Shane van Gisbergen has locked up a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs after winning at Portland International Raceway.
Van Gisbergen won for the first time in the Xfinity Series after taking the lead from Justin Allgaier with four laps remaining in the race. Allgaier crossed the line second. Sammy Smith, AJ Allmendinger, and Ed Jones all scored top-10 finishes.
MORE: Xfinity Series Portland results
Van Gisbergen had a chaotic day after starting from the front row. He made contact with Sam Mayer on Lap 1 and spun the pole-sitter. He then sustained damage at the start of the second stage that caused a tire rub. Van Gisbergen also slid off the track while racing inside the top five.
Van Gisbergen put himself back in contention for a top-five finish in the final stage and then he capitalized when chaos unfolded with fewer than 10 laps remaining.
The incident began with several drivers experiencing issues. Chandler Smith had an engine expire, which sent him off the track and onto the access road. Two Alpha Prime Racing cars spun in oil as part of a multi-car incident. Brandon Jones and Blaine Perkins buried their cars in the tire barriers. Multiple other cars sustained damage.
Just nowhere to go.
Caution is out for a multi-car accident at @Race_Portland. pic.twitter.com/8cpQf5P0CM
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 1, 2024
The chaos set up a restart with four laps remaining in the race. Allgaier maintained the lead on the restart, but he could not hold off a hard-charging van Gisbergen.
The three-time Supercars champion got beside Allgaier and finally took the lead heading to three laps to go in the race. Allgaier chased van Gisbergen back down but could not make the pass.
Once van Gisbergen crossed the finish line to score his first career win, he celebrated by doing a burnout around the entire 1.976-mile road course.
Shane van Gisbergen is a BURNOUT GOD. 💨
He celebrates his first @NASCAR_Xfinity win in style. pic.twitter.com/LSOzpp805h
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 1, 2024
Stage 1: Shane van Gisbergen was in position for the stage 1 win after taking the lead from Riley Herbst on Lap 16. He short-pitted the stage to inherit the lead at the start of stage 2. Justin Allgaier won the first stage after van Gisbergen headed down pit road. This was Allgaier's 62nd career stage win.
Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith, Cole Custer, Ryan Truex, Austin Hill, and Sage Karam all finished stage 1 inside the top 10.
Stage 2: Justin Allgaier won stage 2. Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki, Cole Custer, Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Riley Herbst, Sage Karam, Sam Mayer, and Ed Jones all finished top 10. This was the third consecutive race that Allgaier swept the first two stages.
Notable: Saturday's race continued Jeb Burton's stretch of struggles in the Pacific Northwest. Burton raced inside the top 10 during the first stage but fell off the pace on Lap 14. He headed down pit road with a rear axle issue and ultimately went behind the wall. Burton was able to return to the race in stage 2 but remained 14 laps down. Burton headed to Portland with finishes of 33rd and 25th in his previous two starts. He finished 37th.
AJ Allmendinger initially reached the second round of qualifying Saturday morning but lost his position after crashing at the alternate start-finish line. The team had to pull out the backup car and prep it for the afternoon race. As Allmendinger prepared to start the road course race, he dealt with radio issues that dropped him further back in the field. Despite these issues, Allmendinger worked his way back through the field throughout the race and finished fourth.
What's next: The Xfinity teams remain on the West Coast. They will head to Sonoma Raceway for a race on Saturday, June 8 (8 p.m. ET on FS1).