A 30-second post-race penalty for a corner cut in overtime has cost Shane van Gisbergen second place in today’s Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas, where Kyle Larson managed a last-lap pass to win.
The Kiwi was classified 27th, having led by 2.6 seconds entering the final laps before a caution brought proceedings back together for an overtime sprint to the flag.
Larson was the only one in the lead bunch to box under the yellow and dropped down the order from fifth, but the fresher rubber did him well, and he climbed to 10th before another incident sent the race to double overtime.
Van Gisbergen had earlier overcome fierce challenges from teammate AJ Allmendinger, Larson, and Ty Gibbs and retained the lead at the first restart.
Austin Hill and Sage Karam got the better of him the second time, while Larson appeared from 10th to slot in behind the lead bunch. The three-time Supercars champion quickly overtook Karam for second, and Larson snuck through as the Kiwi bumped Hill wide on the final lap to take the win.
Van Gisbergen was second across the line, only for his 30-second penalty to come through post-race.
When the race went green earlier, Van Gisbergen’s quick launch off the outside of the front row caught Allmendinger by surprise, and the #97 entered Turn 1 with a clear advantage. Sammy Smith briefly jumped ahead of Allmendinger, but the Kaulig Racing entry retook the position to fall behind his teammate.
By the end of the first lap, the two Kaulig entries had built a three-second advantage over the field. This grew to 4.5 seconds the following circuit, and by the end of Lap 9, the gap from Allmendinger to third-placed Parker Kligerman was ten seconds.
A rare mistake from van Gisbergen allowed Allmendinger through to the lead, and the Kiwi quickly slotted in behind the #16.
Further back, Larson and Ty Gibbs had worked their way forward from the rear of the field, with the former gaining an impressive nine positions over the opening two laps and the latter entering the top ten mid-stage. However, Gibbs received a pass-through penalty for a corner cut and dropped the order.
The first stops of the race came under green on Lap 11, with Larson amongst those to box. Allmendinger and van Gisbergen came in a lap later, sacrificing stage points for track position, having an advantage of over 10 seconds over Kligerman.
There were slow stops for both, and a stall while exiting his box hurt van Gisbergen, who returned to the track in tenth, one place ahead of Larson but with a cushion of seven seconds. Allmendinger exited the pits in eighth.
Kligerman would go on to take Stage 1 honours from Sammy Smith and Sage Karam, with the #97 taking a sole point in tenth.
Allmendinger got the better of the launches to begin the second stage, while van Gisbergen was left out wide at Turn 1, which allowed Larson, Gibbs and Jesse Love through.
The Kiwi would overtake Love at the final corner on Lap 18. Allmendinger pulled an advantage over the field as Larson and Gibbs battled for second, exchanging places several times before the former took the spot.
Van Gisbergen got past Gibbs at the end of Lap 21 and went about hunting down Larson, overturning a 1.5-second gap.
The #17 ran wide on Lap 26, putting van Gisbergen on his tail. The two ran side-by-side for several corners before the #97 took the position as Allmendinger dropped back into their grasps.
The leaders all came in for their second stops on Lap 28, with Larson retaking the position ahead of van Gisbergen and Allmendinger remaining in the net lead.
Brandon Jones went on to cross the line for stage honours but was stripped of this for a corner cut on the final lap, elevating Riley Herbst to first from Cole Custer and Allmendinger. Van Gisbergen took six stage points from crossing the line fifth.
That left a 12-lap run to the line, with Allmendinger leading from van Gisbergen and Larson.
Larson shot up the inside again off the restart and took second, but van Gisbergen responded just corners later to fall into second, behind only Allmendinger, who controlled the restart well.
As they had in Stage 1, the two leaders pulled an early gap over the field, and van Gisbergen hit the front at Turn 11 on Lap 38. Gibbs had passed Larson for third and nearly three seconds in arrears.
Once at the front, the #97 pulled to a 2.6-second advantage until a caution was called when Ed Jones was hit from behind on Lap 43. His car spun and came to a standstill, with fluid coming from the rear.
That led to an overtime finish, and van Gisbergen chose the inside lane entering the restart, with Allmendinger sacrificing second to fall into third and letting Gibbs take the outside of the front row.
Van Gisbergen controlled the restart well, and his teammate ran up the middle with Gibbs on the outside. The three consolidated at Turn 1, with the Kiwi hitting the front as the outside two were bumped wide. Hill and Kligerman followed as Allmendinger dropped to fifth and Gibbs to seventh.
Another caution was called for a multi-car collision in the mid-field, and Allmendinger was also hit with a drive-through penalty for contact and a corner cut through the chicane.
Hill also elected to start behind van Gisbergen, with Sam Mayer on the front row.
Hill got the better of the restarts and hit the front as van Gisbergen dropped to third, but he quickly retook second off Karam before hunting the leader.
Larson, who had taken the restart 10th, having stopped under the earlier interruption for fresh tyres, suddenly appeared in third, on the tail of the Kiwi.
The #97 bumped Hill on the final lap, and both cars ran wide, which allowed Larson up the inside to take the win.
Hill briefly reclaimed second, but van Gisbergen put his nose up the inside on the final corner to take the position on the run to the flag.
A 30-second post-race penalty for a final lap corner cut dropped him to 27th.
Van Gisbergen returns to the track on Monday morning for the NASCAR Cup race, where he’ll start from 12th.
Racing begins at 8.30 am and will be shown live on ThreeNow.
