| · Shane van Gisbergen capped off a strong trip to Texas with a runner-up finish in the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas. The result – his career-best finish in NASCAR’s top division at the Austin, Texas, circuit – came after the 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native drove Chevrolet and JR Motorsports to the win in yesterday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. · Van Gisbergen led Chevrolet to a season-best showing of five drivers from four different organizations taking home top-10 results with the Trackhouse Racing driver leading Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, who also earned his season-best result with a fifth-place finish. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott took the checkered flag in the sixth- and seventh-positions, respectively, with Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger rounding out the Team Chevy top-10 with a ninth-place result. Race Recap: Stage One: Looking for his second NASCAR Cup Series win at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain put together a strong Saturday performance that led to a front-row starting spot for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne. Entering what is arguably the most chaotic corner of the circuit, Chastain managed to maintain position and settle into a top-three running position for the opening laps of Stage One. It was his teammate and yesterday’s O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Series race winner, Shane van Gisbergen, that started making an early climb – cracking the top-10 from a 13th-place starting position just three laps into the race. A rather calm opening stint saw the first green flag pit cycle begin with four laps remaining in the stage. As then race leader, Ryan Blaney, hit pit road as the field approached the Lap 18 marker, Chastain went on to inherit the top position with a pair of Team Chevy drivers, Van Gisbergen and Michael McDowell, in tow. Opting to run out the stage for points, the trio went on to hold onto their respective positions en route to the first green-white checkered flag of the race. Stage Two: Looking for better drive in his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, crew chief, Brandon McSwain, called for an air pressure adjustment to help rear drive on their first trip to pit road of the day. With a handful of the field flipping the opening stage, Chastain ultimately lined up in the 21st position for the start of the next 25-lap run. Among those who pitted prior to the stage end included Hendrick Motorsports’ Williams Byron, with the 2024 COTA winner making a jump up into the second row to take the green flag for Stage Two. As another long green flag run began, Byron remained part of the top-three contenders that progressively pulled to a near four-second margin lead over the field as the stage hit the halfway mark. Among those with fresher tires, Van Gisbergen was the only driver to really capitalize on the strategy – making the march all the way up into the third position before the team made the call to flip the stage and hit pit road with two laps to go in Stage Two. With pit strategy shaking up the leaderboard once again, it was road course ringer, AJ Allmendinger, that led the Bowtie brigade to the second green-white checkered flag – earning second-place stage points in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Final Stage: Byron and Van Gisbergen were among the four drivers that flipped the stage and still managed to collected top-10 points in Stage Two. Staying out under the stage break, the pair lined up on the second row to take the green flag with 45 laps remaining in the race. With the field quickly singling out, it was the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet that once again led the Team Chevy crew from the third position. With the longest run on the horizon, the Bowtie brigade made a strong statement with seven drivers in the top-nine running positions as the green flag pit cycle began. With the top-two drivers making their scheduled stops, Van Gisbergen took over the top position before crew chief, Stephen Doran, made the call for the driver to hit pit road on Lap 71 – powering off a 10-second flat stop and ultimately rejoining the field back in the top-five. With his long-run speed coming to light, Van Gisbergen progressively closed the gap to then race leader, Tyler Reddick – closing the gap to just 0.392-seconds as the leaders crossed the line to mark 10 laps to go. The Auckland, New Zealand, native went on to tally his career-best finish at COTA with a runner-up result. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 2nd – Shane van Gisbergen5th – Michael McDowell6th – Kyle Larson7th – Chase Elliott9th – AJ Allmendinger  Chevrolet’s season statistics with three NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 0Poles: 1Top-Fives: 7Top 10s: 11Stage Wins: 1 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Phoenix Raceway with the Straight Talk Wireless 500 on Sunday, March 8, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 19th “This No. 3 team just never gives up, man. We had to work hard for that one today. Things kept putting us in the back and we would drive forward. I flat-spotted a tire in the opening laps which affected the balance of our BREZTRI AEROSPHERE (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate)® Chevrolet in Stage 1. We made a good pit call to gain track position and showed the pace that our car had in Stage 2. Unfortunately, a bolt came loose in our shifter handle which put us behind to start the last stage. We kept chipping away at it and then got behind again with contact on pit road. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Proud of the effort.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 6th You battled all day with a cool suit issue. How did you stay in the game? “Thankfully, I had enough fluids in me. I started feeling progressively better as the race went on with just dumping water on me, putting ice on my chest and drinking a lot of fluids. I felt good there at the end, but I was hot early in the race. I was getting nervous. But I think it kind of cooled down outside too, which helped. All-in-all, it was a great day for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. It was good to get our first top-10 finish of the season, and hopefully we can just build off of it.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 12th“The entire No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet team battled all day here at Circuit of The Americas. We started deep in the field and were able to make the needed adjustments to drive inside the Top 15. I’m proud of everyone’s efforts today and now we’ll turn our attention West as we head to Phoenix next weekend.” Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing ChevroletFinished: 16th“It was a great weekend for our No. 10 Patriot Mobile Chevrolet team. We had no thrills, which is what we need. I think when we execute, we are a great team and we just keep getting better. We had that kind of a day here today. We had no mistakes on pit road or on-track, and we came home with a 16th-place finish. Just very proud of this team. Our goal was to cash-in at least 20 points. That hasn’t been our strong suit, but we did that. We’ll roll onto some track where we have some good finishes.” Jesse Love, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Finished: 27th “We ended up with some tow link damage today that affected our race, but overall the No. 33 C4 Chevrolet was pretty good. We got our handling better throughout the day and even though we made gains at it, we never got it exactly where I wanted it to be. All of the pieces were there today but we never put them together.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5th“Overall, the No. 71 Katz Coffee Chevrolet was good. We didn’t need that last caution. We were running long there. I don’t know how the math would have worked out, but I think we would have had a good shot of having better tires over everyone else at the end, so that caution really hurt us. I think we restarted 12th or 13th, so to get back up into the top-five is a solid day for this team. But we’re not looking for solid days, we’re looking for wins. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 14th“Our No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet was really fast all day. We were putting ourselves in a spot there at the end at that last caution to have a chance to go win the race and got wrecked again in turn one. I don’t know if I need to do something different, but it was just one of those days. It was good to drive up through the field again. As a racecar driver, I’m not satisfied, but I proved that I could do it.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 2ndWhat else did you need today? “Just a little bit of everything. We lacked a little bit of turn and a little bit of drive. Tyler (Reddick, race winner) was just amazing. The way he was driving was really good and his car was good. We just didn’t quite have enough, but it was a great points day for this No. 97 Safety Culture Chevrolet team, which is what we need for getting into the Chase. It was still an amazing result, but you’re always disappointed with second when the expectations are so high. But overall, it was a really good day.” |
| Shane van Gisbergen Drives to Season-Best Runner-Up Finish at Circuit of The Americas |
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| · Shane van Gisbergen capped off a strong trip to Texas with a runner-up finish in the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas. The result – his career-best finish in NASCAR’s top division at the Austin, Texas, circuit – came after the 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native drove Chevrolet and JR Motorsports to the win in yesterday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. · Van Gisbergen led Chevrolet to a season-best showing of five drivers from four different organizations taking home top-10 results with the Trackhouse Racing driver leading Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, who also earned his season-best result with a fifth-place finish. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott took the checkered flag in the sixth- and seventh-positions, respectively, with Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger rounding out the Team Chevy top-10 with a ninth-place result. Race Recap: Stage One: Looking for his second NASCAR Cup Series win at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain put together a strong Saturday performance that led to a front-row starting spot for the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne. Entering what is arguably the most chaotic corner of the circuit, Chastain managed to maintain position and settle into a top-three running position for the opening laps of Stage One. It was his teammate and yesterday’s O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Series race winner, Shane van Gisbergen, that started making an early climb – cracking the top-10 from a 13th-place starting position just three laps into the race. A rather calm opening stint saw the first green flag pit cycle begin with four laps remaining in the stage. As then race leader, Ryan Blaney, hit pit road as the field approached the Lap 18 marker, Chastain went on to inherit the top position with a pair of Team Chevy drivers, Van Gisbergen and Michael McDowell, in tow. Opting to run out the stage for points, the trio went on to hold onto their respective positions en route to the first green-white checkered flag of the race. Stage Two: Looking for better drive in his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, crew chief, Brandon McSwain, called for an air pressure adjustment to help rear drive on their first trip to pit road of the day. With a handful of the field flipping the opening stage, Chastain ultimately lined up in the 21st position for the start of the next 25-lap run. Among those who pitted prior to the stage end included Hendrick Motorsports’ Williams Byron, with the 2024 COTA winner making a jump up into the second row to take the green flag for Stage Two. As another long green flag run began, Byron remained part of the top-three contenders that progressively pulled to a near four-second margin lead over the field as the stage hit the halfway mark. Among those with fresher tires, Van Gisbergen was the only driver to really capitalize on the strategy – making the march all the way up into the third position before the team made the call to flip the stage and hit pit road with two laps to go in Stage Two. With pit strategy shaking up the leaderboard once again, it was road course ringer, AJ Allmendinger, that led the Bowtie brigade to the second green-white checkered flag – earning second-place stage points in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Final Stage: Byron and Van Gisbergen were among the four drivers that flipped the stage and still managed to collected top-10 points in Stage Two. Staying out under the stage break, the pair lined up on the second row to take the green flag with 45 laps remaining in the race. With the field quickly singling out, it was the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet that once again led the Team Chevy crew from the third position. With the longest run on the horizon, the Bowtie brigade made a strong statement with seven drivers in the top-nine running positions as the green flag pit cycle began. With the top-two drivers making their scheduled stops, Van Gisbergen took over the top position before crew chief, Stephen Doran, made the call for the driver to hit pit road on Lap 71 – powering off a 10-second flat stop and ultimately rejoining the field back in the top-five. With his long-run speed coming to light, Van Gisbergen progressively closed the gap to then race leader, Tyler Reddick – closing the gap to just 0.392-seconds as the leaders crossed the line to mark 10 laps to go. The Auckland, New Zealand, native went on to tally his career-best finish at COTA with a runner-up result. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 2nd – Shane van Gisbergen5th – Michael McDowell6th – Kyle Larson7th – Chase Elliott9th – AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet’s season statistics with three NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 0Poles: 1Top-Fives: 7Top 10s: 11Stage Wins: 1 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Phoenix Raceway with the Straight Talk Wireless 500 on Sunday, March 8, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 19th “This No. 3 team just never gives up, man. We had to work hard for that one today. Things kept putting us in the back and we would drive forward. I flat-spotted a tire in the opening laps which affected the balance of our BREZTRI AEROSPHERE (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate)® Chevrolet in Stage 1. We made a good pit call to gain track position and showed the pace that our car had in Stage 2. Unfortunately, a bolt came loose in our shifter handle which put us behind to start the last stage. We kept chipping away at it and then got behind again with contact on pit road. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Proud of the effort.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 6th You battled all day with a cool suit issue. How did you stay in the game? “Thankfully, I had enough fluids in me. I started feeling progressively better as the race went on with just dumping water on me, putting ice on my chest and drinking a lot of fluids. I felt good there at the end, but I was hot early in the race. I was getting nervous. But I think it kind of cooled down outside too, which helped. All-in-all, it was a great day for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. It was good to get our first top-10 finish of the season, and hopefully we can just build off of it.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 12th“The entire No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet team battled all day here at Circuit of The Americas. We started deep in the field and were able to make the needed adjustments to drive inside the Top 15. I’m proud of everyone’s efforts today and now we’ll turn our attention West as we head to Phoenix next weekend.” Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing ChevroletFinished: 16th“It was a great weekend for our No. 10 Patriot Mobile Chevrolet team. We had no thrills, which is what we need. I think when we execute, we are a great team and we just keep getting better. We had that kind of a day here today. We had no mistakes on pit road or on-track, and we came home with a 16th-place finish. Just very proud of this team. Our goal was to cash-in at least 20 points. That hasn’t been our strong suit, but we did that. We’ll roll onto some track where we have some good finishes.” Jesse Love, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Finished: 27th “We ended up with some tow link damage today that affected our race, but overall the No. 33 C4 Chevrolet was pretty good. We got our handling better throughout the day and even though we made gains at it, we never got it exactly where I wanted it to be. All of the pieces were there today but we never put them together.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5th“Overall, the No. 71 Katz Coffee Chevrolet was good. We didn’t need that last caution. We were running long there. I don’t know how the math would have worked out, but I think we would have had a good shot of having better tires over everyone else at the end, so that caution really hurt us. I think we restarted 12th or 13th, so to get back up into the top-five is a solid day for this team. But we’re not looking for solid days, we’re looking for wins. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 14th“Our No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet was really fast all day. We were putting ourselves in a spot there at the end at that last caution to have a chance to go win the race and got wrecked again in turn one. I don’t know if I need to do something different, but it was just one of those days. It was good to drive up through the field again. As a racecar driver, I’m not satisfied, but I proved that I could do it.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 2ndWhat else did you need today? “Just a little bit of everything. We lacked a little bit of turn and a little bit of drive. Tyler (Reddick, race winner) was just amazing. The way he was driving was really good and his car was good. We just didn’t quite have enough, but it was a great points day for this No. 97 Safety Culture Chevrolet team, which is what we need for getting into the Chase. It was still an amazing result, but you’re always disappointed with second when the expectations are so high. But overall, it was a really good day.” |