Van Gisbergen sees NASCAR Chase spot slip away due to last-lap crash

Shane van Gisbergen was good, but not good enough to finish off the NASCAR Cup Series regular season with a spot in the Chase.

It came down to the wire Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, with the deciding race ending with van Gisbergen being collected in a crash on the last lap. As his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet spun on the backstretch, rival Ryan Preece of RFK Racing drove to victory lane. And as Preece did so, the points also swung in his favor over van Gisbergen’s.

On the final lap, the points battle was going to be close between the two. However, van Gisbergen was buried in the pack, which gave Preece all the momentum. It also left little room to give any additional points, which is how it shook out.

“Congrats to the [No.] 60, but one night doesn’t sum up our year,” said van Gisbergen. “I guess we haven’t been good enough, but it’s been cool to close. But a shame we’re not in it.”

Van Gisbergen and Preece kept in lockstep with each other through most of the weekend. Both drivers qualified inside the top 10, and van Gisbergen’s crew chief, Stephen Doran, kept his eyes on the competition as the race unfolded.

The first stage ended with van Gisbergen picking up 10 points by winning it. Preece was collected in a crash. The rest of the race unfolded much of the same, with the two in sight and preparing for the final stint.

“Yeah, just trying to think through what we could have done differently,” Doran told RACER and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I really, in this moment, don’t know that there is anything. We tried to stay on the strategy with the [No.] 2 and the [No.] 60, and we were going to barely make it if it stayed green. When the caution came out, and we saw it was going to be a long caution, it put us in a spot where we were pretty sure we weren’t going to make it.

“So, we had to commit to pitting, getting tires, and just being aggressive to try to get up through there. And then kind of worst-case scenario happens, the [No.] 60 wins it, and we get kind of caught up in the wreck and don’t get in.”

There was no comfort for van Gisbergen’s team throughout the race with how close the points were. Van Gisbergen entered the weekend with a 31-point advantage.

“It was nice to be able to pace with those guys most of the race, collected some stage points in [the first] one, which gave you a little comfort, but yeah, it’s just the fuel stuff,” said Doran. “We’re at a disadvantage to the Fords. We just can’t save as they can, and it puts us in a spot like this at the end of the race where we have to pit when those guys can all easily make it.”

Van Gisbergen had sat 16th or better in the point standings in 13 of the 14 races before Saturday night at Daytona. He had two wins in the regular season, and seven top-10 finishes. The latter ties the number of top-10 finishes he had all of last year.

“Bits of it were good,” said van Gisebrgen. “As a team, obviously, we’ve struggled. I’m proud that I’ve been able to match my teammates on the ovals; I think I’ve stepped up this year. But obviously you want to be in that Chase and didn’t make it.”

Summed up Doran, “Yeah, definite progress on all ends really. We still capitalized on the road courses and ran well; we just need to be a little more consistent and keep improving our cars so we can compete at some of the intermediates. I feel like the short tracks, we’re in contention and can run in the top 10 or 15; we just have to get our cars better so we can do that at the intermediates, too.”