Shane van Gisbergen called the Talladega Superspeedway race "wild" after a day of action and crashes. Gisbergen led the race for a while, set the fastest lap, and was part of the biggest crash in NASCAR Cup Series history.
The New Zealand driver competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. A huge 28-car crash, one of the biggest in modern NASCAR history, happened with five laps left in the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, October 6. Austin Cindric spun after being pushed by Brad Keselowski, which caused a pileup that took out most of the lead pack.
Gisbergen reflected on the Talladega race in a tweet on October 7 and expressed his excitement for next week's road course race.
"Wild race today, cool to have the big W out front for a fair few laps! Set the fastest lap and also got involved in the biggest crash ever 😂 Right hand turns next week… looking forward to it,'' Gisbergen wrote.
Gisbergen will next be in action at the Roval at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on October 13.
The 35-year-old was also caught in a crash in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last weekend at Talladega. The wreck dropped him from 9 points above the playoff cutline to 10 below with only one race left in the round.
Shane van Gisbergen's costly Xfinity crash
Shane van Gisbergen drives the No. 97 Camaro for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
He had a tough time in the United Rentals 250 Xfinity Series race at Talladega. He was caught in a crash on Lap 76 when Dean Thompson spun out and hit his car. Gisbergen said about the race (via 1News):
''We were pretty loose so it was pretty tough, but the WeatherTech Camaro was fast. I got pushed out of line and put myself in a bad spot. I thought I saved it and then some other stuff happened and I got caught up in it. That sucks. I am gutted for Kaulig Racing."
Gisbergen started the race in eighth place and had a strong beginning but dropped to 23rd early on. However, he made an impressive comeback in Stage 2 and moved from 22nd to fourth place. He avoided an earlier crash but got caught when Thompson's car hit him.
''I don't know what the points are, we'll see how far in the hole we are, but we've just got to prepare well and turn up with a fast car next week, get as many points as we can and hopefully get through OK," he added.
Shane van Gisbergen now has one race before 4 drivers are eliminated next week at Charlotte.