New Zealand driver Shane van Gisbergen has learned some harsh realities of driving in Nascar's Cup Series.
In his first race as a full-time Nascar driver, van Gisbergen finished 33rd, eight laps down, in his debut Daytona 500 on Sunday (Monday NZ Time) after front-end damage decimated his track speed.
LATEST HEADLINES:
Own goal costs Phoenix Women vs Glory
Van Gisbergen was running 17th on lap 71 when Joey Logano's car coughed on the throttle, causing nose-to-tail collision concertina on the second row and causing a crash involving six cars further back.
The Giz's rear-ender looked innocuous enough and allowed him to continue to race, although he went down two laps immediately and was off the pace for the rest of the race.
"Big nose damage,” van Gisbergen said over the Trackhouse Racing team radio. “The steering feels fine. The steering is okay.”
With a compromised car, van Gisbergen continued to lose ground on the track and by the end of the second stage (lap 132), he had dropped back to 35th and six laps down.
Earlier, the three-time Supercars champion and Nascar rookie had ran up front after starting 26th, but being bumped to the rear due to using a backup car.
He was positioned as high as fifth early on, joining teammate and defending series champion Ross Chastain on the high line during three-wide racing. He remained around the top-10 before dropping out of the top-20 as the third line against the wall lost momentum.
Van Gisbergen ended the first stage (lap 66), which included a more than three-hour red flag delay due to rain, in 12th, just outside the points.
The next race on the Nascar schedule is the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday (Monday NZT).