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Sam Mayer wrecks Shane van Gisbergen late in Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway

JHby:Jonathan Howard•07/13/24•

Jondean25

Shane van Gisbergen Sam Mayer
Screenshot credit: NASCR_Xfinity via X.com

With less than 10 laps to go at Pocono Raceway, Sam Mayer just punted Shane van Gisbergen and sent him spinning. The young NASCAR driver overdrove into the turn and put the bumper to SVG hard.

Shane van Gisbergen and Sam Mayer had a little bit of a moment back at Portland, but nothing major. This was a clear mistake by Mayer. He even hopped on the radio and had his spotter apologize to SVG’s team.

The 97 car was 10th when he got wrecked. It would have been a fantastic finish in his first ever trip to the Tricky Triangle.

Cole Custer went on to win the race after the restart. Custer won the second stage and out dueled Justin Allgaier down the stretch to earn his first win of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

A top-10 finish at Pocono in his first trip to the track would have been big for SVG. I think he is picking up on these ovals a lot quicker than most people realize. He may start these races in the back of the field, but more times than not he has finished in the top-20 or better.

The good news, SVG has three wins on the season, he has the most playoff points. That will help him advance in the postseason. However, he has to start securing solid finishes on these tracks. More good news, there are a few repeats coming up.

Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Martinsville, and Phoenix are all repeat tracks on the schedule. Will that result in better performances?

Shane van Gisbergen is doing just fine

So, there is still plenty of time for Shane van Gisbergen to win races. Those tracks I listed above are all ovals. But there are also two more road courses on the schedule. Both Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval await SVG later this season as well.

With three of the four road course and street course races won, can SVG pick up one or two more wins? He will likely have enough playoff points to make it into the second round, at least. If he wins at the Roval, he’s guaranteed in the second round.

Then the challenge becomes making it to Phoenix racing at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville. Again, he will have lots of playoff points, and two of those tracks are repeats, but it will be difficult.

If SVG manages to make it to Phoenix, let’s not forget he was P6 there earlier this year. Would it be possible for him to be competitive at Phoenix in November? That remains to be seen.