Van Gisbergen looked on for a top 10 until an unforced error in pit lane late in Stage 2, and his recovery was snuffed out when the #16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet lost first gear during the third and final stage.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron led for much of the 68-lap encounter and prevailed by 0.692s over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs after a relative cruise to the chequered flag.
Byron (#24 Chevrolet) had qualified on pole position and led the field off Turn 1, from Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing Toyota) and Ty Gibbs (#54 JGR Toyota).
Van Gisbergen started 12th and lost a little ground initially, but his position was net unchanged by the end of Lap 1 after some wheel-banging just ahead of him in what was a very busy pack.
Trackhouse Racing stablemate Daniel Suarez (#99 Chevrolet) passed the New Zealander on Lap 2, before Reddick was rounded up by Gibbs for second on Lap 6 at Turn 17, then by Bell (#20 Toyota) exactly a lap later.
Van Gisbergen passed Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Chevrolet) for 12th on Lap 9 and Austin Cindric (#2 Team Penske Ford) for 11th on Lap 10.
Byron had led by as much as nearly four seconds but Gibbs had pegged that back to less than two on Lap 11, and van Gisbergen’s progress continued when he got back ahead of Suarez, at Turn 11 on Lap 12, to run 10th on merit.
Pit stops were underway in anticipation of the Lap 15 stage finish and van Gisbergen was among several into the lane on Lap 12, before Byron and Gibbs were in on Lap 23.
Bell stayed out and won the stage, with Suarez second, Byron seventh, Gibbs eighth, and van Gisbergen 20th.
Those latter three were third, fourth, and 13th once several more pitted in the break, although Bell continued to lead, from Michael McDowell (#34 Front Row Motorsports Ford).
The race went green again on Lap 19 and Bell held top spot until he was rounded up by Byron through Turns 14 and 15 on Lap 20.
Van Gisbergen dropped to 14th on the restart but passed Justin Haley (#51 Rick Ware Racing Ford) on Lap 20, inherited a spot on Lap 21 as McDowell’s slide down the order on old tyres continued, and another on Lap 22 when Bell turned the weekend’s Xfinity Series race winner, Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Chevrolet), around on Lap 22 at the Turn 11 hairpin.
He was 10th when he got by Denny Hamlin (#11 JGR Toyota) on Lap 23 and was strategically called to pit on Lap 25.
However, any benefit which Kaulig hoped for was negated when the Kiwi was pinged for pit lane speeding.
He dropped outside the top 30 once he served his drive-through but was still on the same, two-plus-minute lap as the leader.
That lead of the #24 Chevrolet was more than three seconds when Reddick peeled off from second place on Lap 27, then Byron himself was in on Lap 28.
Hamlin inherited first place and won Stage 2, with Byron eighth, Gibbs 11th, Ross Chastain (#1 Trackhouse Chevrolet) 12th, Reddick 13th, and van Gisbergen 31st at the end of Lap 30.
Once stops happened during the break, Byron led again, but he lost it when the race restarted on Lap 34 after a push from Gibbs up the hill caused him to lock up and run wide at Turn 1.
Chastain grabbed top spot, from Gibbs and Byron, while van Gisbergen moved up from 19th at the restart to 16th at the end of the lap, having scythed through a vigorous bunch.
On Lap 36, Gibbs lunged at Chastain at Turn 1 but could not make the move stick, while van Gisbergen crept up to 14th and then inherited another position on Lap 40 when Elliott took a drive-through penalty for cutting the esses.
Then came news that the #16 Chevrolet had lost first gear, at a track where there are six such corners.
Having trailed by more than a second at one point since the restart, Byron was all over Chastain on Lap 43 and eventually completed a pass for the lead at Turn 1 on Lap 44.
Alex Bowman (#48 Hendrick Chevrolet) was first of the front-runners to make his final pit stop when he entered the lane from fourth on Lap 44.
Byron and Chastain were called in a lap later but a slow stop for the #1 Chevrolet allowed Bowman to split them upon pit exit.
Gibbs also got back out ahead of Chastain after he took service on Lap 46, while van Gisbergen pressed on until the end of Lap 50.
Once Martin Truex Jnr (#19 JGR Toyota) pitted on Lap 51, Byron was back in the lead with a 1.8s margin over Bowman and another 3.0s to Gibbs, while van Gisbergen sat 25th.
Byron had doubled the gap to second-placed Bowman after five laps more, as van Gisbergen ran 23rd.
Gibbs got inside of Bowman at Turn 1 on Lap 61 and completed the pass as they ran down the hill, at which point Car #24 was still three seconds clear.
Bell went under Gibbs to take second place on Lap 66 at Turn 11, as Byron cruised at 2.5s up the road.
Bell closed in on the final lap but the #24 pilot never looked seriously threatened.
Third went to Gibbs, from Bowman, Reddick, AJ Allmendinger (#13 Kaulig Chevrolet), Chastain, Chris Buescher (#17 RFK Racing Ford), Kyle Busch (#8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), and Truex Jnr.
Van Gisbergen continued to run 22nd until Ryan Preece (#41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) lost three positions on the final lap.
The 2024 NASCAR season continues at Richmond Raceway next weekend (March 29-31, local time).
For more of the latest NASCAR news and analysis, visit Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post