Shane van Gisbergen stood out this Saturday at the North Wilkesboro Speedway during his fourth appearance in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, finishing in third place, marking a new personal record in this category.
After qualifying in 19th place, van Gisbergen maintained a clean race and showed great pace in the final stage of the race, managing to finish third. This position equals his best result on oval tracks in NASCAR, as he had previously achieved third place in the Atlanta race in 2024 and more recently at Watkins Glen.
Driving the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, van Gisbergen worked closely with his team, which included Cup drivers Chase Elliott and Carson Hocevar. “It’s a matter of time and experience, working with good people. My crew chief, Bono Manion, did a great job with the truck. Thanks to Spire, Nations Guard, and Chevy,” he commented after the race.
As the last stage began, van Gisbergen was in 11th place and worked his way through the rival drivers. He passed Truck Series champion Corey Heim, as well as his teammate Elliott, then overtaking Christian Eckes to secure third place, although he could not catch the Front Row Motorsports drivers ahead of him.
With a margin of two seconds to the second, van Gisbergen was the highest-ranking Spire driver, thus showing his growing dominance on oval tracks. It has been almost three years since he made his first race on a NASCAR oval, finishing in 19th place at that time, a distance he has successfully traveled to the present.
After this great result in the Truck, the driver hopes to showcase his talent in the Cup race scheduled for Sunday at the same circuit.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_fee707e0aff3517acef273c0ff952ac2a15ddb84