The Xfinity Series field was three-by-three just after the Stage 2 start at Daytona, with van Gisbergen on the outside of the fourth ‘row’, when John Hunter Nemecheck (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) nudged the #2 Chevrolet of Stage 1 winner Jesse Love.
Love’s Richard Childress Racing entry squirmed and hit the #97 Chevrolet, pushed the New Zealander into the wall and triggering the second unscheduled Caution of the night as cars sprayed into the infield.
Van Gisbergen, who had pinched track position by not pitting during Stage 1 or the stage break, had no choice but to file into the lane as a result of the damage, with Kaulig Racing getting to work.
They have six minutes to effect repairs under NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy, or Car #97 will have to be retired.
Three-wide racing leads to trouble on the backstretch! pic.twitter.com/TaNNAqgJOd
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) February 20, 2024
Earlier, after another rain postponement, the race finally got underway at 21:05 local time and pole-sitter Love took the early lead.
RCR team-mate Austin Hill (#21 Chevrolet) slotted into second while van Gisbergen, who qualified fifth for his Xfinity debut, was in a side-by-side battle for sixth.
The three-time Supercars champion had slipped to 10th by the end of Lap 3, and to 19th after four laps more.
The field settled in for the next 10 laps before a handful of drivers attempted some moves, and van Gisbergen was able to creep back up to 16th.
He was still there when a Caution was called on Lap 23 after Daniel Suarez (#14 SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet) slowed in the pack and was hit, with Sam Mayer (#1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), Hailie Deegan (#15 AM Racing Ford), and Kyle Weatherman (#91 DGM Racing Chevrolet) caught in the incident.
Justin Allgaier (#7 JR Chevrolet) from fourth was among those to pit when the lane opened, sacrificing stage points for track position later.
Love went high again for the restart on the 30th and final lap of Stage 1, beating Hill to the finish by 0.007s after another 2.5mi around Daytona International Speedway.
Van Gisbergen had taken the restart in 14th and was able to move up one spot in the traffic on that lap.
AJ Allmendinger assumed the lead for the start of Stage 2 while van Gisbergen stayed out and thus lined up in fifth spot when the race went green again on Lap 36.
Then, van Gisbergen was caught up in others’ crash, just as he had been two nights earlier on Lap 4 of the ARCA race at Daytona.
Update 14:06 AEDT
Van Gisbergen running again a lap down, just outside top 30.
Update 15:57 AEDT
Van Gisbergen 12th after topsy-turvy Xfinity debut
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