Shane van Gisbergen will have to start from the rear of the field for Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway due to an incident in practice.
The Kaulig Racing driver damaged the right rear of his No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro after a caution for debris on the track. He got out of the groove in Turn 2 and pounded the outside wall. He then pulled down toward the bottom of the track with sparks flying from underneath the car.
The No. 97 gets into the Turn 2 wall! pic.twitter.com/qTssiJWmK4
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 14, 2024
Van Gisbergen told NBC Sports' Dave Burns that he had just made a mistake on the track. He got a little too wide and couldn't get back in line before losing control. "Gutted to not be out there right now," he said during his post-crash interview.
The NBC Sports cameras also showed the Kaulig Racing crews pulling the backup car from the hauler to prepare for Saturday morning's qualifying session.
Van Gisbergen had completed 20 laps before crashing at Iowa. His best lap was 23.67 seconds and 133.08 mph. For comparison, AJ Allmendinger had the 15th-best lap at 133.08 mph at the time of the crash. Daniel Dye had the 24th-fastest lap at 132.777 mph and Josh Williams had the 14th-best lap at 134.254 mph.
Van Gisbergen entered Iowa weekend having won the last two races on the Xfinity Series schedule. His first career win took place at Portland International Raceway on June 1. He then won his second race on June 8 at Sonoma Raceway.
The three-time Supercars champion was not the only driver to experience issues during the practice session. Austin Hill, who is second in the Xfinity standings, went for a slide early in the practice session. He was able to regain control and continue moving forward in the session.
Sam Mayer did not lose control during the practice session, but he could not make the moves he needed. He complained about the front of the car chattering while having no rear security. Mayer voiced concerns about having the car sliding out from underneath him. As a result, his fastest lap (132.923 mph) was only 28th on the board.
Xfinity qualifying at Iowa Speedway will take place Saturday at 12:05 p.m. ET (USA Network).