Shane van Gisbergen wins the NASCAR Xfinity Series race in downtown Chicago again

CHICAGO (AP) — When it comes to oval tracks, Shane van Gisbergen is still in the development phase.

When it comes to the streets of Chicago – or any other race track, for that matter – van Gisbergen is one of NASCAR’s best drivers.

The 35-year-old New Zealand native proved that again on Saturday when he pulled away from Ty Gibbs to take his third Xfinity Series win of the season.

Van Gisbergen started from pole but fell back after a pit stop. He then fought his way through the field before taking the lead after a late restart. In total, he led four times over 14 laps.

“It was a bit frustrating to have so many yellows coming out,” he said. “But I managed to gain places at each restart and keep going. There were some great battles.”

Van Gisbergen took his first two Xfinity victories for Kaulig Racing on street courses at Portland And Sonoma on consecutive weekends last month. Just as he did after those victories, he celebrated by signing a rugby ball and kicking it into the stands in Chicago.

Gibbs finished second, followed by Kyle Larson, Parker Kligerman and rookie Jesse Love.

“We just needed to be a little bit better and tighter,” Gibbs said. “I felt like we were pretty solid all day.”

Larson and van Gisbergen duelled during the first stage in a possible preview for Sunday. Larson is on the pole for the Cup Series race.

“I had a blast,” Larson said. “I felt like, you know, it was very clear. I wanted to win today, but more than anything I wanted to learn something. And I wanted to fight him because he’s just really good at creating shapes and angles and passing.”

Three-time Australian Supercars Champion, from Gisbergen was a largely unknown racer in the United States before winning in NASCAR’s rainy opening weekend at the downtown Chicago track last summer. He became the first driver since Johnny Rutherford to win his Cup Series debut in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.

This time, he was closely watched every time he got into his car – and he seems to be coping well with the increased attention.

“Obviously everyone had expectations, but I think I just approached it like any other week,” he said. “Like I said yesterday when I was here, I’m more focused on the ovals right now and those things are kind of like a vacation or a fun weekend.”

“I still studied hard for it and wanted to be good at it. So, I went out and just did my thing.”

Love story

Love led for 14 laps and was looking for a second Xfinity Series victory in his impressive rookie season, but he ultimately couldn’t hold on.

Love, 19, won at Talladega in April in his ninth start for Richard Childress Racing and was in a top position at Atlanta in February before running out of steam.

Next

The Xfinity Series will take place next weekend at Pocono Raceway.

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