XFINITY: Kaulig Racing’s determined effort to keep Shane Van Gisbergen on track comes up short in Las Vegas
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: The CW, @TheCW_Sports
Shane Van Gisbergen picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Ambetter Health 302 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #97 WeatherTech Chevrolet fell out with fuel pump issues after he completed 77 of 201 laps.
The finish came in Van Gisbergen’s 30th series start. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 9th from the fuel pump, the 10th for the #97, and the 652nd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 37th from the fuel pump, the 40th for the #97, and the 1,965th for Chevrolet.
Van Gisbergen made a spirited run at his first XFINITY Series Playoffs, knowing they would include just one road course following his three wins in Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago. His Kaulig Racing effort began the “Round of 12” with a strong 8th-place finish in Kansas – his first top-ten run on an oval since Darlington the previous month – but a late-race crash at Talladega left him a distant 35th. He eyed a comeback during a double-duty weekend on the Charlotte “Roval,” where he won the pole in both the XFINITY and Cup Series races. He did all he could, leading seven laps, finishing 2nd in Stage 1 and 7th in Stage 2, and took the checkered flag in 3rd. But he remained just two points short of advancing.
When Van Gisbergen last raced in a XFINITY race at Las Vegas, he made it just 27 laps into this year’s spring race before engine trouble ended his run. This time, of the 38 entrants, he ranked 29th in opening practice, then improved to 16th in qualifying with a lap of 29.990 seconds (180.060mph). He struggled much more on the Cup side, ranking 36th of the 37 entrants in practice, then qualifying 34th with a lap of 30.457 seconds (177.299mph).
Securing the 38th and final starting spot on Saturday was Sheldon Creed, whose #18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota was the only car to not make a qualifying attempt. The reason was engine trouble, which also incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty along with 27th-place starter Kyle Weatherman for unapproved adjustments on the #91 MyRadar / DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet.
During the pace laps, 26th-place qualifier Dawson Cram had trouble with the transmission on his #92 Trade With the Pros Chevrolet. He dropped to the back so quickly that it caught teammate Weatherman by surprise, saying, “92 about took my bumper off – what’s he doing?” Cram made it to pit road, where the crew grabbed some jack stands to try and get the car out of third gear. They ended up sending him back out just as the green flag dropped, leaving him on the apron as the field streaked into Turn 1. Just before that start, both Joey Gase Motorsports cars dropped to 36th and 37th, moving Creed’s penalized car up to 35th, 2.953 seconds back of the lead. Weatherman’s #91 rolled off behind Joey Gase’s #53 Chevrolet (3.263) and Akinori Ogata’s #35 Chevrolet (3.318), crossing the stripe 3.45 seconds back of the lead, but by the backstretch climbed from 38th to 37th as he passed Cram, coming up to speed. But Cram’s car was still stuck in third gear, forcing him back to pit road and now behind the wall on Lap 2.
As Cram’s crew worked under the car, Leland Honeyman, Jr. pulled off a tremendous save in Turn 1 when his #42 LH Waterfront Construction Chevrolet broke loose, but avoided a spin. But around a lap later as he exited Turn 2, Honeyman crossed the nose of J.J. Yeley’s #14 SS-Green Light Racing Ford and smacked the outside wall with the right-front. As Yeley slid up the track in Turn 3, Honeyman limped down pit road with heavy right-front damage, dropping the debris which drew the first caution on Lap 6. While Honeyman lost a lap before he returned to the track, Yeley remained on the lead lap. And on Lap 7, Cram returned from the garage, six laps down. He finally completed his first lap of the night in 38th, four laps behind Honeyman.
On the Lap 9 restart, Honeyman’s car was still dragging a splitter bar, but he managed to clear minimum speed the next time by. The crew called him back in for further repairs behind the wall, but the driver couldn’t hear his team, so the message had to be repeated. Honeyman returned to pit road on Lap 17 for the crew to clear the tires, then quickly got him back on the track on Lap 18. Honeyman’s team said the engine sounded rough, but estimated this was only an issue with the exhaust. He continued on track, still one lap ahead of Cram in the ongoing battle for the Lucky Dog. That is, until the now 36th-place Ogata was lapped running the low lane on Lap 30.
Van Gisbergen entered the last-place battle on Lap 35, during a caution for a slowing Dylan Lupton in an overheating #15 Lupton Excavation, Inc. Ford. Lupton had apparently hit the wall, but he showed little damage as he fell a lap down in 35th, dropping behind Ogata, who earned his lap back. It was during this yellow that Van Gisbergen was first seen on pit road with the hood up, reporting the engine had shut off due to a loss of fuel pressure. While Lupton continued on track, Van Gisbergen’s car was pushed backwards to the nearest garage opening. By Lap 38, Van Gisbergen had taken last from Cram. On Lap 39, the team changed the regulator, and set to work replacing the fuel pump. They later decided to also change tires before returning to the track. This was done on Lap 64, when Van Gisbergen returned to action 32 laps down.
During his stay in the garage, Van Gisbergen’s team reported the fuel pressure kept “pegging,” but had finally dropped to a level where the car could re-fire. The issue wasn’t entirely solved, however, as on Lap 67, the driver reported “I think we’re gonna have a problem.” The team debated about staying out, then called him behind the wall for a second time on Lap 69. At the time, he was still 28 laps behind the now 37th-place Honeyman, who had just gone to the garage for additional repairs. It wasn’t until Lap 87 that Van Gisbergen’s team radioed they were changing the carburetor, and were about to return. With Stage 2 concluded on Lap 92, they waited until pit stops were completed before rejoining the field on Lap 93. Still, the fuel pressure continued to fluctuate, the driver reporting, “11 to 8, back to 9, 10 - not very good.” He took the Lap 97 restart and avoided the ensuing stack-up near the front that sent Taylor Gray into a spin. Ahead of him, 37th-place Honeyman was seven laps down to 36th-place Cram’s six.
On the Lap 103 restart, Ogata re-enacted Cram’s issue on the initial start when he exited pit road as the leaders spilled into Turn 1. By then, Ogata was now 35th, showing four down, but still three ahead of Cram. At the time, all 38 starters were still on track, leaving open the possibility that Van Gisbergen would secure last place before the checkered flag. On Lap 133, Van Gisbergen’s car shut off – “everything went blank,” said the driver, and he pulled behind the wall for a third time. Parked by the RSS Racing team’s #39 hauler, the driver climbed out, but the crew continued to work, determined to get back out there once again. Meanwhile, on Lap 141, Honeyman’s damaged car slowed down the backstretch. On pit road, the crew tried to push-start him, but ended up pushing the car behind the wall. By that point, Van Gisbergen was 53 laps behind Honeyman, and there were just over 50 laps to go. On Lap 153, Van Gisbergen’s crew said, “We’re done,” and NASCAR declared both he and Honeyman out of the race on Lap 158.
At the finish, Cram took home 36th with Ogata 35th, the pair three laps apart. Taking 34th was Ryan Vargas, who held fast to a lead-lap finish in Mike Harmon Racing’s #74 Critical Path Security / Anyone.com Chevrolet. But the team ran out of new sticker tires at the end, and soon lost laps trying to keep pace on old scuffs. He finished four laps down in 34th, one lap ahead of Ogata.
The Kaulig team’s determined effort to get Van Gisbergen’s car back in the race was later rewarded with a victory by teammate A.J. Allmendinger, which has now advanced the veteran road racer to the “Championship Four” at Phoenix.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place run for the #97 in a XFINTY Series race since November 8, 2003, when Jeff Fuller’s #97 NRA Foundation Chevrolet – a car fielded by Stanton Barrett – had a vibration after 3 laps of the Targe House 200 at Rockingham. The number had never before finished last in a XFINITY Series race at Las Vegas.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #97-Shane Van Gisbergen / 77 laps / fuel pump
37) #42-Leland Honeyman, Jr. / 130 laps / electrical
36) #92-Dawson Cram / 193 laps / running
35) #35-Akinori Ogata / 196 laps / running
34) #74-Ryan Vargas / 197 laps / running
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joey Gase Motorsports, JR Motorsports (4)
2nd) DGM Racing, Jordan Anderson Racing (3)
3rd) Alpha Prime Racing, AM Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Mike Harmon Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (2)
4th) Motorsports Business Management, RSS Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (20)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Toyota (4)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
