Shane van Gisbergen will not be able to sweep the weekend on the streets of Chicago due to an incident that sent him to the garage midway through Sunday's Cup Series race.
The incident occurred on Lap 26 as drivers adjusted to heavy rainfall in the Windy City. SVG went to enter Turn 6 but a sliding Chase Briscoe clipped the rear of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. The car slammed hard into the outside wall and sustained race-ending damage. Briscoe, meanwhile, slammed into the tire barrier while NASCAR threw the caution flag.
Chase Briscoe slid into Shane van Gisbergen, causing SVG to hit the wall.
The defending Chicago winner is done for the day. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/0hjB8YFi8A
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 7, 2024
"I don't know," van Gisbergen said about the incident to NBC Sports. "I just sort of turned in; it looked pretty good and then just got smacked by someone. It's gutting. The No. 16 Wendy's Saucy Nuggs Camaro was really good.
"We were in the lead for a lot of that race. I felt good taking off in the rain, so that sucks. It's an unfortunate mistake by him. I'm sure he didn't mean it. But yeah, when he just clipped me, there wasn't anything I could do."
Van Gisbergen had led nine laps of Sunday's Cup Series race after starting third. He won the first stage 1 but lost four spots on pit road as teams switched to wet-weather tires under heavy rainfall.
The race went under red flag conditions immediately after the crash that ended van Gisbergen's day. NASCAR brought the cars down pit road so that the crews could try to clear some of the standing water off of the racing surface.
Ty Gibbs was in the lead at the time of the caution. Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Zane Smith, and Tyler Reddick were the rest of the drivers inside the top five.
Van Gisbergen had a unique opportunity entering Sunday's Cup race. He was in a position to go 3-0 on the streets of Chicago.
The New Zealand native won last season's inaugural street race in Chicago, his first-ever start in NASCAR. This season, he won his first-ever Xfinity Series start in Chicago. Winning Sunday's Cup race would have completed the trifecta.
Instead of contending for the win, van Gisbergen finished 40th in the 40-car field. This is his worst finish at the Cup level.