Van Gisbergen finishes mid-field on oval debut

Oval debutant Shane van Gisbergen has finished 19th in an Indianapolis NASCAR Trucks Series race dominated by Ty Majeski.

Driving the #41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado, van Gisbergen kept his nose clean throughout the 200 laps around Indianapolis Raceway Park, while also getting involved in some three-wide action.

He started 24th in the 36-car field and briefly edged into 15th position on merit, before slipping back during the run home.

Meanwhile, Majeski got his Playoff campaign off to the best possible start with his first victory of 2023 in the #98 ThorSport Racing Ford.

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Christian Eckes (#19 Chevrolet) had qualified on pole position and led the field away for the first race of the Playoffs, before being overtaken by Majeski on Lap 4.

Regular Season Champion Corey Heim (#11 Toyota) soon also got by Eckes, who then came under attack from Carson Hocevar (#42 Chevrolet).

Van Gisbergen, one of Hocevar’s Niece team-mates, had qualified 28th-fastest and ultimately started 24th once penalties were applied.

He quickly gained two positions and then found himself in a side-by-side battle with Landen Lewis (#04 Chevrolet), before being passed for 22nd by 2022 Trucks champion Zane Smith (#38 Ford), who had been sent from eighth to rear of grid for an unapproved adjustment.

Lewis triggered the first Caution on Lap 14 when he hit the wall, with Hailie Deegan (#13 Ford) and Greg van Alst (#20 Chevrolet) among those caught up in the incident.

At the time, Smith was 19th and van Gisbergen held 23rd position ahead of the Lap 22 restart.

Heim went high when the green flew again and took the lead, from Majeski, Eckes, and Hocevar.

Deegan had pressed on after her coming-together with Lewis and would pass van Gisbergen for 23rd by the Lap 30 mark, but the Kiwi soon got it back with a move on Stewart Friesen (#52 Toyota).

Majeski led by three full seconds after 50 laps, by which point van Gisbergen had crept up to 21st.

Majeski then got stuck into the rear of the 24th-placed #43 Chevrolet through Turn 1 as he put it a lap down, but Daniel Dye caught the slide and both continued on.

Stage 1 came to an end on Lap 60, Majeski prevailing by 3.908s from Heim, Eckes, Layne Riggs (#7 Chevrolet), Jake Garcia (#35 Chevrolet), and Hocevar, with van Gisbergen 20th.

After 10 laps under yellow, including a pit cycle, Stage 2 got underway in earnest and it was Majeski leading Heim, Grant Enfinger (#23 Chevrolet), and Hocevar.

Majeski was two seconds to the good after 10 laps more as van Gisbergen circulated in 22nd, where he had started Stage 2.

As the lap count moved into triple figures, Majeski led by about four seconds, Eckes ran fourth after passing Hocevar, and van Gisbergen was last of those on the lead lap, still in 22nd.

It took until the end of Lap 109 for Majeski to lap the three-time Supercars champion, going under the #41 Chevrolet through Turn 3/Turn 4.

Van Gisbergen got that lap back as a result of a Caution on Lap 115, when Chris Hacker (#30 Toyota) got loose off Turn 2 and spun into the inside wall.

Majeski was six seconds clear before sealing Stage 2 honours under that yellow, and resumed in first spot after his pit stop.

Heim should have been second but was sent to the back after a crew member fell over pit wall while grabbing a stray tyre, and it was instead Smith on the front row for the Stage 3 start.

Again, Majeski got away well, while Eckes soon picked off Smith for second place, and Riggs got by William Sawalich (#1 Toyota) for fourth.

Yellows flew again on Lap 131 when Dean Thompson (#5 Toyota) hit the wall and was collected by Spencer Boyd (#12 Chevrolet), with van Gisbergen assuming 16th position under that Caution.

A fifth Caution period came almost as soon as the fourth ended on Lap 141 when Deegan crashed, although replays were not conclusive as to how that occurred.

Majeski, Eckes, Smith, and Hocevar was still the top four, while Heim had jumped four positions to 13th, with van Gisbergen in 17th.

When the restart came on Lap 149, Eckes almost grabbed the lead but slid high at Turn 1/Turn 2 and slotted back into second place, behind Majeski.

Hocevar took up third, from Riggs and Smith, after their three-wide battle, while van Gisbergen was 16th again.

With 40 laps to go, SVG found himself racing three-wide for 15th with Chase Purdy (#4 Chevrolet) and Jake Drew (#61 Toyota) but would file back in behind both, before ceding 17th to Tanner Gray (#17 Toyota) on Lap 167.

Van Gisbergen had slipped to 19th by the time Majeski lapped him with less than 12 to go, while Riggs was third at that point after passing Hocevar.

The top 10 at the finish was Majeski, Eckes at 3.422s back, Riggs, Hocevar, Smith, Sawalich, Rajah Caruth (#24 Chevrolet), Heim, Matt Crafton (#88 Ford), and Matt DiBenedetto (#25 Chevrolet).

The top 18 finished on the lead lap, with van Gisbergen next-best in the first of two NASCAR races for the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner this weekend.

NASCAR Cup Series Practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway starts on Saturday at 11:35 ET/Sunday at 01:35 AEST, followed immediately by Qualifying.

Results: Race

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