Shane van Gisbergen Wins His First NASCAR Xfinity Series Race

The New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen achieved his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory last Saturday during the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway. The 35-year-old driver, known for his three championships in the Australian Supercar, celebrated his victory by driving around the 1.967-mile circuit with a burnout and kicking a soccer ball into the crowd.

Throughout the race, van Gisbergen faced several challenges. Despite leading early laps in his No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, he struggled with restarts and lost positions. However, he overcame these issues and advanced in the closing laps to compete for the win. In the final restart, with four laps remaining, he passed Justin Allgaier from JR Motorsports, who had dominated most of the race, securing a victory with a margin of 0.941 seconds.

Other standout drivers include Sam Mayer from JR Motorsports, A.J. Allmendinger from Kaulig Racing, and Ed Jones from Sam Hunt Racing, who completed the top five positions. Van Gisbergen expressed his satisfaction with the race and apologized to Sam Mayer for an incident on the first turn.

For Allgaier, it was a disappointing finish after leading the race and winning both previous stages. Despite these achievements, two yellow flags in the last 12 laps leveled the competition and allowed van Gisbergen to advance.

Driver Cole Custer, last year's winner in Portland, finished sixth, followed by Josh Williams, Parker Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, and Riley Herbst, who completed the top 10. With this result, Custer leads the championship by 18 points over Austin Hill from Richard Childress Racing and Chandler Smith from Joe Gibbs Racing.

The series will continue on the West Coast with the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway next Saturday.