Shane van Gisbergen enjoyed a breakthrough performance at the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, securing a top-10 finish and silencing the communication woes that have plagued his recent outings.
The Trackhouse Racing driver steered his Chevrolet Camaro to a ninth-place finish, marking his first top-10 result on an oval track since North Wilkesboro in July. Starting from 25th on the grid, the New Zealander executed a composed and methodical race, steadily climbing through the field to finish 15th in Stage 1 and 13th in Stage 2 before a clean run in the final stage saw him cross the line as the highest-placed non-Chase driver.
For van Gisbergen, the primary relief was the seamless cooperation with his team. After weeks of frustrating “radio dramas” and technical misunderstandings, the 97-car ran with flawless communication.
“Awesome job team, well done,” van Gisbergen radioed to his crew after the chequered flag. “Car was really good. Pit stops good. Thanks again.”
While van Gisbergen enjoyed a trouble-free run, the front of the pack provided a chaotic spectacle. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe dominated the 267-lap event, leading 175 laps and securing both stage wins. However, the final moments of the race proved treacherous.
As the laps dwindled, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson mounted a desperate charge for the lead. In a high-stakes battle out of the final turn, Larson pushed his Chevrolet to the limit, only to get loose and slam into the wall. The impact created a bottleneck, leaving 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick with nowhere to go. Reddick plowed into the back of Larson before sliding through the grass, eventually crossing the line in third behind race-winner Briscoe and the limping Larson.
“Just was trying to push hard through Turns 3 and 4… just got really loose and overcorrected in the wall,” Larson explained after the race. “Thankfully I was able to limp it home.”
Despite finishing on the podium, Reddick was notably frustrated with his team’s execution. “Unfortunately, at this point it’s pretty much normal to have issues all day long for us on this team,” he lamented, pointing to a slow pit stop that cost him track position. “We have to win those races. The key to that is being clean and executing. We just haven’t done that in a very long time.”
Further down the order, Bubba Wallace, who had been contending for the win in the final ten laps, suffered a sudden loss of speed that saw him plummet to eighth. Meanwhile, early leaders like Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell saw their races derailed by spins, penalties, and mechanical failures.
The NASCAR Cup Series now turns its attention to the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 12.
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