After weeks of radio dramas, van Gisbergen enjoyed a race without any communication issues.
SVG had very few complaints throughout the race en route to ninth.
It’s the first time van Gisbergen has finished inside the top 10 on an oval since North Wilkesboro in July.
Van Gisbergen qualified his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro in 25th and steadily progressed throughout the race.
He finished Stage 1 in 15th and Stage 2 in 13th before a measured drive to the chequered flag in Stage 3.
Van Gisbergen was the top-finishing non-Chase driver.
“Awesome job team, well done,” van Gisbergen radioed to his team.
“Car was really good. Pit stops good. Thanks again.”
Shane van Gisbergen during the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The race was won by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe, who won both stages.
Briscoe controlled the lion’s share of the 267-lap race, leading 175 laps. However, it was anything but smooth sailing when it boiled down to the final few laps.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson surged late and threatened to take the lead in the dying laps.
Coming out of the final turn, Larson got loose and slapped the wall. That left 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick with nowhere to go and drove into the back of the preceding Chevrolet Camaro.
Reddick went sliding through the grass, taking the chequered flag in third behind Briscoe and Larson.
For runner-up Larson, it was a fitting finish in the Chevrolet Camaro carrying a Kyle Busch tribute scheme.
“Just was trying to push hard through [Turns] 3 and 4 to just build some momentum at him to, I don’t know, try to get by down the straightaway,” said Larson.
“Just got really loose and overcorrected in the wall. Thankfully I was able to limp it home.
“Thankfully Reddick was able to come away third as well. That got exciting. I wish we could have won in this paint scheme and honouring Kyle, and that would be very Kyle Busch fashion.”
Despite the top three finish, Reddick took few positives out of the day.
“Unfortunately, at this point it’s pretty much normal to have issues all day long for us on this team,” said the 23XI Racing driver.
“That’s just what we’re used to. So we know what to do. We know how to fight through it.
“It took us a little bit longer than we wanted to to get back to the front, but once we did, I thought we were in a pretty good spot there.
“Settled into I think it was fourth or fifth. Unfortunately, we just had a slow stop, we lost time in that cycle, and the #5 and the #24 (William Byron) got in front of us.
“Ultimately, it probably played a part in just coming up a little short today, but yeah, I had to fight through the issues and, I mean, be able to hang onto it and still cross the line and hold onto third off the final corner.
“We fought through everything that we had really well today. It was hot. That was for sure. Yeah, we powered through it.
“We gained five points. Whoop-de-doo. We have to capitalise when we have Toyota Camrys as fast as this.
“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.”
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney were fourth and fifth respectively. Hendrick duo William Byron and Chase Elliott followed in sixth and seventh while the top 10 was completed by Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing), van Gisbergen and Joey Logano (Team Penske).
Wallace was vying for the win inside the final 10 laps but suffered a sudden speed drop-off and plummeted from second to eighth by the race’s end.
Joe Gibbs Racing locked out the top four for the start of the race, led by Denny Hamlin. He led the bulk of Stage 1 until a divergence in strategy saw him drop back to ninth after pitting.
Hamlin hauled his way through to fourth only to spin with just three laps remaining in Stage 1, which damaged the front splitter. He went on to finish 16th.
“I guess there were marbles up there. Just trying to get back the track position that we lost and just went up there and got in the marbles and spun out,” said Hamlin.
“Obviously damaged the car where it was nothing like it was before.
“There’s nothing you can do now post-race. You’ve just got to go on to the next race if you can find a way to win.
“Charlotte will be good for us. Today certainly didn’t live up to what we expected.”
Ty Gibbs, who started second, finished 17th after a speeding penalty was compounded by handling issues.
Third place starter Christopher Bell was 23rd after losing power steering.
Briscoe, who started fourth, was the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver to stay out of trouble.
Larson, who started sixth behind Reddick, went a lap down in the opening stanza after a lengthy set-up change.
However, Larson got his lap back as the Lucky Dog when the caution came out on Lap 44 as Zane Smith suffered a right rear puncture and spun his Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang.
“It was a fight,” said Larson.
“I was surprised how far off we were that first run. I was just doing all I could to hang on and get to the pit stop. (Crew chief Cliff Daniels) said it was going to be a lengthy adjustment.
“I didn’t know it was going to be that long. Yeah, we came out a lap down. I think thankfully that caution came out and we were able to do the wave. I think that really saved us from just being stuck a lap down a lot longer.
“My car got better, but track position was so difficult. Yeah, just kind of chipped away at it all race long. Had a good green flag pit cycle.”
The NASCAR Cup Series returns on October 12 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Bank of America 400.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Southern Point 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Laps/Diff
Gap
1
19
Chase Briscoe (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
267 laps
2
5
Kyle Larson (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
1.376
1.376
3
45
Tyler Reddick (C)
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
3.292
1.916
4
2
Austin Cindric (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
4.896
1.604
5
12
Ryan Blaney (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
5.223
0.327
6
24
William Byron (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
5.253
0.030
7
9
Chase Elliott (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
11.064
5.811
8
23
Bubba Wallace (C)
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
11.422
0.358
9
97
Shane Van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
13.277
1.855
10
22
Joey Logano (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
13.395
0.118
11
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
14.461
1.066
12
77
Carson Hocevar (C)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
14.671
0.210
13
17
Chris Buescher (C)
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
19.614
4.943
14
7
Daniel Suarez (C)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
20.840
1.226
15
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
21.978
1.138
16
11
Denny Hamlin (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
22.076
0.098
17
54
Ty Gibbs (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
23.201
1.125
18
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
24.554
1.353
19
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
25.717
1.163
20
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
27.308
1.591
21
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
30.582
3.274
22
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
23
20
Christopher Bell (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
1 lap
24
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
1 lap
25
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
1 lap
26
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford Mustang
1 lap
27
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet Camaro
1 lap
28
60
Ryan Preece (C)
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
2 laps
1 lap
29
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
2 laps
30
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
2 laps
31
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
2 laps
32
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
3 laps
1 lap
33
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
3 laps
34
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
4 laps
1 lap
35
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
5 laps
1 lap
36
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
5 laps