Van Gisbergen wins Nascar race in Mexico
- NZ Sports Wire
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
New Zealand driver Shane van Gisbergen has dominated the field to claim the second victory of his Nascar career.
In his first full-time Cup Series season with Trackhouse Racing, van Gisbergen put on a masterclass around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico on Sunday (Monday NZ Time).
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Van Gisbergen had to overcome some morning illness to race to victory, capitalizing on savvy strategy, strong tires and superb speed. He doubled his lead in the final 10 laps.
"What a week, I've really enjoyed myself here," van Gisbergen said after an epic victory burn-out in front of the stadium section of the track. "I was feeling rubbish today. Leaking out of both holes, that wasn't fun.
"Thanks to Trackhouse ... the car was amazing. I think the (No 54 of Ty Gibbs) was close but that last stint, what a pleasure. Ripping lap after lap, watching them get smaller in the mirror. Unreal."
After a quick final pit-stop on Lap 62 and retaking the lead, before pulling away, SVG's team told him to let up. Instead, he grew his lead from around eight seconds to more than 16 seconds at the chequered flag.
"When I go slow, I just lose concentration, so I was just trying to stay in a rhythm and a routine. Josh and Steve did a good job of keeping me calm and focussed," The Giz said, before signing and punting a rugby ball into the stands.
"I was worried. It was a fair distance but it got there," he would later say.
The 36-year-old Aucklander started from pole position, finished the 20-lap first stage in 17th, was at the front after the 25-lap second stage, led 60 of 100 laps and powered away after the final pit-stop.
His 16.567-second margin of victory over Christopher Bell was the largest-ever in a Nascar Cup Series race in the NextGen car (since 2022), with the previous best just over seven seconds.
SVG scored his maiden Cup Series victory at the Chicago street race in 2023, when he made some guest appearances while still competing in Supercars in Australia.
The Giz, who has had his struggles on Nascar's traditional oval tracks but has shown recent improvement, earned a place in the 16-driver, 10-race playoffs later in the season, and still has three street/road circuits coming up on the schedule.
Nascar returns to Chicago on July 6, followed by Sonoma the following weekend and Watkins Glen on August 10.
Asked by Nascar legend Dale Earnhardt Jr during post-race TV coverage which upcoming track he was looking forward to competing at, van Gisbergen fired back immediately "anywhere with a right-hander!"
