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The Kaulig Racing driver sat 16th when the field took the green flag for a final time on Lap 202 of a scheduled 200, after the 11th Caution of the afternoon, but was shuffled back over those next two laps.
Christopher Bell won the race with a final-lap pass after a three-wide battle for the lead as he, Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Sheldon Creed, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer took the white flag.
Rain saw Practice and Qualifying cancelled, meaning van Gisbergen would start the Race with no real-world track experience at all.
Then light rain left the track damp and NASCAR ordered the field to start on wets, with van Gisbergen lining up 28th in the #97 Chevrolet as Custer (#00 Ford) and Chandler Smith (#81 JGR Toyota) shared the front row.
They ran 10 laps before NASCAR called a Competition Caution to change to slicks, at which point Custer led, Smith had dropped to 23rd, and van Gisbergen sat 24th, inheriting two of those four positions due to penalties/mechanical dramas for rivals.
The New Zealander jumped to 17th in pit lane ahead of the Lap 17 restart but, having said pre-race he was unperturbed about learning the track from the back, he started to drop spots.
Custer led while van Gisbergen was 25th when a second Caution came on Lap 25 due to Patrick Emerling (#07 SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet) stopping at Turn 2.
Justin Allgaier (#7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) from 10th position was first of those to pit while van Gisbergen was among the others into the lane, the latter resuming 32nd.
The race went green again on Lap 34 and yellow again on Lap 35, when Parker Kligerman (#48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet) spun at Turn 1 after copping a hit from AJ Allmendinger (#16 Kaulig Chevrolet), who had been pushed by Riley Herbst (#98 SHR Ford).
That did prompt the leaders to pit and Sammy Smith (#8 Chevrolet) assumed the lead from JRM team-mate Sam Mayer (#1 Chevrolet), with van Gisbergen 19th, Bell (#20 Toyota) 23rd from the former lead group, and Custer 24th.
The restart on Lap 40 set up a six-lap dash to the stage finish which was won by Mayer, with Bell in 11th, Custer in 17th and van Gisbergen 24th.
Most but not all stopped in the break, putting Bell on the front row, Custer seventh, and van Gisbergen 26th.
Bell took the lead while van Gisbergen briefly dropped to 29th but then spent several laps circulating in 26th position again.
Stage 2 finished on Lap 90, with Bell prevailing by four seconds over JGR team-mate Justin Bonsignore (#19 Toyota), Custer third, and van Gisbergen 24th.
Custer jumped back to the lead during the stage break pit stops, from Bell, Chandler Smith, and Creed (#18 Toyota), with van Gisbergen 19th.
Stage 3 lasted two racing laps before a Caution due to a spin for Armani Williams (#6 JD Motorsports Ford) at Turn 4, at which point Custer led and van Gisbergen sat 16th.
Custer jumped clear again at the Lap 106 restart while #97 dropped back and settled into 20th spot.
He had moved back up to 19th by the time Chandler Smith let Bell go past and give chase to Custer, who was two seconds up the road, on Lap 125.
A handful had made pit stops before Bell came in from 3.4s off the lead on Lap 149, prompting SHR to call Custer to the lane next time around, with van Gisbergen taking service on Lap 151.
The cycle had just completed when another spin for Armani Williams triggered a seventh Caution of the day on Lap 168.
Custer led from Bell and Chandler Smith, with van Gisbergen 15th, but the deck was shuffled when they were all into pit lane again due to the yellow flag.
Jesse Love (#2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) inherited top spot and Carson Kvapil (#88 JRM Chevrolet) assumed second place, with Custer third, Bell fourth, and van Gisbergen 16th.
Kvapil led from the Lap 175 restart, with Custer slotting into second place, but they were soon back under Caution when Chandler Smith spun after a touch with JGR team-mate Creed.
They had barely got going again on Lap 182 when Bonsignore spun in the back half of the top 10 at Turn 2 after a touch from Sammy Smith, causing a mess in the middle of the pack.
Van Gisbergen was caught in it when he was unable to avoid nudging none other than Austin Hill, whose #21 RCR Chevrolet slewed sideways as the field checked up, but the New Zealander pressed on.
Custer had just nosed clear of Kvapil when the yellows were unfurled and thus was scored as the leader, with van Gisbergen 15th.
The ninth restart triggered the 10th Caution when Hailie Deegan (#15 AM Racing Ford) made contact which put Nathan Byrd (#92 DGM Racing Chevrolet) into the wall at Turn 4.
Custer led Bell, Creed, Allgaier, and Kvapil, as van Gisbergen still ran 15th, with the green flag flying again with six laps to go.
Custer and Bell banged wheels at Turn 3 but the former was ahead when a Caution was called on Lap 196 due to Mason Massey (#14 SS-Green Light Chevrolet) going around at Turn 2.
Van Gisbergen sat 16th as the contest went into Overtime.
On the 11th and final restart, Custer launched clear but Creed got into his bumper as they rounded Turn 4 on the way to the white flag, allowing both the #18 and #20 Supras to draw alongside the #00 Mustang.
Bell was the beneficiary as he sped into the lead and would win by 0.254s from Creed, with Custer third, from Allgaier and Kvapil.
Van Gisbergen ended up 19th, second of the Kaulig entries as Allmendinger got home in 11th and Josh Williams (#11 Chevrolet) in 24th.
The series heads to Nashville Superspeedway next weekend.
