Shane van Gisbergen opened his week on a high note, scoring his first-ever oval victory in a Legends Car during the Pro Legends A-Feature at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the final night of the 2025 Cook Out Summer Shootout. But after a P19 finish at Indianapolis and qualifying 21st at Iowa, his oval-friendly momentum unraveled with a pair of spins during the Iowa Corn 350.
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The first setback came on Lap 169 of the 350-lap event, when SVG, running P8 in the middle of the Stage 2 pit cycle, lost control of his No. 88 Chevy. Replays showed the car stepping out, entering the corner, sending the left rear into the SAFER barrier, and bringing out the race’s first caution.
The initial contact caused minor right-rear damage and shifted the car’s balance, though not enough to cripple its pace. And though the team pitted for repairs, SVG fell a lap down to the leaders before recovering to rejoin the top 20.
However, the second incident proved more costly. On Lap 263, while running P16, SVG was tipped into a spin by Kyle Busch. This time, the car suffered front splitter damage.
Breaking down his day, SVG said, “We just ran long and I was getting looser and looser. I just made an error, and it finally bit me. We were just damaged, but the No. 88 Chevrolet team did a great job repairing it. They got us back on the lead lap, but it was ultimately too damaged to get a good result.”
“I felt like on most restarts, that’s where we were making our gains. We had good speed and were getting right in the mix. That’s been a weakness of mine, and I feel like we’re getting better and better every week. We just need to get building on that. It’s not a great result, but there’s a lot of positives that have come out of today,” he concluded.
Van Gisbergen will now have some relief as NASCAR will shift its focus to Watkins Glen. The road course offers familiar territory, where last year he finished second in the Cup Series and fifth in Xfinity.
