 | Anthony Alfredo | 5 | 90 | 7.296 | 55.646 | 161.737 | 81 |
15 | Chandler Smith | 81 | 90 | 7.457 | 55.314 | 162.707 | 67 |
16 | Corey Heim(i) | 26 | 90 | 7.495 | 55.581 | 161.926 | 53 |
17 | Daniel Dye(i) | 10 | 90 | 7.591 | 55.832 | 161.198 | 82 |
18 | Josh Williams | 11 | 90 | 8.239 | 55.858 | 161.123 | 52 |
19 | Ryan Truex | 20 | 90 | 8.588 | 55.788 | 161.325 | 54 |
20 | Kyle Sieg | 28 | 90 | 8.765 | 56.09 | 160.456 | 53 |
21 | Jeb Burton | 27 | 90 | 8.906 | 55.837 | 161.183 | 52 |
22 | Jesse Love | 2 | 90 | 8.908 | 55.384 | 162.502 | 52 |
23 | Kyle Weatherman | 91 | 90 | 8.985 | 55.884 | 161.048 | 53 |
24 | Matt DiBenedetto | 38 | 90 | 9.126 | 55.873 | 161.08 | 65 |
25 | Leland Honeyman | 42 | 90 | 10.541 | 56.79 | 158.479 | 89 |
26 | Brennan Poole | 44 | 90 | 10.760 | 56.596 | 159.022 | 52 |
27 | Josh Berry(i) | 15 | 90 | 11.026 | 56.542 | 159.174 | 82 |
28 | Thomas Annunziata | 4 | 90 | 12.477 | 57.303 | 157.06 | 55 |
29 | Mason Massey(i) | 14 | 90 | 14.753 | 56.835 | 158.353 | 56 |
30 | Jeremy Clements | 51 | 90 | 23.603 | 56.306 | 159.841 | 53 |
31 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 97 | 90 | 74.744 | 55.711 | 161.548 | 81 |
32 | Parker Retzlaff | 31 | 89 | -1 | 56.312 | 159.824 | 52 |
33 | Patrick Emerling | 7 | 89 | -1 | 56.592 | 159.033 | 52 |
34 | Blaine Perkins | 29 | 72 | -18 | 57.343 | 156.95 | 34 |
35 | Stephen Mallozzi | 35 | 68 | -22 | 57.866 | 155.532 | 56 |
36 | Ryan Ellis | 43 | 47 | -43 | 56.782 | 158.501 | 34 |
37 | Josh Bilicki | 92 | 8 | -82 | 59.45 | 151.388 | 1 |
38 | Dawson Cram | 74 | 1 | -89 | 60.331 | 149.177 | 1 |