Motorsport: Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen misses out on maiden NASCAR Xfinity win at Austin, Texas

Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen has seen his first win on the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity series slip through his fingers on the iconic Circuit of the Americans road course at Austin, Texas.

After leading over much of the 69-lap event, he had to contest two overtime restarts and could not hold off his rivals on the second, having to settle for second behind championship leader Kyle Larson.

In just his fifth start in the division, van Gisbergen led with four remaining, but saw his dominance eroded by a late accident that left fluid on the track.

Forced to line up in grid formation for a two-lap overtime shootout, he lost the lead on the first corner, but ran wide on a hairpin to shunt his rivals off the track and regain the initiative.

Another two-car incident forced a second restart and this time, Austin Hill outmanoeuvred van Gisbergen at the hairpin, but as they diced for the lead on the final lap, Larson got the jump on both to claim victory.

Van Gisbergen edged ahead of Hill - second on championship standings - for the runner-up position.

After qualifying second fastest behind Larson, the Kiwi took the lead off the startline and led 10 laps, until Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger moved ahead. He tracked the American until lap 38, when he retook the lead, but was foiled by the late-race drama.

More to come

Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen has seen his first win on the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity series slip through his fingers on the iconic Circuit of the Americans road course at Austin, Texas.

After leading over much of the 69-lap event, he had to contest two overtime restarts and could not hold off his rivals on the second, having to settle for second behind championship leader Kyle Larson.

In just his fifth start in the division, van Gisbergen led with four remaining, but saw his dominance eroded by a late accident that left fluid on the track.

Forced to line up in grid formation for a two-lap overtime shootout, he lost the lead on the first corner, but ran wide on a hairpin to shunt his rivals off the track and regain the initiative.

Another two-car incident forced a second restart and this time, Austin Hill outmanoeuvred van Gisbergen at the hairpin, but as they diced for the lead on the final lap, Larson got the jump on both to claim victory.

Van Gisbergen edged ahead of Hill - second on championship standings - for the runner-up position.

After qualifying second fastest behind Larson, the Kiwi took the lead off the startline and led 10 laps, until Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger moved ahead. He tracked the American until lap 38, when he retook the lead, but was foiled by the late-race drama.

More to come

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.