Shane van Gisbergen's title defence at Nascar's Chicago street race has come to an abrupt end against a concrete barrier.
The New Zealand driver was running fifth when he was clipped from behind, sending him into the wall and ending his race on Lap 25 of the Grant Park 165 in Chicago on Sunday (Monday NZ Time).
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After starting fifth on the grid, 'The Giz' had moved up into the lead at one point before disaster struck. With rain pouring down in The Windy City, Chase Briscoe went into an uncontrolled slide, making slight contact with van Gisbergen as he entered the turn.
The winner in Chicago in his Nascar Cup Series debut 12 months ago, van Gisbergen just missed the tyre barrier, which would've likely limited the damage and kept him in the rain-affected race.
"I just sort of turned in, and looked pretty good and then I just got smashed by someone, the 14 you said. Gutting," said van Gisbergen.
"The Wendy's Saucy Nuggs Camaro was really good. We were in the lead for a lot of that race and it felt good taking off in the rain ... So that sucks. It's an unfortunate mistake by him (Briscoe), I'm sure he didn't mean it, but when he clipped me, hey, nothing I could do."
In four Nascar Cup Series races in 2024, van Gisbergen's best result in 20th at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
On his primary circuit, the Nascar Xfinity Series, the three-time Supercars champion has won three times in 18 starts, all on street or road courses at Portland, Sonoma and Saturday's (Sunday NZT) race in Chicago.
However, the 35-year-old has only two other top-10 finishes as he learns how to race on Nascar's high-banked ovals and super speedways.
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