"They threw a lot at it": Veteran race mechanic defends No. 88 pit crew after Shane van Gisbergen's playoff opener struggles

Shane van Gisbergen entered the Southern 500 with a 16-point cushion on the playoff cutline. But he left the race with that three-point margin. The Kiwi finished 32nd, second-to-last among playoff drivers, and now sits 12th in the standings, barely clear of elimination as the Round of 16 continues.

SVG showed early promise, running inside the top 15. But a poorly timed caution in Stage 2, combined with a strategy call to stay out too long, dropped him back. From there, the No. 88 Chevrolet never looked comfortable.

The turning point came on the pit lane. Veteran NASCAR mechanic Bozi Tatarevic explained that the issues were rooted less in execution and more in the desperate search for balance in a difficult race car. He said (via Bozi Tatarevic's YT channel):

"Shane was unhappy with the handling of the car, so they were throwing so many changes at it. And on lap 118, they decided to do a big, big adjustment on the left front. Basically to change the balance of the car, change some rounds and that resulted in a 54-second pit stop." (13:56 onwards)

That massive stop all but killed Shane van Gisbergen's track position. Tatarevic added that similar adjustments came again on lap 205, this time costing the team 35 seconds as a mechanic reached in to work on the suspension.

Shane Van Gisbergen (88) pits during the Daytona 500. Source: Imagn

"They had similar adjustments later on, on lap 205. That was another 35-second stop. Same type of situation. Left front wheel off, mechanic in there making tweaks, making adjustments. And that’s, maybe changing rounds or maybe changing shock settings. Who knows? But the car was very ill-handling based on SVG’s description. So, they threw a lot at it," Tatarevic continued. (14:33 onwards)

The rest of the stops, some in the 10 to 11-second range, also involved smaller tweaks. But as Tatarevic noted, the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing pit crew’s performance wasn’t the culprit. They executed their service while the team tried everything possible to give their driver a fighting chance. In the end, the car simply never improved.

Shane van Gisbergen also echoed the thoughts, summing up his day post-race (via NBC):

"Our car was very different from yesterday. Stephen (Doran, crew chief) didn’t give up on tuning on it, but we just couldn’t make it better. We tried something different with strategy but got a caution at the wrong time and couldn’t rebound from it."

SVG eventually finished 32nd, the lowest of all his Trackhouse teammates.

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Playoff picture tightens as Shane van Gisbergen heads to Gateway

Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Shane van Gisbergen, and Kyle Larson during NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day. Source: Imagn

The 32nd-place finish dropped Shane van Gisbergen to 12th in the NASCAR playoff standings. He is three points above the cutline with 2027 markers. Despite four regular-season wins, the lack of consistency on ovals has left him vulnerable at the worst possible time.

His next challenge comes at Gateway, host of the Sept. 7 Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The 1.25-mile oval is unique, with flat corners at one end and tighter banking at the other. For SVG, it represents uncharted territory and his first-ever start at the track.

The next two weeks could decide whether his remarkable rookie season continues or ends far earlier than expected.