The three-time Bathurst 1000 winner qualified 36th for just his second Cup Series appearance on an oval but moved his way into the top 30 in the second of what should have been four, 100-lap stages.
However, after a red flag period of almost two hours due to lightning and rain, NASCAR opted to declare the race with just 249 laps completed, meaning Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was the winner in his #20 Toyota.
Van Gisbergen remained deep in the thirties in the running order during his first stint, when he ran longer than most before pulling off for his first pit stop.
He had dropped a lap by the time the first Caution period of the evening came on Lap 87 but, with the end of the stage not far away, Kaulig Racing opted not to pit the #16 Chevrolet when everyone on the lead lap was into the lane.
The New Zealander reached the green-and-white chequered flag in 31st position and used the stage break to pit for fuel and four tyres before lining up in 28th for the restart.
He pitted earlier in the cycle in Stage 2 and, when Ryan Blaney (#12 Team Penske Ford) stopped on pit road to trigger a Caution on Lap 157, van Gisbergen – and most of the rest – were in once more.
However, he drove through too many boxes and was sent to the back of the field as punishment.
When Noah Gragson (#10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) hit the wall on Lap 172 there was another Caution, which the #16 Kaulig crew used as an opportunity to pinch track position by not stopping.
Van Gisbergen restarted 17th but quickly fell out of the top 20 and ultimately to 28th when the stage ended early due to a spin for Harrison Burton (#21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford), as a consequence of a bad adjustment in his previous stop and older tyres.
Also not helping matters was, according to reports from the Kiwi back to his timing stand, steering damage due to contact with Burton earlier in the night.
He was 32nd for the start of Stage 3 but up to 27th when the sixth Caution of the race was called on Lap 224 due to a Corey LaJoie (#7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet) crash.
After another pit stop, van Gisbergen lined up in 25th for the Lap 236 restart, but only got in 10 more laps before yellow flags waved again, due to rain.
The field initially trundled around under Caution until it was upgraded to a red flag due to lightning in the area.
Heavy rain followed and NASCAR eventually decided to call it a night with just over 360km of a scheduled 600km in the books, the reason being that the projected restart time would have been after 01:00 local time.
Kyle Larson arrived by helicopter during the red flag period after finishing 18th in a rain-delayed Indianapolis 500 but never got to drive the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, meaning Justin Allgaier is credited with a finish of 13th position.
Van Gisbergen is back to Xfinity Series only next weekend, with the second tier of NASCAR heading to the road course of Portland for a race on Saturday, June 1 (local time), while the Cup Series is off to Gateway.
For more of the latest NASCAR news and analysis, visit Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post