Kiwi Kicks Portland Xfinity Victory

"SVG" won his second NASCAR race in taking the Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway

(PORTLAND, OR – JUNE 1, 2024 – RIS) New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen celebrated his initial Xfinity Series victory by signing an Australian Rules football then punting it into the crowd along the front straight at Portland Internatioanl Raceway. ‘SVG,’ the winner last summer in his initial NASCAR Cup Series start on Chicago’s street track, locked into a spot in the 2024 Playoffs with the win over Justin Allgaier.

The second road course race of 2024 in the Craftsman Truck Series started with the Pacific Northwest weather shining on the 1.97 mile road course, contrasting with last year’s wet start. AJ Allmendinger’s woes continued after he crashed his primary car in qualifying with radio problems sending the No. 16 car to the pits before the pack pulled off for the pace laps. With the radio finally working, he was allowed on the track before the green flag and caught up to the pack before the start of the race.

Mayer jumped into the lead ahead of Shane Van Gisbergen, the entering the first turn chicane, the two touched, spinning Mayer and allowing Riley Herbst and Justin Allgaier to take the lead two spots as the field stretched out single file.

After cruising in third place for a dozen laps, Van Gisbergen moved around Allgaier and set off in pursuit of the lead, passing for the lead in the second turn on the 16th lap, opening a gap of over a half second in less than a lap. Allgaier followed a short time later, then with two laps left in the stage, Van Gisbergen made his first pit stop, with pit stops limited to a minimum of 63 seconds from pit entry to pit exit. This gave Allgaier the stage win, followed by Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki and Parker Kligerman as the top five in the stage. This is Allgaier’s ninth stage win for 2024. Pole winner Sam Mayer had dropped out of the top ten, back to twelfth place at the end of the stage.

The early pit stop allowed the New Zealander to restart in the lead, flanked by Allgaier, with Sheldon Creed jumping in to a challenge for the lead with Allgaier ahead as the pack exited turn one. Contact with another car damaged the right front fender of Van Gisbergen’s car resulting in tire rub but the damage apparently pushed itself clear in only a couple of turns.

None of the racers pitted early as the end of the second stage approached, with Allgaier sweeping the first two stages and the last six consecutive stages. Matt DiBenedetto’s car stalled trackside to cause a yellow flag to go along with the stage-ending checkered flag.

‘SVG’ lost five positions in the pits, falling back to tenth for the restart, while Allgaier, Creed, Bilicki, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex led the pack to the restart.

Van Gisbergen worked his way to second place in pursuit of Allgaier, A full course caution came out when the right front tire carcass fell off of Hailie Deegan’s car and stopped next to the track, slowing the field to cool their tires leading to the final nine laps.

Allgaier delayed his restart, leading to a three-wide for second place with Creed and Mayer both getting around Van Gisbergen, but SVG quickly got back to second place, with Chandler Smith blowing his engine and a multiple car crash in Turn Twelve, just after the spot where Smith pulled off the track. Sheldon Creed received a penalty for jumping out of line early on the restart, falling out of the top twenty positions from second place on the track.

Restarting the race with four laps left, SVG got around Allgaier in the first few turns, with Sam Mayer chasing Allgaier looking for second place. Sammy Smith ran fourth, about a half second behind the lead trio.  Mayer clipped the tire barrier entering the front straigh, causing a flat left-rear tire on the No. 1 as SVG led Allgaier under the white flag to start the last lap almost a half second in the lead. Allgaier’s last-ditch effort at a closing maneuver sent him almost off the track, opening up the gap that Van Gisbergen enjoyed. Van Gisbergen went on to win by just under a second in his 13th series start. “I’m very sorry to Sam Mayer and the No. 1 team,” he started his post-race interview after drifting almost all the way around the track ni victory. “I just do whatever comes to mind,” he explained about the drifting demo.

“I think that under those restarts we were so free taking off,” said Allgaier. I probably overdrove it trying to get back to him.”

Unofficial Results: Pacific Office Automation 147, June 1, 2024 - Portland International Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Shane van Gisbergen #, No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet, 75, , 5, 3, 12, 5, 46, Running
2) 5, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 75, 1, 1, 3, 46, 2, 55, Running
3) 9, Sammy Smith, No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 75, 6, , , , , 39, Running
4) 10, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Cirkul Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 33, Running
5) 17, Ed Jones, No. 24 Synergy Modular Toyota, 75, , 10, , , , 33, Running
6) 4, Cole Custer, No. 00 Autodesk/Haas Automation Ford, 75, 7, 4, , , , 42, Running
7) 22, Josh Williams, No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 7, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet, 75, 5, , , , , 35, Running
9) 15, Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 3, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 75, 2, 7, 1, 15, , 40, Running
11) 18, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 75, 9, , , , , 28, Running
12) 8, Josh Bilicki, No. 19 Ditec Marine Products Toyota, 75, 4, 3, , , , 40, Running
13) 6, Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota, 75, 3, 2, 2, 2, , 41, Running
14) 24, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford, 75, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 26, Austin Green, No. 32 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 28, Brennan Poole, No. 44 Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 25, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Classic Collision Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 37, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 RSS Racing Ford, 75, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 12, Jesse Love #, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 31, Blaine Perkins, No. 29 AutoParkit.com Ford, 75, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 35, Nathan Byrd, No. 92 CleanCore Solutions Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 34, Garrett Smithley, No. 4 Dozer Winch Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 30, Andre Castro, No. 14 Ryvid Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 36, Patrick Gallagher, No. 6 www.teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 23, Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 DriveSmart/Portland Gear Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 32, Leland Honeyman #, No. 42 RANDCO Industries Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 13, Ryan Truex, No. 20 The Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota, 75, 8, , , , , 13, Running
28) 1, Sam Mayer, No. 1 RTIC Outdoors Chevrolet, 74, , 9, , , , 11, Running
29) 33, Logan Bearden, No. 07 Environmental Controls Corp Chevrolet, 74, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 27, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Impel Union/Alliance Chevrolet, 73, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 29, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 38 Viking Motorsports Ford, 73, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 19, Anthony Alfredo, No. 5 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 72, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 38, Hailie Deegan #, No. 15 AirBox Ford, 71, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 14, Sage Karam, No. 26 Synergy Modular Toyota, 69, 10, 8, , , , 7, Running
35) 11, Chandler Smith, No. 81 QuickTie Toyota, 66, , 6, , , , 7, Accident
36) 20, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/MagickWoods Vanities Chevrolet, 66, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 16, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Timber Creek Outdoors Chevrolet, 61, , , , , , 1, Running
38) 21, Preston Pardus, No. 36 Danus Utilities Inc. Chevrolet, 9, , , , , , 1, Track Bar
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 75 Laps, 147.75 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 7 Mins, 25 Secs.
Average Speed: 69.575 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.941 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 7, 98, 18, 19, 48, 8, 00, 20, 21, 26
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 18, 19, 00, 97, 81, 98, 26, 1, 24

Comments: Shane van Gisbergen won the 3rd running of the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway, his first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 16 (backup car), 2, 6, 9, 15, 24, 26, 32, 81, 91, 07 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (1) No. 35 Frankie Muniz.

Cautions: 4 for 14 laps;
Laps: 27-29 (Stage 1 Conclusion [6]);
51-55 (No. 38 Stalled on Track/Stage 2 Conclusion [6]);
64-66 (Debris Turn 9 [2]);
69-71 (No. 9, 14, 29, 81, 44, 43 Incident Turn 12 [32]).

Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers;
S. Mayer 0;
R. Herbst 1-15;
S. Van Gisbergen # 16-22;
J. Allgaier 23-26;
S. Creed 27;
S. Van Gisbergen # 28;
J. Allgaier 29-51;
S. Creed 52;
J. Allgaier 53-71;
S. Van Gisbergen # 72-75.

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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