“What a day”: SVG stunsg as ex-Supercars star wins his maiden NASCAR race.v

Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion, won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Portland in only his 13th appearance. Van Gisbergen took the lead from Justin Allgaier following a late restart and cruised to his first victory in NASCAR’s second tier and second overall on Sunday (AEST)m.

The three-time Bathurst winner’s victory came just a week before long-time Supercars rivals Cam Waters and Will Brown make their Cup Series debut in Sonoma.

The triumph in Portland came nearly a year after the Kiwi shocked the world of motorsport with his Cup Series debut in Chicago.

Last July, van Gisbergen became the first driver in 60 years to win his Cup Series debut in the first Chicago street race, before going on to win his third Bathurst 1000 and finish second to new Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki .

Van Gisbergen’s victory ends a busy month for Supercars exporters, which also included Scott McLaughlin qualifying for his first Indianapolis 500 and finishing sixth in the event last week.

Van Gisbergen’s path to victory came after first-lap contact with Sam Mayer, before he later ran off the road before fighting back into contention.

The victory also locks van Gisbergen into a NASCAR Xfinity Playoffs spot in his rookie season in the series.

Van Gisbergen will resume his Xfinity Series campaign at Sonoma next week, where Waters and Brown will make cameos for RFK Racing and Richard Childress Racing respectively. Van Gisbergen will also be Brown’s spotter for the June 9 race.

“Firstly, I’m very sorry to Sam Mayer and the #1 team for the first corner [incident],” 80-time Supercars race winner van Gisbergen told the broadcast.

“I just mucked up there and just clipped him, very sorry. He got back well.

“What a day. It was really cool, had some great racing. I need to get better at my restarts and learn how to position, but that was so much fun. Really, really cool racing.”

Waters and Brown will return to Australia after their Sonoma cameos for Round 5 of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship in Darwin. Brown leads the championship, while Waters is the most recent Supercars race winner after breaking through in Perth.