NASCAR Cup Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray

Shane van Gisbergen stars in the rain, leads NASCAR Clash before late crash

It may be an oval, but when rain and sleet began to fall down onto Bowman Gray Stadium, it was SVG's time to shine

Shane van Gisbergen spent the first half of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray in the back half of the field. During that first time, he got into it with Austin Cindric and former Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suarez.

At one point, he spun Cindric out in frustration and radioed, "People just kept running into me and I got sick of it."

In regards to Suarez, he added: "It's the third time the #7's got me...Guess he's excited he's not my teammate, he can hit me now."

While tempers began to overflow between several drivers around the tight quarter-mile short track, a new concern grabbed everyone's attention during the halfway break. Rain and sleet began to fall as temperatures hovered just above freezing, and NASCAR ordered teams to switch to wet-weather tires.

SVG restarted 15th, but rapidly began to march forward in the tricky conditions, avoiding the chaos and making it all the way into the race lead. SVG led 15 laps and battled back-and-forth with eventual race winner Ryan Preece.

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images

However, his advantage began to fade as the track dried out. Despite that, SVG was still running second in the exhibition race with less than 40 laps to go. Unfortunately, that's when Chase Briscoe got into his left-rear, sending the Kiwi around in one of the record 17 caution flags that flew during the chaotic event.

He was never able to recover from that and ultimately finished 20th in the wounded No. 97 Chevrolet, a bitter end to an otherwise impressive showing.

“It was a good bit of fun," said SVG after the race. "There were moments of brilliance and moments that weren’t. It was cool to get to the front. We were just trying to search for the grip. The wet weather conditions were very different than what I’ve raced in Supercars, just with the way the corners are and the way the rubber lays down. But then it started to come back up again and dry up. It was pretty wild.

"But all-in-all, happy with our run and it’s a good way to start the season for this No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team.”

The championship officially begins next week with the 68th running of the Daytona 500 as SVG embarks on his second full-time season in the Cup Series.