Shane van Gisbergen on track in the #97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Image: Jacy Norgaard
The Trackhouse Racing driver qualified 31st and raced his way forward to finish Stage 1 in 21st. He maintained his position to finish Stage 2 in 21st and one lap down.
During the Stage 2 break, van Gisbergen elected to take the wave around to get back on the lead lap despite being on old tyres.
SVG started Stage 3 in 14th as the last car on the lead lap and pitted on Lap 251. He lost two laps but quickly got one of those back with fresher tyres.
As the subsequent round of green flag pit stops began, van Gisbergen ran long and wound up back on the tail of the lead lap.
The key moment of the race came on Lap 284 when Carson Hocevar’s money shift from fifth to third gear blew up his Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entering the first turn.
That gave van Gisbergen a massive free kick, as he was only moments away from his next scheduled pit stop.
Tyler Reddick also benefitted, having run long to take the lead of the race during the green flag pit stops. He led Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and van Gisbergen to the pits under yellow.
On corrected order, Chase Briscoe led Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry and Alex Bowman for the subsequent restart.
Reddick was eighth while van Gisbergen was 13th, though not the last car on the lead lap – which was Kyle Larson in 14th
Briscoe controlled the restart and the subsequent laps while van Gisbergen threatened to crack the top 10 but ultimately wound up a lap down in 14th.
“Awesome job team,” van Gisbergen radioed to his team post-race.
“Good pit stops, good strategy, good points night. It’s what we need.”
The fight for the win was waged between Briscoe, Logano, and Christopher Bell.
Briscoe controlled proceedings until Lap 362 when Logano reached the bumper of the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry and took the lead.
They pitted a lap later and exited line astern with the #22 Team Penske Ford Mustang ahead.
Bell’s call to pit earlier and undercut the leaders ultimately came back to bite him with 25 laps to go when Logano and Briscoe blew right by the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry.
Logano and Briscoe stretched their legs out, leaving Bell in their wake – who eventually lost out to Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.
Briscoe threatened Logano’s lead in the closing laps but ultimately came up short by just a few car lengths.
“It’s awesome to see the speed in the #22 again,” said Logano.
“Gosh, it was a great car. We’ve had a great car here the last five races and we haven’t been able to capitalise on the win, been so close. Sweet redemption today.”
Third place and stage points for Cindric has vaulted the #2 Team Penske Ford Mustang driver to 15th in the points ahead of van Gisbergen.
RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece is 50 points below the cut line in 17th.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues at New Hampshire on August 24 (AEST).
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400, Richmond Raceway
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Laps/Diff
Gap
1
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
400
2
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
0.392
0.392
3
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
7.953
7.561
4
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
11.296
3.343
5
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
13.701
2.405
6
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
14.071
0.370
7
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
15.178
1.107
8
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford Mustang
15.904
0.726
9
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
18.592
2.688
10
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
20.96
2.368
11
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
22.487
1.527
12
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
13
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
1 lap
14
97
Shane Van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
15
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
1 lap
16
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
17
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
2 laps
1 lap
18
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
2 laps
19
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
2 laps
20
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
2 laps
21
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
2 laps
22
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
2 laps
23
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
3 laps
1 lap
24
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
3 laps
25
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
3 laps
26
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
3 laps
27
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
4 laps
1 lap
28
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
4 laps
29
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet Camaro
4 laps
30
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
4 laps
31
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
4 laps
32
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
6 laps
2 laps
33
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
6 laps
34
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
8 laps
2 laps
35
66
Josh Bilicki
Garage 66
Ford Mustang
9 laps
1 lap
36
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
34 laps
25 laps
37
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
121 laps
87 laps