Shane van Gisbergen entered the NASCAR Cup playoffs sixth in the 16-driver field. And, of course, he had every reason to harbor high hopes coming into Sunday’s playoff-opening race at Darlington Raceway.
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Instead, SVG, who, with four victories, was tied with Denny Hamlin for most wins during the 26-race regular season, fell far behind midway through Stage 2. He dropped one lap off the lead runners and ended Stage 2 in a disappointing 29th place.
“This car is unraceable,” SVG told his crew over the team radio. “This is embarrassing. I can’t turn, there’s no drive, it’s just not even close.”
SVG’s Trackhouse Racing team responded that the car would improve as the race fell into full darkness, which led SVG to respond, “Yeah, I f***ing hope so … sorry for the language.”
But somehow, Van Gisbergen worked his way back to get the free pass. He then continued moving up the field to get back into the top 10. He was as high as third place with about 85 laps left in the Cook Out Southern 500 crown jewel event.
As the No. 88 car roared back into contention, SVG thanked his team for their efforts to make the car go from unraceable to very much race worthy. “That’s what we needed,” SVG said on his team radio after getting the free pass.
“It was absolutely awful in traffic. Thanks for getting me through that. I was losing my s**t out there,” added the New Zealander.
Van Gisbergen needed a good finish because ovals are not his strong point. The only road course in the playoffs is on the Charlotte Roval. But even that comes only in the Round of 12, meaning SVG has to find some way to not be one of the four drivers who get eliminated after the three races in the Round of 16.
Unfortunately, SVG fell two laps down late in the third stage. The race was won by Chase Briscoe, while Van Gisbergen finished in 32nd position. The result will be a big hit to his hopes of getting into the Round of 12.
