SHANE van Gisbergen has ground out a 20th-place finish from an action-packed NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night Race.
With practice and qualifying rained out, SVG lined up from 22nd for the initial green flag, then moved to 20th at the competition caution on lap 40 of 500.
The #97 restarted from 14th and dropped back before John Hunter Nemechek came to grief.
However, by the stage break, van Gisbergen dipped back to 30th, near the tail of the lead lap, with Joey Logano taking the stage win after not pitting during the opening stanza.
The second stage ran green until Cody Ware spun near the end, with Ryan Blaney taking the green-and-white chequered flag, with van Gisbergen a lap down in 26th, although reporting improved handling.
A crash from Riley Herbst at a crucial time during green-flag pit stops on lap 397 spread the field, with SVG in 26th, mired four laps down on the leader, with only two cars on the front-running lap – Carson Hocevar and Blaney, who was pinged for a pit commitment cone violation.
The subsequent green flag run ended when Ty Gibbs, sporting a Kyle Busch tribute M&M’s livery, pounced on Hocevar in lapped traffic, in the process spinning Alex Bowman.
Bowman’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron then brought out the next caution.
The eighth caution of the night was a significant one, with Blaney turned into the wall off the bumper of Hocevar.
The tough race for Hendrick Motorsports then continued when Chase Elliot spun with 23 circuits remaining.
With 14 to go, AJ Allmendinger produced the next yellow, spinning directly ahead of van Gisbergen.
At the finish, as the leaders carved each other up, Joey Logano swept into the lead, holding on to win from Kyle Larson, Hocevar, Christopher Bell and Gibbs.
Van Gisbergen was three laps off the pace in 23rd.
Post-race, a scuffle broke out between Blaney and Hocevar in the pits.
Provisionally, Larson holds down the points lead over Denny Hamlin and Logano, with SVG holding in 17th.
Earlier in the evening, SVG brought a bit of New Zealand music to Tennessee, walking out in driver introductions to Scibe’s ‘Not Many’.
Next week, the NASCAR Cup Series Chase continues with a return to Kansas, and the first of a streak of three straight 1.5-mile-long intermediate ovals.
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