Shane van Gisbergen’s fifth-place finish in the Window World 450 equaled his best oval-track performance, but the New Zealander admitted he wasn’t sure what to do when he took the lead on lap 52.
“When I took the lead I got pretty excited, I didn’t know what to do,” Van Gisbergen said with a laugh. “Just amazing to get Stage points both Stages. I threw it away (the lead) in the last corner on that first Stage, but it’s awesome racing up front.”
Van Gisbergen led four times for 49 laps, second most to Logano. He said the historic track, whose front stretch goes downhill and backstretch goes uphill, suits his driving style.
“It’s a bit like a road course,” Van Gisbergen said. “I tried to right-foot braking for a bit. Half of the race, I right-foot braked and I just feel comfortable doing that. It’s a real balance track and you can really effect the car with your driving technique, so I felt comfortable doing that.”
Even though the event was a night race, it was still hot and humid. At one point during the race, Van Gisbergen asked his crew for some sugar because he was cramping.
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“It just soaked the whole time and when you’re behind people, you just start cooking as well,” Van Gisbergen said. “You feel the brakes, tires, everything just gets hot. Not struggling. I felt fine, but when I stopped, I went, ‘Oh shit, I’m pretty cooked’, but it was fun.”
Van Gisbergen is now 14th in the standings with five races remaining in the regular season.
Berry’s Disappointing Season Continues
Josh Berry just can’t catch a break.
The Wood Brothers driver said that at North Wilkesboro he had the best car he’s had this season, but then a caution during green-flag pit stops put him a lap down. The next thing he knew he was spinning into the fourth-turn wall after Christopher Bell slid up into Berry while trying to pass him.
“I can’t put into words the amount of stuff that’s happened this year,” a dejected Berry said. “We drove up to probably just outside the top 10, we had top five lap times, the car was good, and then we pit and the caution comes out and we get trapped two laps down, wave around, just back there in the crap and just get wrecked. It’s disappointing.
“I’m aggravated at the 20 (Bell), but he’s in the same position I am. He was back there and just got loose.”
Berry hasn’t had a top 10 since Martinsville in March. His best finish in the last 14 races was 15th at Michigan, and he admitted that’s a difficult position for a person who’s looking for a ride for 2027.
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“I’ve worked my whole life to get in this position and now I feel like people view me completely differently after this year compared to what I’ve done up until this point,” Berry said. “I’ve never lived through a season like this when it’s just one thing after another. Things that people don’t see that don’t make it on TV. I don’t go on social media every week and post about every little thing that went wrong in our race. We just can’t catch a break, flat out.
“Even this week, we were eighth in practice and had a good car and, of course, qualifying gets rained out. It’s just one thing after another and it’s certainly discouraging.”
Blaney Tests New Motorcycle
Even though it was after 2 a.m. when Ryan Blaney finished victory lane ceremonies at EchoPark Speedway, the Team Penske driver couldn’t resist taking his limited-edition 2026 Harley-Davidson Street Glide for a two-lap spin around the 1.5-mile Atlanta track.
Blaney had forgotten the motorcycle was included with the trophy until he saw it sitting in victory lane. He figured it might be the only time he would get to ride a motorcycle around the speedway.
“I went into turn one on my last lap and the police lit me up, threw the sirens on, and I thought I was in big trouble for a little bit,” Blaney said with a grin. “I think they thought there was a fan riding around the race track on their bike. Then they kind of pulled up behind me and then they turned their lights off and went away. I think they realized that this wasn’t a fan riding his stuff around.
“Blue lights were flashing. It’s never a fun thing to see whether you’re in your car or on a bike at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s a fun experience though.”
But for a couple of sketchy, short-lived gigs right out of college, Natalie Neff has had the good fortune to spend the entirety of her professional life around cars. A 2017 Honda Ridgeline, 1972 VW Beetle, 1999 Ducati Monster and a well-loved purple-and-white five-speed Schwinn currently call her garage home.