“I feel a bit bad”: Shane van Gisbergen on blowing smoke in front of Austin Hill at Sonoma

Shane van Gisbergen has expressed sorrow for wrecking out Austin Hill during the final restart at the Sonoma Raceway. Van Gisbergen lunged ahead of the Richard Childress Racing driver and dethroned him from the contention.

The 14th Xfinity Series contention kicked off at the 1.99-mile road course. The New Zealander sealed his second consecutive win of the season after comfortably sidelining drivers like Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, Austin Green, and Austin Hill for the lead.

A tough battle for the win ensued among the 38 drivers at the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 hosted in Sonoma. Shane van Gisbergen sealed his first-ever NASCAR pole and maintained his form during the 79-lap dash to come home with third overall NASCAR victory.

The #97 Chevy reigned supreme at Sonoma, emerging at the top during Stage 1 and finishing second in Stage 2 just behind Ty Gibbs. However, during the third stage, Gibbs pitted for issues in his #19 Toyota's left rear and opened the field for the Kaulig Racing driver.

Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen fought a close battle for the lead, but during the final restart on lap 69, the New Zealander pulled off a risky move and snatched the domination from the #21 Chevy driver. Moreover, after emerging victorious, the #97 Chevy driver drifted past Hill and filled the latter's windshield with post-victory smoke.

While discussing his Sonoma outing with Corey LaJoie, Shane van Gisbergen said that he felt bad for his move against Austin Hill.

"You wanna be a good winner so I feel a bit bad and some ways being petty. I was doing the skid at turn 1 because that's where all the fans are on the hill at 2. He [Austin Hill] goes past pulling the [middle] finger, so I'm like, 'This is for you now not the fans. I just followed him the whole lap," van Gisbergen said via NASCAR on X.

"One-hundred percent"- Shane van Gisbergen speaks on fair gameplay with Austin Hill despite months-old COTA setback

During the fifth Xfinity Series battle at the Circuit of The Americas, Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen were the frontrunners when a double-overtime brought the duo in proximity. The #21 Chevy driver charged behind the #97 Chevrolet, and pushed the latter away from the track to snatch the lead.

Nonetheless, the Kaulig Racing driver retaliated and pulled a similar move on the final lap. The New Zealander shoved into Austin Hill sending both cars off the track. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson capitalized on the room vacated due to the leader's fight and snuck the win at COTA, followed by van Gisbergen in second and Hill in third.

However, the #97 Chevy was slapped with a 30-second time penalty for wrecking the #21 and going off the track limits. As a result, the RCR driver emerged as the runner-up, while the Kaulig Racing driver stooped to a dismal 27th-place finish.

After his final restart move against Austin Hill at Sonoma, Shane van Gisbergen was asked if it was a "fair game" despite the months-old disappointment.

"One-hundred percent," van Gisbergen said. “I hate racing and thinking like that, but to me, we’ve both taken a race win off each other now. I don’t know. I didn’t go into the corner planning to take him out. Like, I wasn’t going to hit him off the track, but I was gonna try to pass him and I did everything I could," via NASCAR.

With two wins, three top-5s, and four top-10s, Shane van Gisbergen is currently placed tenth in the Xfinity Series standings.