Shane van Gisbergen drifts ahead of Allgaier for Portland win
Shane van Gisbergen earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win Saturday at Portland International Raceway, holding off Justin Allgaier on the final restart.
Van Gisbergen passed Allgaier for the win with four laps to go. To celebrate, the Kiwi did a drift burnout around the track to the start-finish line. Then, he parked his car, signed a New Zealand rugby football and punted it into the crowd.
“That was so much fun. I love these cars,” van Gisbergen said.
Shane van Gisbergen started second and led three times for 12 laps in the Pacific Office Automation 147.
Van Gisbergen now joins Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, and Sam Mayer as winners eligible for the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.
Van Gisbergen is the second rookie to win this season. Love won at Talladega Superspeedway in April.
Allgaier led three times for 46 circuits, winning the first two stages of the race.
Allgaier started side-by-side with van Gisbergen on the final restart. The Kaulig Racing was just too good as the JR Motorsports driver could only get second.
“I overdrove it trying to get back to him (van Gisbergen),” Allgaier said of the final restart.
“It stings a little bit.”
Allgaier’s second-place finish is his fourth Top-5 run in the last seven races.
Through the Field
Sammy Smith and road course ace A.J. Allmendinger finished third and fourth, respectively, rounding out a Chevrolet quartet up front.
Allmendinger had to start in the rear of the field after crashing in qualifying.
IndyCar expat Ed Jones, in his second-career Xfinity Series start, rounded out the Top-5. He followed Allmendinger through the field until the finish, earning just the ninth Top-5 finish for Sam Hunt Racing.
Last year’s Portland winner, Cole Custer, finished sixth.
Rounding out the Top-10 were Josh Williams, Parker Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff and Riley Herbst in positions seven through 10.
Polesitter Sam Mayer, who spun on lap 1, rallied for a possible third-place finish, only to cut a tire after hitting the wall with three laps to go. He finished 28th, one lap down.
Recap
Stage one went caution-free Saturday. Shane van Gisbergen led after Riley Herbst led the first 15 laps. However, he chose to pit before the stage ended on lap 25, handing the lead and stage win to Justin Allgaier.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 25): Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith, Cole Custer, Ryan Truex, Austin Hill, Sage Karam
In stage two, van Gisbergen struggled after the divergent pit call. Allgaier led the stage that went caution-free until Matt DiBenedetto stopped on the track, ending stage two under caution.
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 50): Allgaier, Creed, Bilicki, Custer, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Karam, Mayer, Ed Jones
Sheldon Creed tried challenging Allgaier on a restart with nine laps to go but switched lanes too early and was sent to the back of the field for the final restart when Shane van Gisbergen dealt the final blow and stole victory from Allgaier.
Creed finished 13th, behind Bilicki who recovered from a spin to finish 12th. Teammate Ryan Truex wasn’t as lucky. He spun on the final lap and finished 27th. Sage Karam finished 34th, six laps down. Behind him was Chandler Smith who blew an engine with nine laps to go.
Outlook
Cole Custer is now the point leader (475 points) over Austin Hill (457), Chandler Smith (457), Justin Allgaier (452) and Jesse Love (402).
The playoff bubble is now concentrated around six drivers:
Sheldon Creed (+46 points to the cutline), Parker Kligerman (+34), Sammy Smith (+20), Ryan Sieg (-20 points to the cutline), Brandon Jones (-23) and Anthony Alfredo (-32).
Going into the day, Alfredo and Jones were each above the cutline. However, both drivers failed to earn stage points and finished 32nd and 36th, respectively. Alfredo had a left-front tire issue while Jones wrecked in turn 12 with seven laps to go.
The next race for the series remains on the West Coast — and on a road course — with Sonoma Raceway in northern California on June 8.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.