New Zealand native Shane van Gisbergen turned the NASCAR world upside down on Sunday.
van Gisbergen made his first career start and stunned the Cup Series by winning the Grant Park 220 in Chicago, the first street-course race in NASCAR’s history.
Piloting Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 Chevrolet, van Gisbergen — a three-time Australian Supercars champion — won a two-lap, overtime shootout against Justin Haley to make history.
The 34-year-old van Gisbergen passed Haley on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn Chicago Street Course before a late caution forced overtime.
He recorded the historic victory in the 78-lap outing after NASCAR chose to shorten the rain-delayed race by 25 laps due to a lack of daylight — running the last few laps with the Windy City’s streetlights in full glow.
The Auckland, New Zealand, star became the first driver to win in his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford won at Daytona in 1963 in a qualifying race, which was considered a points race at the time.
“No, of course not, but you’re always dreaming,” van Gisbergen said when asked if he thought he could win for Project 91 when the deal was initially made. “Anything is possible. The fans in Australia and New Zealand and the response this week and the coverage has been … I can’t explain it. The support has been a dream come true.”
Chase Elliott came in third in the No. 9 Chevrolet and thinks van Gisbergen will probably enjoy celebrating the victory the next time he is back in New Zealand.
“(He’s) going to go back home and tell all of his friends how bad we are,” Elliott said jokingly.
van Gisbergen is the seventh driver all-time to win in his debut.
It was the second consecutive win for Trackhouse Racing, which won at Nashville last Sunday behind Ross Chastain.
Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five, coming in fourth and fifth, respectively.
England native and 2009 Formula One world champion Jenson Button ended up 21st.
Due to the extremely wet conditions and water buildup, NASCAR elected to start the 100-lap race in a single-file formation after a red-flag condition postponed the firing of engines for over an hour.
Christopher Bell grabbed his first stage win this season on Lap 20 — a non-caution stage — by leading Tyler Reddick by over two seconds with van Gisbergen trailing in third.
In the second stage, the trio — all running on rain tires — paced the way early in the segment with the Chicago skyline clearing up in the backdrop and the street course drying out.
After Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy lost an engine, Bell also claimed Stage 2 by beating Larson to the fifth caution flag on Lap 44.
With only 18 circuits remaining, Reddick brought out the seventh caution when his No. 45 Toyota got stuck in the tire barrier.
–Field Level Media
