Shane van Gisbergen wins NASCAR Daytona first stage in crazy finish
Shane van Gisbergen won the first stage of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. It didn't come without controversy.
Shane van Gisbergen claimed his inaugural stage victory in an oval NASCAR race, despite a contentious finish. During the final lap, van Gisbergen collided with Kyle Larson's Chevrolet, causing Larson to strike Chris Buescher moments later. Both Larson and Buescher were forced into the grass on the frontstretch. As a consequence, Larson dropped to sixth place, while Buescher plummeted from the lead to 11th, forgoing stage points.
Ryan Preece, Buescher's teammate, was also impacted by the crash, entering the routine-season finale trailing van Gisbergen by 31 points for the final Chase spot. In a twist of fate, it was van Gisbergen who secured the first stage win at Daytona. Following the incident, Ryan Preece earned three stage points but lost ground to van Gisbergen.
The damaged Buescher car required repairs, including adjustments to the suspension and steering, resulting in a 13-lap deficit.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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