Shane van Gisbergen claims back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity wins after controversial move on Austin Hill
Shane van Gisbergen has claimed back-to-back race wins in the NASCAR Xfinity series, taking the checquered flag at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday morning (AEST).
It was a dominant weekend for the 35-year-old Kiwi, who set the fastest time in practice, qualified on pole, and then led 33 of the 79-lap journey to take victory.
But it wasn't without controversy – he took the lead on a late-race restart by elbowing past long-time leader Austin Hill.
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Hill chose to restart the race on the inside with van Gisbergen on the outside, and held the lead through the first turn. But in a classic Sonoma move, that left the Kiwi in the inside when they got to turn two.
Shane van Gisbergen won the NASCAR Xfinity race at Sonoma with this move on Austin Hill on a late restart. FOX Sports
They pair made side-on contact, and Hill lost several spots.
Van Gisbergen drove away from the field over the raining 10 laps, and drifted it out of the final corner to cross the line 1.3 seconds clear of Sheldon Creed in second. Hill finished fifth.
After crossing the line, van Gisbergen repeated his celebrations from a fortnight ago in Portland. First, he tried to drift his way around the 3.2km circuit, before booting a freshly signed rugby ball into the crowd.
"Man, what a race – adventure up and down all day," van Gisbergen said.
"On that last restart, I just gave it all I had, and two guys going for the same real estate came together.
"It was pretty awesome (to win) though – a lot of fun. Hope everyone enjoyed the show. Pretty awesome, back-to-back weeks for us.
"What we did to make the car better between races, it was awesome racing. It's certainly special to win two road course races in a row and one day I dream about winning on a oval."
Van Gisbergen celebrating the win in victory lane. Getty
In his own interview, a frustrated Hill was reluctant to give his side of the story.
"I plead the fifth," he said when shown a replay. "I'm not gonna say anything about it. We'll just go on to the next one."
Two Supercars stars are in action in Monday morning's (AEST) Cup Series race.
Championship leader Will Brown will start 24th, while Cameron Waters will start 31st.
The race begins at 5.30am (AEST).
