Shane van Gisbergen made another statement on a road course Saturday, diving to the inside of Turn 1 on a restart with five laps to go and muscling his way to victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
Van Gisbergen, the New Zealand native who has built a reputation as one of the best road racers in the world, seized control on a late restart when he threw his car deep into the tight left-hander at the end of COTA’s long front straightaway.
The bold move shuffled the leaders and cleared the way for him to pull ahead in the closing laps.
The victory marked another breakthrough moment in van Gisbergen’s transition to full-time NASCAR competition.
After leading for much of the afternoon SVG lost control of the race when a late caution flag flew.
He capitalized when it mattered most on the late restart and stuck the move without contact.
SVG will go for a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series race tomorrow afternoon, where he will start 13th in the No. 97 Chevy.
